Last year, France's administrative reform reduced its regions from 22 to 13, leaving some of them with unwieldy hyphenated names. Now they're starting to get their new names, but there's still a lot of controversy.
Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie has just become Hauts-de-France, chosen over Nord-de-France and Terres-du-Nord. Not everyone is happy, since the name "Heights of France" is now applied to a basically flat region, and to some the name brings "hauteur" to mind.
Some areas have indicated easy choices, but in the northeast, where Alsace, Lorraine and Champagne-Ardenne have been merged, the controversy is raging over proposed names that include Alcalie, Rhin-Champagne and Nouvelle Austrasie. Some residents complain that Alcalie sounds like it's from a science fiction novel, and that Nouvelle Austrasie sounds too much like Australie, on the other side of the world.
The Local's French edition has an article with all the details HERE
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