Place Names Categorized "Africa"

This is a list of place names in which the categories include Africa.
type
usage
Algeria (Country) English, Italian, Romanian, Greek, Finnish
The name of a country in North Africa, named after its capital city Algiers.
Angola (Country) Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Turkish, Georgian, Armenian, Indonesian, Malay
Portuguese form of Ngola, the royal title of the kings of Ndongo, an African kingdom that was conquered by the Portuguese in the 17th-century. It was a Portuguese colony until 1975, when it became an independent country.
Benin (Settlement, Body of Water & Country) English, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Romanian, Indonesian, Malay
From Portuguese Benim, derived from Itsekiri Ubinu, the name of the capital city of the historical Benin Kingdom (present-day Benin City in Nigeria). Allegedly it was initially named Ile-Ibinu meaning "land of anger" because of disputes between different factions. The Bight of Benin (a large bay) was named after the Benin Kingdom, and the modern country of Benin, west of Nigeria, was named after the bay in 1975 (formerly named Dahomey).
Botswana (Country) Tswana, English, Shona, German, French, Italian, Catalan, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian
Means "place of the Tswana people" in the Tswana language, from the locative prefix bo- combined with the name of Tswana people, itself of uncertain origin, possibly from tswa "to go out" or tshwana "to resemble". This is the name of a country in the south of Africa. During the British colonial period the region was called Bechuanaland, which was more accurately rendered as Botswana when the country achieved independence in 1966.
Chad (Body of Water & Country) English, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Indonesian, Malay
From Arabic تشاد (Tshād), derived from a Kanuri word meaning "lake, large expanse of water". This is the name of a lake in central Africa, as well as the country that is named after it. The lake also borders Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon.
Congo (River & Country) English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Danish
From 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.
Egypt (Country) English
From Latin Aegyptus, itself from Greek Αἴγυπτος (Aigyptos), which was probably derived from Egyptian ḥwt-kꜣ-ptḥ, the name of the temple to the god Ptah in Memphis, meaning "the house of the soul of Ptah". Descendants of the Latin name are used in most European languages to refer to the ancient kingdom and modern country of Egypt. However, the name the ancient Egyptians used to refer to the Nile Valley was Kemet, and the Arabic speakers of modern Egypt call it Masr.
Ethiopia (Country) English
From Latin Aethiopia, itself from Greek Αἰθιοπία (Aithiopia), said to derive from αἴθω (aitho) meaning "to burn" and ὄψ (ops) meaning "face", referring to the skin colour of the inhabitants (probably a folk etymology). This is the name of a country in East Africa.
Ghana (Country) English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Arabic, Indonesian, Malay
From the name of the Ghana Empire, which was located in the southwestern Sahara and existed up to the 13th century. Ghana, meaning "warrior" in Mande, was actually the title of the rulers, while the empire itself was more properly known as Awkar. In 1957 this was adopted as the name of the newly independent country of Ghana, formerly the British colony Gold Coast, despite the fact that the country lies outside the empire's territory.
Kemet (Region) Ancient Egyptian
From Egyptian km meaning "black", referring to the colour of the soil around the Nile River. This was the Ancient Egyptian name for the Nile Valley in Egypt.
Kenya (Country & Mountain) English, Kikuyu, Swahili, French, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Romanian, Greek, Turkish
The country is named for Mount Kenya, which in the Kikuyu language is called Kĩrĩnyaga meaning "the one having stripes".
Morocco (Country) English
The name of a country in North Africa, named after the city Marrakesh. In Arabic the country is named al-Maghrib (see Maghrib).
Mozambique (Island & Country) English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Danish
From the name of an island off the southeastern coast of Africa, named Moçambique by the Portuguese after the 15th-century local sultan موسى بن بيك (Mūsā bin Bīk). This island became the region's Portuguese colonial capital in the 16th century, and the name was eventually applied to a large area of mainland Africa. Mozambique gained independence from Portugal in 1974.
Niger (River & Country) English, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Croatian, Serbian, Late Roman
Meaning unknown, possibly of Berber origin, though influenced by Latin niger "black". This is the name of a river in West Africa (and a country that is named after it).
Senegal (River & Country) Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian, German, Swedish, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Romanian, Turkish, Armenian, Persian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek, Turkmen, Mongolian, Hindi, Bengali, Korean, Indonesian, Malay, Tagalog
From Portuguese, possibly from the name of the Berber Zenaga people of northern Senegal. This is the name of a river in West Africa, and a country named after it. It gained independence from France in 1960.
Somalia (Country) English, Italian, Spanish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Romanian, Greek, Albanian, Indonesian, Malay
From the ethnic name Somali, of uncertain meaning. The Somali people connect it to their mythical ancestor Samaale. Italian and British colonists applied the ethnic name to the Horn of Africa region in the 19th century. It became an independent country in 1960.
Sudan (Country) English, Arabic, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Indonesian, Malay, Chinese, Thai
From Arabic سود (sūd) meaning "black", referring to the darker skin of the inhabitants. This is the name of a country in Africa. In Arabic it is properly written with the definite article: السودان (al-Sūdān).
Tanzania (Country) Swahili, English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Romanian, Greek, Armenian, Georgian, Indonesian, Malay
From a combination of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, the names of the two countries that were united to create the East African country of Tanzania in 1964.
Uganda (Country) English, Ganda, Swahili, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Romanian, Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Turkish, Georgian, Armenian, Hebrew, Persian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay
From Buganda, the name of a kingdom within Uganda, which means "land of the Ganda" in the Luganda language. The Ganda are an ethnic group, their name possibly deriving from a Bantu word meaning "family". Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa.
Zaire (River & Country) Portuguese, English
Older 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.
Zimbabwe (Country & Settlement) Shona, Ndebele, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian
From the Shona language, possibly from dzimba "houses" and ibwe "stone". Great Zimbabwe was an ancient city, falling into ruin in the 15th century. It was located in the country of Zimbabwe, which was named after the ancient city in 1980 when it gained independence from the United Kingdom. It was formerly called Southern Rhodesia by the British.