>Nadya,
>
>I think that unless there is a very good reason, you are just fighting the windmills in vain. There are so many factors to take into account to trying to standarize this kind of data. What are you trying to accomplish? Why do you care so much, are you planning to mass mail us? Vade retro, Satan! <bg>
>
>Just clicking in New York as Jim said, gives you a list of possible true, but highly doubtful city names in that state alone:
>
>Lahore
>Troy
>Paris
>Rome
>Rio
>Rio de Janeiro
>Rotterdam
>
>How do you plan to check if those cities really exist in New York state (and you should be able to come up with a way to do the same check for all states/provinces of the world!)
>
>Again, unless is something really really important, I wouldn't waste one breath in this subject

I think we have these cities in NY. In general, you're right, it's a waste of time. However, if I see the obvious problems and it doesn't take more than 15 sec. of my time to fix them, I'll go ahead and fix.

The whole idea was started with my son interesting in geography. He is now asking me to open UT and click on the flags and see various cities around the world. He is 5 and a half and he knows countries and cities much better than I do. He can show any country we ask him on the map and he memorizes all flags. My husband bought him wall map and a book of flags and it's his favorite reading now...