Hallo,

I found this sentence in National Geographic's article about South Korea:

To capture Seoul in all her glory, National Geographic photographer 'so-and-so' returned to the city four times...

Why Seoul is feminine? Does this rule apply to all towns and cities? I can't see any logic in it. I understand that gender is a complicated category and has different nuances in different languages. But is there any rule regarding such examples as 'Seoul'? That is, could you use feminine with London, Berlin, etc.

My 2nd question is "Is ship still feminine?". I found lots of information explaining why 'ship' is feminine in English, but is it still always feminine in modern day English?

I believe it's better to ask actual speakers of present-day language to fully understand these points.

Thanks in advance.