Why are old geographical names (in English and other European languages) inadequate?  

            Because they are outdated.
            Places were named with no global perspective, and before their full descriptions were known.
                        E.g. Caspian Sea (a lake), Bay of Bengal (an oceansea).
            Places were named mainly by Europeans, with a European, not a global, perspective.
                        E.g. “Near East” and “Far “East” (i.e. near and far eastward from Europe).  Europe even declared itself a continent!
            Places were sometimes named after the first European explorer to “discover” them.  E.g. Bering Sea, Magellan Strait.
            Centuries ago when many places were named, ethnicity sensitivities were not an issue.  Times have changed.
            In Peoplese, oceans, oceanseas, gulfs, bays, straits, channels, lakes, etc. are correctly identified.  Satellite imagery is used.
                        and in many cases local geographical names are utilized.
            As for cosmological words, we are still learning what’s out there (not “up" there.).
.

Definitions of Geographical Features:

continent	A vast land mass surrounded by water.  Planet Earth has six continents: Eurasia, Africa, South America, North America, Antarctica, and Australia.
mega-peninsula	A gigantic peninsula.  E.g. Europe, India, Indochina, Alaska, Chukchi.
peninsula	An area of land mainly surrounded by water, connected to a mainland.
archipelago	A chain of islands.  Many archipelagos are the tops of underwater mountain ranges.
island	An area of land, smaller than a continent, completely surrounded by water.
isthmus	A narrow strip of land bordered on both sides by water, connecting two larger bodies of land.
cay	A small low island.
ocean	Uncapitalized, the vast body of salt water that cover’s almost three-quarters of Earth’s surface.         Capitalized, the five large subdivisions of the ocean:  Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Antarctic.
oceansea	An area of saltwater marked by two or more adjacent land boundaries, larger than a bay.. E.g. Bengal Oceansea, Arabia Oceansea.
gulf*	A body of salt water almost completely surrounded by land.  E.g. Persia Gulf, Mediteranean Gulf, Reed Gulf (English "Red Sea"), Black Gulf, Adriatic Gulf, Caribbean Gulf, Baltic Gulf
lagoon	Shallow salt water along a coast with partial barrier to open sea or ocean.
bay*	A body of salt water forming an indentation in a shoreline with land on three sides.. E.g. Manila Bay, San Francisco Bay, Hudson Bay, Aegean Bay
cove	An indentation in a shoreline, smaller than a bay.
channel	A long, wide navigable water route with land on both sides
strait	A navigable passage of water connecting two large bodies of water, much shorter and narrower than a channel.
estuary	The part of the lower course or mouth of a river that mixes with salt water tide.
river	A large natural channel of fresh water flowing through land.
brook	A small natural channel of fresh water flowing through land.
arroyo	A small steep-sided watercourse or gulch in a desert area, dry except after heavy rains.
canal	A constructed narrow waterway, typically used for navigation or irrigation.
lake	A body of water completely surrounded by land; natural, or artificial (such as formed by a dam).
pond	A body of water, smaller than a lake, completely surrounded by land, natural or artificial (such as formed by a dam).
shore	Boundaries of gulfs, lakes, rivers, brooks, etc.
coast	Ocean shore

 

*A gulf has a small outlet to the ocean, differentiating it from a bay.
Typically brooks empty into rivers, which empty into oceans, oceanseas, gulfs, and bays, thereby draining the land.

Capitalization
            A generic word is capitalized only if it’s part of the proper name.
            E.g., Lake Malawi, Ocean Atlantic, nation Danmark, county Cork, province Quebec.
 
Word order
            Recommended:  Continent Eurasia, Lake Malawi, River Jordon, Mountain Range American Spine, Mount McKinley, Oceansea Bengal, Ocean Atlantic.  If preferred, can also write:  Atlantic Ocean, Jordan River, etc.
            But:  First Street, Tulip Avenue, Pine Lane – because the proper name is what is wanted quickly, and in everyday conversation street / avenue / lane, etc. designations are secondary.  

“the World” is defined by its context.  The world of a goldfish is its bowl or pond.  The world of a teenybopper is her family, her friends, her school, and what she is familiar with.  The world of an Bharatan may be Bharat (English "India").  The world of a diplomat may be planet Earth.  The world of an astronomer may be the known universe.  Without context, “the world” has no specific meaning.

Place Name Preferences
            Ideally geographical names endure, while geopolitical names come and go.  If more than one name defines a particular place, the ancient / historic name is preferable, unless there is a reason why not.  Peoplese uses “Mesopotamia” and “Persia”, two ancient, beautifully sounding words, for the regions principally occupied by modern nations Iraq and Iran.  Peoplese retains the Biblical name “Canaan”, more recently re-named Palestine and Israel.  (The Bible is an important source of geographical names because it is the only surviving ancient text of the region.)  Colonial names are geopolitical names, not geographical names, and are not retained in Peoplese unless the post-colonial native inhabitants so choose.
            Reasons to abandon an historic place name are many.  Biblical “Great Sea” (named millenniums before people realized it was a gulf), subsequently renamed (from Latin “midland”) Mediterranean Sea, is in Peoplese "Mediteranean Gulf" (spelled with one "r").  Many lakes were originally dubbed “seas”.  There is nothing “central” about the region of far-southern North America currently named “Central America”, in Peoplese "far southwestern North America".  Nor is "north" "up" any more than "west" is "left".