[tz] [PATCH 0/1] Add Asia/Beijing

[Ted Cabeen]

On 8/13/2012 1:00 PM, Paul_Koning at Dell.com wrote:
> On Aug 13, 2012, at 3:49 PM, James M Leddy wrote:
>> I know this is a controversial topic, but I've been asked to
>> submit this, and have decided to do so for a few reasons:
>
> So if we adopt this, how many thousand additional patches like this
> will we have to adopt as well?

I felt this question deserved an answer, so I compared Wikipedia's list 
of countries whose largest city is not their Capital with the TZ 
database.  (Presuming that if a country's largest city is their capital, 
that's the city name we are using in the TZ database) Here are the results:

* There are 37 countries where the largest city is not also the 
country's capital.

* Of those, 26 have a zone identified by their largest city, 5 are 
identified by their capital, 4 are identified by the name of the 
country, 1 is identified by the name of the 7th largest city, 1 uses the 
name of the state/island, and one lists both the largest city and the 
capital.

* Looking at all 37 countries, there are 23 where the largest city is 
more than twice the size of the capital.  In all of those instances, a 
Zone Identifier currently used is either the name of the largest city or 
the name of the country itself.  I don't see a need to change or link 
any of these.

* Of the remaining 14 countries, 5 zones use names that clearly need no 
changes due to the nature of the current zone name or the conurbation of 
the capital and largest city:
  - Country, Capital, largest city, Current TZ Name
  - Republic of China (Taiwan), Taipei, New Taipei, Taipei
  - Micronesia, Palikir, Weno, Chuuk/Yap (State/Island-Named Zone)
  - Sudan, Khartoum, 2,207,794, Omdurman, 2,395,159, Khartoum
    (Omdurman is across the river from Khartoum and can be considered 
part of the Khartoum metropolitan area)
  - Liechtenstein, Vaduz, 5,109, Schaan, 5,806, Vaduz
    (Schaan is adjacent to Vaduz, and can be considered as part of the 
Vaduz metropolitan area)
  - Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain, 49,000, Chaguanas, 67,400, Port 
of Spain
    (Chaguanas is adjacent to Port of Spain, and can be considered as 
part of the Port of Spain metropolitan area)

* That leaves 9 countries for which we could make a reasonable case for 
adding a link in the TZ database if we did so for China.  Here they are:
  - Country, Capital, Population, Largest City, Population, Current Zone
  - China, Beijing, 22,000,000, Shanghai, 23,210,000, Shanghai
  - Vietnam, Hanoi, 6,500,00, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), 7,123,340, Ho 
Chi Minh City (Saigon)
  - India, Delhi, 11,007,835, Mumbai, 13,830,884, Kolkata/Calcutta (!)
  - Syria, Damascus, 1,711,000, Aleppo, 2,301,570, Damascus
  - Cameroon, Yaounde, 1,430,000, Douala, 2,000,000, Douala
  - Malawi, Lilongwe, 781,538, Blantyre, 728,285, Blantyre
  - South Africa, Pretoria, 2,345,908, Johannesburg, 3,888,180, Johannesburg
  - Equador, Quito, 1,397,698, Guayaquil, 2,600,000, Guayaquil
  - Kazakhstan, Astana, 743,014, Almaty, 1,450,095, Almaty

Based on the above, the maximum number of patches we would need to make 
today is 37, and it's possible to craft a guideline like the one above 
that would result in 9 patches today and relatively few additional 
patches going forward.

I've posted the master spreadsheet containing data on all 37 countries 
here: 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aqfda0tRjlb_dHMtTXBET2xRWFlZY0oxQ3d0V0JybVE

I hope this information is useful and enhances the quality of the debate 
on this never-ending issue.

--Ted