Ararat(Mountain)Armenian, Biblical, Biblical Hebrew From the name of the ancient kingdom of Urartu. This is the name of a mountain in Turkey (formerly part of Armenia), the place where Noah's Ark came to rest according to the Old Testament. It is usually called Մասիս (Masis) in Armenian.
Assyria(Region)English, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek From Greek Ἀσσυρία (Assyria), derived from Akkadian Ashurayu, itself from the name of the empire's capital city Ashur. This was the name of an ancient Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
Asturias(Political Subdivision)Spanish Possibly derived from Basque asta "rock" and ur "water". This was the name of an 8th to 10th-century kingdom of northern Iberia. It is now the name of a Spanish province.
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).
Buganda(Region & Political Subdivision)Ganda The name of a region within Uganda and also the root of the country's name (see Uganda).
Castile(Region)English From Spanish Castilla, ultimately from Late Latin castellum meaning "castle". This was the name of a medieval kingdom in Spain.
Deasmhumhain(Region)Irish From Irish deas "south" and Mumhain. This was the name of a medieval kingdom in southern Ireland, created when the kingdom of Munster was partitioned. It is Anglicized as Desmond.
Denmark(Country)English From 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.
Galicia 1(Region)Galician, Spanish, English From Latin Gallaecia, named for the Celtic tribe of the Gallaeci, of uncertain meaning. This is the name of a former kingdom in Iberia, now an autonomous region in northwestern Spain. In Galician it is called both Galicia and Galiza.
Goryeo(Region)Korean Possibly means "walled city" or "center" in Korean. This was the name of a kingdom that ruled most of the Korean Peninsula. The name Korea is based on it.
Iraq(Country)Arabic, English, Italian, Catalan, Malay From Arabic العراق (al-ʿIrāq), probably derived from the name of the ancient Sumerian/Akkadian city of Uruk. This is the name of a country in the Middle East.
Jordan(River & Country)English, Danish, Norwegian, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, German, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Slovene, Biblical River that flows between the countries of Jordan and Israel. The river's name in Hebrew is יַרְדֵן (Yarḏen), and it is derived from יָרַד (yaraḏ) meaning "descend, flow down". The river has lent its name to the country to the east (in German, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish and Slovene this is only the name of the river, with the name of the country taking a different form).
Kent(Political Subdivision & River)English Possibly from a Brythonic element meaning "border, edge, coast". This is the name of a historic kingdom and modern county in southeastern England, called Cent in Old English, Cantium in Latin. It is also the name of a river in Cumbria, northwestern England.
Lithuania(Country)English From a Latinized form of Lithuanian Lietuva, possibly derived from the name of the small river Letavka. This is the name of a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe.
Netherlands(Country)English From English nether meaning "lower" and land, referring to the low-lying position of the country. This is the name of a country in northwestern Europe. It is sometimes called Holland in English, though this is properly one of its subregions. In English it is usually referred to using the definite article, the.
Norway(Country)English From Old English Norþweg meaning "north way". This is the name of a country in Scandinavia in Northern Europe.
Saudi Arabia(Country)English From the family name Al Su'ud combined with Arabia, referring to the Arabian Peninsula. This is a kingdom in the Middle East on the Arabian Peninsula. It was named by its founder Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud in 1932.
Spain(Country)English Derived 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)English, Medieval Dutch From Middle Dutch, 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.
Urartu(Region)Akkadian, Armenian, English From Akkadian 𒆳𒌨𒌒𒂅 (Urartu), meaning unknown, possibly of Old Armenian origin. This was the name of an ancient kingdom that existed between the 9th and 6th centuries BC in eastern Anatolia (modern Armenia and Turkey).
Yamato(Country)Japanese Possibly 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".
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.