It was great typing "Riyad," having nothing show up, and having to think - could it be that I really have to type the "h"? It made me try Rangoon and Calcutta, just to see what would (not) happen.
What's wrong with Rangoon and Calcutta and Bombay and Canton and so on? (Don't start on ABC was already taken here thing) There's a continuation in history that let's people stay literate when reading or hearing of place names as they've been pronounced for a long time. 1) All identity is lost when a place is renamed in English and it takes time to become known again. 2) Any references in books, movies or history are completely lost on new generations 3) Proper adjectives lose connection. 4) New spellings generally look like an eye chart and are often indecipherable as written in Latin script 5) Nobody and I mean nobody is going to pronounce it intelligibly for the locals anyway 6) We're speaking thousands of English words, not a foreign language here. 7) The locals spell and pronounce our English language places to fit their languages....as they logically should.