At the previous discussion here, there was a fairly clear consensus, particularly once you exclude the block-evading sockpuppet, that these links are better suited to the "Geography" section of the article than to the lead. If you have any new arguments that might change opinions about the matter, feel free to make them, but right now you're not. The linking guideline provides broad directives, but it is up to the editors at an individual article to decide how to apply these directives - it would be ridiculous for the guideline to try to cover every single possible linking situation.