The city government said it would make efforts to ensure that the “Hangang River” name is widely adopted.
However, some netizens have pointed out the redundancy of “Hangang River” translating to “Han River river”.
Still, it won’t be the first example of a tautological name. Here are a few more from around the world.
MONTANA MOUNTAIN (“Mountain mountain”)
The name of this mountain in the Yukon, Canada, is the Spanish word for “mountain”.
EAST TIMOR (“East east”)
“Timor” comes from the Bahasa word “timur”, meaning “east”. The country’s Portugese-derived name, Timor Leste, is the same, as “leste” means “east”.
SAHARA DESERT (“Desert desert”)
The name “Sahara” comes from “sahra”, the Arabic word for “desert”.
AVENUE ROAD
There are a few Avenue Roads in cities around the world including London, Toronto and Bengaluru. Technically, an avenue is usually characterised as being lined with buildings or trees, but, it’s still a road.
FAROE ISLANDS (“Sheep Islands Islands”)
“Faroe” is derived from the Old Norse word Færeyjar, which means “sheep islands”.
MILKY WAY GALAXY
“Galaxy” is a term that comes from “galaxias”, the ancient Greek word used to refer to the band of lights in the sky meaning “milky”.
NEW BAHRU (“New new”)
The name of this creative lifestyle enclave in Singapore combines the adjective “new” with the Malay word for “new”.