Afganistan (Country) Russian, Polish, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Bulgarian, Finnish, Estonian, Icelandic, Greek, IndonesianForm of
Afghanistan in several languages.
Afghanistan (Country) Pashto, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, English, German, Dutch, French, Italian, MalayFrom Pashto
افغانستان (Afghānistān), from the Persian ethnic name
افغان (Afghān) meaning "Afghan, Pashtun" combined with the Persian suffix
ستان (stān) meaning "land of". This is the name of a country in central
Asia.
Alankomaat (Country) FinnishFrom Finnish
alanko "lowland" and
maat "lands". This is the Finnish name for the
Netherlands (for which it is also a translation).
Albaniya (Country) Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, UzbekRussian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik and Uzbek form of
Albania.
Amerika (Region & Country) German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Luxembourgish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Hungarian, Hebrew, Albanian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Georgian, Kazakh, Uzbek, Tatar, Bashkir, Chechen, Indonesian, Malay, JapaneseForm of
America, used to refer to the continents and sometimes to the
United States of America.
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, MalayPortuguese 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.
Arabestan (Region & Country) PersianFrom Persian
عرب (ʿarab) meaning "Arab" combined with the suffix
ستان (stān) meaning "land of". This is the Persian name for both the Arabian Peninsula and the country of
Saudi Arabia (alongside the fuller form
عربستان سعودی (ʿArabestān e-Saʿūdī)).
Argentina (Country) Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Czech, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Lithuanian, Hebrew, Georgian, Azerbaijani, Indonesian, MalayFrom Latin
argentinus meaning
"silvery", a derivative of
argentum meaning "silver". This is the name of a country in South
America, arising from a Latinized form of Spanish
Río de la Plata meaning "river of silver".
Armenia (Country) English, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Polish, Greek, Norwegian, Finnish, Indonesian, Malay, Ancient Roman, Ancient GreekFrom Greek
Ἀρμενία (Armenia), which was from Old Persian
Armina, which is itself probably of Armenian origin. This is the name of a country in the Caucasus region, called
Hayastan in Armenian.
Bahrain (Country & Island) Arabic, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Romanian, Catalan, Indonesian, Malay, TagalogMeans
"two seas" in Arabic, derived from
بحر (baḥr) meaning "sea" combined with the dual suffix
ين (ayn). This is the name of a small island country in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Saudi Arabia. In Arabic it is properly written with the definite article:
البحرين (al-Baḥrayn).
Bangladesh (Country) Bengali, Assamese, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Bulgarian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Mongolian, Armenian, Hebrew, Persian, Indonesian, MalayFrom Bengali
বাংলাদেশ (Bānglādesh) meaning
"country of the Bengali people", from the name of the Bengali people
বাংলা (Bānglā) combined with
দেশ (desh) "country, state". The ethnic name is derived from that of the ancient kingdom of
Vanga. This is the name of a country in south
Asia.
Belize (Country & River) English, Italian, Portuguese, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Turkish, Indonesian, MalayFrom Spanish
Belice, earlier
Balis, from the name of the Belize River, which may itself be from Mayan
beliz meaning
"muddy water". This is the name of a country on the Atlantic coast of Central
America.
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, MalayFrom 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).
Botsvana (Country) Russian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Icelandic, Bulgarian, Albanian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Armenian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek, MongolianForm of
Botswana in several languages.
Botswana (Country) Tswana, English, Shona, German, French, Italian, Catalan, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, RomanianMeans
"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.
Brazilia (Country & Settlement) Romanian, GeorgianRomanian and Georgian form of
Brazil. This is also the Georgian name for Brazil's capital city
Brasília.
Brunei (Country) Malay, Indonesian, English, German, Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Albanian, Georgian, Turkish, Hindi, TagalogPossibly from Sanskrit
वरुण, the Hindu god
Varuna or figuratively meaning
"water, ocean". However, according to tradition,
Brunei was from the Malay phrase
baru nah meaning "there!" or "that's it!", which was supposedly declared by Brunei's first sultan Muhammad Shah when he discovered it in the 14th century.
... [more] Čad (Body of Water & Country) Czech, Slovak, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Macedonian, SloveneCzech, Slovak, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Macedonian and Slovene form of Arabic
تشاد (see
Chad).
Cameroon (Country) EnglishFrom the name the Portuguese gave to the Wouri River,
Camarões, meaning
"shrimp, prawns". It was later applied to the area, becoming
Kamerun when it was a German colony. This is the name of a country in central
Africa.
Canada (Country) English, French, Italian, Dutch, Danish, NorwegianDerived 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.
Cathay (Country) EnglishFrom Old Turkic
Khitai, the name of a people who ruled northern China as the Liao dynasty from the 10th to 12th century, also called the Khitan people. This is an archaic English synonym for
China.
Česko (Country) Czech, SlovakFrom the name of the Slavic tribe of the Czechs (see
Čechy). This is the Czech name for the Czech Republic.
Ceylon (Island & Country) EnglishFormer name of the country of
Sri Lanka. It is derived from Portuguese
Ceilão, ultimately from a Pali form of Sanskrit
सिंहल (siṃhala) meaning
"lion-like".
Chad (Body of Water & Country) English, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Indonesian, MalayFrom 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.
Chile (Country) Spanish, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Hungarian, Czech, Portuguese, Romanian, GeorgianThe name of a country in South
America, possibly from Quechua
chiri meaning
"cold" or Mapuche
chülle meaning
"seagull". This name was applied to the region by the conquistador Diego de Almagro.
Chili (Country) French, Dutch, Afrikaans, Greek, Russian, Bulgarian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Tajik, Mongolian, Indonesian, ThaiForm of
Chile in several languages.
Colombie (Country & Political Subdivision) FrenchFrench form of
Colombia and sometimes of
Columbia (for example
Colombie-Britannique for
British Columbia).
Comoros (Country) EnglishFrom French
Comores, derived from Arabic
qamar meaning
"moon". This is the name of an island country off the eastern coast of
Africa in the Indian Ocean.
Congo (River & Country) English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, DanishFrom
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.
Cymru (Country) WelshFrom the Celtic roots *
kom "with, together" and *
mrogis "territory, region". This is the Welsh name for
Wales.
Cyprus (Island & Country) English, DutchFrom Greek
Κύπρος (Kypros), which may get its name from the cypress tree (Greek
κυπάρισσος). This is the name of an island country in the eastern Mediterranean. Although considered one nation by most other countries, the northern part of the island is occupied by Turkish forces and claims independence.
Czechia (Country) EnglishEnglish form of
Čechy (via Polish
Czechy), used as an alternative name for the Czech Republic.
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 German
deutsch meaning "German" (ultimately from Germanic *
þeudō "people") and
Land. This is the German endonym for
Germany.
Dogil (Country) KoreanDerived via Japanese from Dutch
Duits meaning "German". This is the Korean name for
Germany.