Two centuries or more of western domination of much of the world has not only redrawn the global political maps but in many cases determined place names. If that seems arcane, it is not.

It was western powers that named the South China Sea, for instance. It is a name that China is now using to seek to demonstrate its hegemony over an ocean, parts of which are being claimed by five littoral nations, many of which have their own names for the ocean.

Besides the South China Sea, across the world some of these western names have naturally become bones of contention between competing nations and cultures. Thus the Falkland Islands are the Malvinas depending on your point of view.

Or, an even more contentious issue, is the body of water between Iran and the Arab states known as the Persian Gulf or the Arabian Gulf? Use of the wrong name on the other side of the Gulf can create serious problems for unwary foreigners.

In the case of the Persian Gulf, there is actually a United Nations ruling that came down in Persian favor by reference to maps dating to well before western ones invariably used Persian. Although the Arabs produced Ottoman and other references to alternatives including the Gulf of Basra, the Iraqi city at the head of the gulf, and the Gulf of Musandam, the Omani peninsula at the southwest entrance to the gulf, the UN experts determined that the overwhelming evidence was for use of Persian.
http://www.asiasentinel.com/politics/naming-seas-practical-matter/