ALBANIA (Region & Country)
Late Roman, English, Spanish, ItalianMedieval Latin name for the region which was once occupied by the Illyrian tribe called Albanoi. This is the name of a country in the Balkans.
AMERICA (Region & Country)
English, Italian, Late RomanFrom the name of the explorer
AMERIGO Vespucci (1451-1512). This is the name of two continents (North and South America) and is also commonly used to refer to the United States of America.
AMERIKA (Region & Country)
German, DutchGerman and Dutch form of
AMERICA, used to refer to the continents and sometimes to the United States of America.
AUSTRALIA (Region & Country)
English, Italian, SpanishDerived from Latin
australis meaning "southern". It was formally adopted as the name of the continent (and later country) by the British administrators of the region in 1824.
BRAZIL (Country)
EnglishFrom the name of a type of tree, called
pau-brasil in Portuguese (
brazilwood in English). It may ultimately derive from Portuguese
brasa meaning "ember". This is the name of a country in South America.
BULGARIA (Country)
Late Roman, English, Spanish, ItalianFrom the name of the Turkic tribe of the Bulgars, possibly from a Turkic root meaning "mixed". This is the name of a country in southeastern Europe.
CANADA (Country)
English, French, Italian, DutchDerived from the Iroquoian word
kanata meaning "village". This word was used by Native Americans to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to Stadacona. Cartier used the word to refer to the region.
ČESKO (Country)
Czech, SlovakFrom the name of the Slavic tribe of the Czechs (see
ČECHY). This is the Czech name for the Czech Republic.
CONGO (River & Country)
English, French, Spanish, Italian, PortugueseFrom
Kongo, of uncertain origin, the name of a kingdom in central Africa that existed from the 14th to 19th century. The Congo River (also called the
Zaire River) was named after the kingdom. Belgian and French colonies were established in the 19th century, named after the river, which eventually led to two African countries, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) and the Republic of the Congo.
CZECHIA (Country)
EnglishEnglish form of
ČECHY (via Polish
Czechy), used as an alternative name for the Czech Republic (and not as a name for
Bohemia).
CZECHOSLOVAKIA (Country)
EnglishCombination of
CZECHIA and
SLOVAKIA. This was the name of a country that existed between 1918 and 1993, at which time it split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
CZECHY (Region & Country)
PolishPolish form of
ČECHY, used to refer both to the region of
Bohemia and the larger Czech Republic.
DAEHAN (Country)
KoreanFrom Sino-Korean
大 (dae) meaning "big, great" and
韓 (han) meaning "Korea". This is the official Korean name for South
Korea.
DENMARK (Country)
EnglishFrom Danish
Danmark, derived from the ethnic name
Dane, which is possibly from Germanic
den meaning "low ground", combined with
mark meaning "borderland". This is the name of a country in northern Europe.
DEUTSCHLAND (Country)
GermanDerived from the German
deutsch meaning "German" (ultimately from Germanic
þeudo "people") and
Land. This is the German endonym for
Germany.
ÉIRE (Country & Island)
IrishPossibly means "abundant land" in Old Irish. This is the Irish name of the country and island of Ireland. According to legend the island was named for the goddess
ÉRIU, though in fact it was she who was named for the island.
ELLADA (Country)
GreekModern Greek form of Ancient Greek
‘Ελλαδα (Hellada), derived from
‘Ελλην (Hellen) "Greek", which is of uncertain origin. This is the Greek endonym for
Greece.
ENGLAND (Country)
English, GermanFrom Old English
Englaland meaning "land of the Angles", the Angles being one of the Germanic tribes that settled in the area in the post-Roman period.
ETHIOPIA (Country)
EnglishFrom Greek
Αιθιοπια (Aithiopia), derived from
αιθω (aitho) meaning "to burn" and
ωψ (ops) meaning "face", referring to the skin colour of the inhabitants. This is the name of a country in eastern Africa.
FRANCE (Country)
French, EnglishFrom Latin
Francia meaning "land of the Franks". The Franks were the Germanic tribe who settled in the region in the 3rd century. They derived their tribal name from the name of a type of spear that they used.
FRANKREICH (Country)
GermanDerived from German
Frank, the name of a Germanic tribe, and
Reich meaning "empire, realm". This is the German name for
France.
GERMANY (Country)
EnglishFrom Latin
Germania, first attested in the writings of Julius Caesar, used to refer to the areas east of the Rhine and north of the Danube. The origin of the term is uncertain. This is an English exonym corresponding to German
Deutschland.
GREECE (Country)
EnglishEnglish form of Latin
Graecia, the name used by the Romans for the land of the Greeks, derived from Greek
Γραικος (Graikos), which is of uncertain origin. It is possibly derived from the city of Graia in Boeotia.
HUNGARY (Country)
EnglishFrom Latin
Hungaria, derived from Byzantine Greek
Ουγγροι (Oungroi), from Turkic
Onogur meaning "ten tribes". This is the name of a country in eastern Europe which was settled by the Hungarians in the 9th century. Because they were identified with the Huns, the
H was added to the beginning of their Latin name. The Hungarian name for the country is
Magyarország.
ITALY (Country)
EnglishAnglicized form of
Italia, originally applied by the Greeks to the south of the Italian Peninsula. It may have been borrowed from Oscan
Víteliú possibly meaning "land of bulls". According to Roman mythology, the region was named for
ITALUS, though in fact it was he who was named for the region.
JAPAN (Country)
English, GermanFrom Portuguese
Japão, which was derived from a Malay form of
Riben, the Chinese reading of
NIPPON.
JORDAN (River & Country)
English, BiblicalRiver which flows between the countries of Jordan and Israel. The river's name in Hebrew is
יַרְדֵן (Yarden), and it is derived from
יָרַד (yarad) meaning "descend" or "flow down". The river has lent its name to the country to the east.
JOSEON (Region & Country)
KoreanThis was the name of two kingdoms in the history of Korea. The first was conquered by the Han Empire in the 2nd century BC. The second ruled Korea from the 14th century until the 19th century. The name of these kingdoms was written using the Sino-Korean characters
朝 (jo) meaning "dynasty" and
鮮 (seon) meaning "new", though the actual origin is assumed to be Korean. This name is now used in North Korea to refer to the country of North
Korea.
KAZAKHSTAN (Country)
English, Russian, FrenchFrom Kazakh
Қазақстан (Qazaqstan), from the ethnic name
қазақ (qazaq), which is probably of Turkic origin, combined with the Persian suffix
ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the name of a country in central Asia.
KENYA (Country & Mountain)
EnglishThe country is named for Mount Kenya, which in the Kikuyu language is called
Kere Nyaga meaning "mountain of whiteness".
KOREA (Country)
English, German, DutchFrom medieval Latin
Corea, itself derived from
GORYEO, the name of a kingdom which ruled most of the Korean Peninsula from the 10th to 14th centuries. This is the name of two countries, North and South Korea.
Hanguk and
Joseon are the Korean names for the countries.
MAGYARORSZÁG (Country)
HungarianHungarian name for the country of
HUNGARY, derived from
magyar meaning "Hungarian" and
ország meaning "country".
Magyar itself is derived from a combination of two Uralic roots both meaning "man".
MEXICO (Country & Settlement)
English, FrenchFrom Spanish
México, itself derived from Nahuatl
Mehxico. There are many theories regarding the ultimate origin, including Nahuatl
metztli meaning "moon" combined with
xictli meaning "navel". This is the name of a country in North America, as well as its capital city (the country is named after the city). In French
Mexico is the name of the capital city, while the country is called
Mexique.
MEXIQUE (Country)
FrenchFrench form of
MEXICO (referring only to the country, not the capital city).
NIGER (River & Country)
English, French, Italian, German, Late RomanMeaning unknown, possibly of Berber origin, though influenced by Latin
niger "black". This is the name of a river in western Africa (and a country which is named after it).
NIGERIA (Country)
English, French, Italian, Spanish, GermanFrom the name of the
NIGER River, applied in the 19th century to the British colonial territory in western Africa. It continued to be used after the territory became an independent country in 1960.
NIPPON (Country)
JapaneseMeans "origin of the sun, sunrise", from Sino-Japanese
日 (nichi) meaning "sun" and
本 (hon) meaning "root, origin". This is the Japanese name for
Japan.
PAKISTAN (Country)
Urdu, Punjabi, English, French, German, ItalianFrom Persian
پاک (pak) meaning "pure" and the suffix
ستان (stan) meaning "land of". The name was coined in 1933 by the Pakistani nationalist Choudhry Rahmat Ali who justified it as an acronym of Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir and Sindh, plus the final three letters of Baluchistan.
PERSIA (Country)
Ancient Roman, English, Spanish, ItalianLatin form of Greek
Περσις (Persis), from Old Persian
Parsa. This is the name used in the West for a region in western Asia, as well as several empires which were based there, including the Achaemenid Empire, Parthian Empire, and Sasanian Empire. This was also the Western name for the country of Iran until 1935, when the king requested that the native name
Iran be used instead.
RUSSLAND (Country)
GermanDerived from the medieval state of
RUS and
land meaning "country, state". This is the German name for
Russia.
SCOTLAND (Country)
EnglishMeans "land of the Scots", from Latin
Scoti meaning "Gaelic speaker".
SLOVAKIA (Country)
EnglishFrom
Slovak, the Slovak form of the medieval Slavic
slovene, referring to the tribe of the Slavs. This is the name of a country in central Europe.
SLOVENIA (Country)
EnglishFrom
Slovene, the language of the Slovenes, derived from the medieval Slavic tribal name
slovene meaning "Slavs". This is the name of a country in central Europe.
SLOVENIJA (Country)
SloveneFrom medieval Slavic
slovene referring to the tribe of the Slavs. This is the Slovene name for Slovenia.
SLOVENSKO (Country)
Slovak, CzechFrom medieval Slavic
slovene referring to the tribe of the Slavs. This is the Slovak name for Slovakia.
SPAIN (Country)
EnglishDerived from
Hispania, the Latin name of the Iberian Peninsula, which is of uncertain origin. It could be derived from Punic
I-Shaphan meaning "land of the rabbits".
SWEDEN (Country)
EnglishFrom Middle Dutch
Zweden, ultimately from the Old Norse ethnic name
Svíar "Swede", itself possibly from Proto-Norse
Swihoniz meaning "one's own tribe". This is the name of a country in northern Europe.
TURKEY (Country)
EnglishFrom Latin
Turcia, derived from the ethnonym
Turk, which is from Old Turkic possibly meaning "ancestry". This is the name of a country situated on the Anatolian peninsula.
YAMATO (Country)
JapanesePossibly related to Japanese
山 (yama) meaning "mountain". This was the old name for the area around the city of Nara, though it was later applied to the entire country of Japan. Chinese scribes originally wrote this name using the character
倭 meaning "short". However, this was revised to the more favourable
和 meaning "harmony" in the 8th century. The prefixed character
大 means "great".
ZAIRE (River & Country)
Portuguese, EnglishOlder name of the
Congo River, said to be derived via Portuguese from Kikongo
nzadi o nzere meaning "river swallowing rivers". This was also the former name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
ZHONGGUO (Country)
ChineseMeans "middle kingdom", from Chinese
中 (zhōng) meaning "middle" and
国 (guó) meaning "country, state". This is the Chinese name for
China. The name originally referred to China's central regions, as opposed to the territory on the fringes.