Libya-truth (2026-07-06 13:59:29+00:00): Hello,

Thank you for raising this — I appreciate careful attention to tagging accuracy and I'm happy to discuss in detail.

1. "Nafusa Mountains" and "Jabal al Gharbi" are not two different features — they are the same feature in two languages.

The English Wikipedia article on the district itself opens with: "Jabal al Gharbi... is named after the Nafusa Mountains." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabal_al_Gharbi_District). The Arabic name "الجبل الغربي" literally translates to "The Western Mountain" — it is a geographic directional descriptor for the same mountain range that is called "Adrar n Infusen" (ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵉⵏⴼⵓⵙⵏ) in the indigenous Amazigh language.

The administrative district derives its name FROM the mountains. There is no "conflation of two different features" — there is one geographic reality with two names in two languages.

2. "Jabal al Gharbi" is NOT a fixed, historical administrative name — it has changed repeatedly.

This name has been changed by various Libyan governments at least 6 times:

- 1963: Created as "Jabal al Gharbi Governorate"
- 1970: Renamed to "Gharyan Governorate" by Gaddafi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabal_al_Gharbi_Governorate)
- 1983: Dissolved entirely into 46 baladiyat
- 1995: Recreated as "Jabal al Gharbi" municipality
- 1998: Split into Yafran, Gharyan, and Mizda districts
- 2007: Re-merged as "Jabal al Gharbi District" from three former districts (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Districts_of_Libya)

The name is an artifact of political reorganization, not a permanent legal identity.

3. The name "Jabal al Gharbi" / "Western Mountain" was specifically imposed to erase the indigenous Amazigh name.

An NBC News report from 2011 directly states: "Even the Berber name of the Nafusa mountain range was banned. On Gadhafi's maps, the region is known only as the Western Mountains." (https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna43714950)

A leaked 2008 US diplomatic cable (WikiLeaks cable 09TRIPOLI677) documented Gaddafi warning Amazigh leaders in Jadu: "You can call yourselves whatever you want inside your homes — Berbers, Children of Satan, whatever — but you are only Libyans when you leave your homes." Under Gaddafi, Amazigh texts, names, and symbols were prohibited; registration of non-Arab names was forbidden; and Libya's first Amazigh organization was banned (Middle East Eye, 2018: https://www.middleeasteye.net/features/amazigh-libya-revive-their-previously-banned-language).

Maintaining ONLY "Jabal al Gharbi" on the map — a name that exists precisely because the indigenous name was forcibly suppressed — perpetuates the outcome of that suppression.

4. The indigenous name "Nafusa" / "Infusen" is extensively documented.

- "Nafusa" is the Arabic rendering of "Infusen," a pre-Islamic Berber tribe of the Bôtr confederation — documented in Khelifa, A. "Nefoussa," Encyclopédie berbère, vol. 33, 2012 (https://journals.openedition.org/encyclopedieberbere/2697)
- The Nafusa Mountains Wikipedia article itself uses the Berber name: "Berber languages: ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵉⵏⴼⵓⵙⵏ" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nafusa_Mountains)
- Wikidata for this district (Q25632) lists "language used: Nafusi" (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25632)
- Nafusi is classified as a distinct, recognized endangered language: Glottolog nafu1238 (https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/nafu1238), ISO 639-3 code jbn (https://iso639-3.sil.org/code/jbn)
- Academic documentation: Beguinot, Il Berbero Nefûsi di Fassâṭo (1931); Kossmann, A Grammatical Sketch of Ghadames Berber (2013); Provasi, "Testi berberi di Žâdo" (1973)

5. OSM precedent: bilingual name=* for administrative boundaries is established practice.

- Brussels (admin_level=4): name=Région de Bruxelles-Capitale - Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest. The Belgian WikiProject mandates bilingual names using " - " separator for all features in bilingual regions (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/WikiProject_Belgium/Conventions/Places).
- Biel/Bienne, Switzerland: name=Biel/Bienne — French/German bilingual admin boundary (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Multilingual_names).
- Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain: Spanish/Basque bilingual admin boundary.
- Morocco: WikiProject Morocco mandates trilingual tagging (Arabic/Tifinagh/French) for admin boundaries after the 2011 Constitution made Amazigh official (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/WikiProject_Morocco).
- Algeria: WikiProject Algeria adopted community-agreed Tifinagh naming rules after the 2016 Constitutional amendment (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/WikiProject_Algeria).

These are all admin_level=4 or higher boundaries using bilingual/multilingual name=* tags.

6. Legal basis

Libya's Constitutional Declaration (3 August 2011), Article 1: "Arabic shall be the official language, while the linguistic and cultural rights of the Amazigh, the Tabous, the Touareg and the other components of Libyan society shall be guaranteed." (https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Libya_2011)

7. Regarding the ISO code and Wikipedia link

I acknowledge that ISO 3166-2:LY-JG uses the Arabic-derived romanization "Jabal al Gharbi." The ISO3166-2=LY-JG tag was not changed and remains intact. I am willing to:

- Ensure name:en=Jabal al Gharbi District is preserved (as the commonly used English name)
- Ensure the Wikipedia/Wikidata links point to the administrative district articles
- Keep name:ar=الجبل الغربي intact

What I maintain is that name=* should include BOTH the indigenous Amazigh name and the Arabic name, following established OSM practice in bilingual/multilingual regions — exactly as Brussels, Biel/Bienne, and Moroccan/Algerian admin boundaries already do.

8. Regarding "mass-changing multilingual names based on political/historical interpretation"

The edits I made are not based on political interpretation. They are based on:

- Ground truth: Tamazight is the primary spoken language in this region
- Academic sources: documented for over a century
- Legal framework: constitutional guarantees since 2011
- OSM policy: the name=* tag should reflect the local language(s) actually used on the ground

What would actually be a political interpretation is maintaining ONLY the Arabic name that was enforced by a regime that explicitly banned the indigenous name and threatened its speakers with comparisons to "Children of Satan."

I welcome further discussion and am happy to address any specific tag or edit individually.

Best regards