For some years now, various topics relating to toponymy have been discussed at the meetings of the UNGEGN (United Nations of Groups of Experts on Geographical Names). In such a prestigious place as this, some scholars, Cosimo Palagiano, Helen Kerfoot, Peter Jordan, Georg Gartner and others, decided to set up a commission on toponymy to study geographical names from the point of view of both geography and cartography.

Geographical names have been the subject of study by many bodies, such as the UNGEGN, the ICOS (International Council of Onomastic Sciences) and many other conferences held in many countries on geographical names. But there is no geographical and cartographical approach that could define the relationship between geographical names and identity and geographical names and old and new maps. Geographers are interested in the meaning of geographical names and cartography in their changes over time.