Choronyms can be classified by several criteria, primarily related to their origin (etymology) or meaning (semantics). According to their origin (
etymology), choronyms are divided in two basic groups: • Endonymic choronyms, known as endochoronyms, represent regional or country names of
endonymic (native) origin, created and used by native populations of those territories. For example, term
Deutschland is an endochoronym (native name) for a country that is called
Germany in English. • Exonymic choronyms, known as exochoronyms, represent regional or country names of
exonymic (foreign) origin that are created and used by those who do not belong to the native population of a referred territory. For example, the term
Germany is an exochoronym (foreign name) used in English as a designation for a country that is called
Deutschland by its native population. According to their meanings (
semantics), choronyms can also be divided into: • Natural, or geographical choronyms: proper names of natural (geographical) regions, spanning from names of local geographical areas, to regional names of global significance (
Scandinavia,
Amazon,
Sahel,
Siberia,
Africa) • Political, or administrative choronyms: proper names of political (administrative) regions (counties, provinces, states, state unions). ==See also==