[tz] Request for Change of Time Zone Name from Asia/Ho_Chi_Minh to Asia/Ha_Noi

[Ian Abbott]

On 03/07/2024 08:11, viet le via tz wrote:
> I am writing to formally request a change in the naming of the time
> zone for Viet Nam in your database. Currently, the time zone is listed
> as "Asia/Ho_Chi_Minh." However, I would like to propose that this be
> updated to "Asia/Ha_Noi" to reflect the official and more widely
> recognized name of the time zone.

There is already a timezone identifier "Asia/Hanoi" but it is defined in 
the "backzone" file because it has been the same time as 
"Asia/Ho_Chi_Minh" since 1970. It may or may not be installed on various 
operating systems.

> Hà Nội, as the capital city of Viet Nam, is the administrative and
> political center of the country. It holds significant historical,
> cultural, and socio-economic importance. Consequently, using Hà Nội as
> the reference point for the country's time zone would be more
> appropriate and align with international standards and practices.

The timezone identifier string for a region is based on the most 
populous city in the region, not on political centers.  For example, the 
TZ database contains "Asia/Shanghai" (rather than the capital city 
"Asia/Beijing") for this reason.  This policy is described in the TZ 
"Theory" document: https://ftp.iana.org/tz/theory.html

Disclaimer: I am just a subscriber to the mailing list, not the TZ 
database maintainer, so comments are my own and not official in any way.

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