Egypt (Country) EnglishFrom 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.
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
Ἑλλάδα (Hellada), derived from
Ἕλλην (Hellen) meaning
"Greek", which is of uncertain origin. This is the Greek endonym for
Greece.
England (Country) English, German, Swedish, Danish, NorwegianFrom 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. This is the name of a country (part of the
United Kingdom) on the southern portion of the island of Great Britain. The United Kingdom is sometimes (inaccurately) referred to as
England.
Estonia (Country) English, Italian, Spanish, Indonesian, Malay, Late RomanFrom Estonian
eesti meaning
"Estonian", a word borrowed from Low German in the 17th century. It is of uncertain origin. It could be from a Germanic rendering of the Baltic tribe of the Aesti, mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus.
Estoniya (Country) Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, UzbekRussian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik and Uzbek form of
Estonia.
Ethiopia (Country) EnglishFrom 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.
Etiopia (Country) Italian, Polish, Norwegian, Finnish, Georgian, Korean, IndonesianItalian, Polish, Norwegian, Finnish, Georgian, Korean and Indonesian form of
Aethiopia (see
Ethiopia).
Fiji (Country) English, Portuguese, Hindi, Indonesian, MalayEnglish form of Fijian
Viti, of unknown meaning, the name of the largest island (called
Viti Levu meaning "great Viti") of the archipelago. The change from
Viti to
Fiji is reportedly explained by the fact that the British (on an 18th-century expedition of James Cook) first heard it pronounced this way by the neighbouring Tongans.
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
Franken, the name of the Germanic tribe of Franks, and
Reich meaning "empire, realm". This is the German name for
France.
Gabon (Country) English, French, Italian, Romanian, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Turkish, Indonesian, MalayDerived from Portuguese
gabão meaning
"cloak, overcoat", referring to the shape of the Gabon Estuary. This is the name of a country on the western coast of central Africa.
Gallia (Region, Political Subdivision & Country) Ancient Roman, Italian, GreekLatin name for the historical region of
Gaul. It is derived from the Latin ethnic word
Gallus, referring to the Gauls (Celts of continental Europe), probably ultimately derived from the Celtic root *
galn- "be able".
... [more] Gana (Country) Akan, Ewe, Portuguese, Russian, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian, Turkish, Georgian, Armenian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, Uzbek, Mongolian, KoreanForm of
Ghana.
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.
Ghana (Country) English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Arabic, Indonesian, MalayFrom 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.
Gorjestan (Country) PersianFrom Persian
گرج (Gorj) meaning "Georgia (country)" combined with the suffix
ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the modern Persian name for the country of
Georgia.
Greece (Country) EnglishEnglish form of Latin
Graecia, the name used by the Romans for the land of the Greeks, derived from Greek
Γραικός (Graikos), which is of uncertain origin. It is possibly derived from the city of Graia in Boeotia.
Guatemala (Country) Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian, Catalan, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, TurkishFrom Nahuatl
Cuauhtemallan meaning
"place of the woodpile". This is the name of a country in Central America.
Guinea (Region, Country & Island) English, Italian, Spanish, GermanFrom Portuguese
Guiné, which is of unknown meaning, possibly of Berber origin. This name was used by the Portuguese to refer to a portion of Western Africa. It was also applied by westerners to the island of New Guinea starting in the 16th century. It is now the name or part of the full name of the countries of Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea and Papua New Guinea.
Gvatemala (Country) Russian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Bosnian, Slovene, Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Tajik, Georgian, HindiForm of
Guatemala in several languages.
Hayastan (Country) ArmenianFrom the Armenian word
հայ (hay) meaning "Armenian" combined with the Persian suffix
ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the Armenian name for
Armenia.
Hayk (Country) Armenian (Archaic)From the Armenian word
հայ (hay) meaning
"Armenian", of uncertain ultimate origin. Some theories claim it is from the name of the Armenian hero
Hayk, though it is more likely that they simply derive from the same source. This is an archaic Armenian name for
Armenia; the modern name is
Հայաստան (Hayastan).
Hind (Country) ArabicArabic form of
India, usually written with the definite article:
الهند (al-Hind).
Holland 1 (Political Subdivision & Country) Dutch, English, German, Danish, IcelandicFrom Old Dutch
holt "forest" and
lant "land". This is the name of two provinces (North and South Holland) in the Netherlands. It is sometimes informally used to refer to the entire country of the
Netherlands.
Hollande (Political Subdivision & Country) FrenchFrench form of
Holland 1, referring to the provinces and sometimes the entire country.
Hungary (Country) EnglishFrom Latin
Hungaria, derived from Byzantine Greek
Οὔγγροι (Oungroi), from Turkic
Onogur meaning
"ten tribes". This is the name of a country in Eastern Europe that 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.
Igaunija (Country) LatvianFrom Latvian
igaunis meaning
"Estonian", derived from the name of the old region of
Ugandi in southern Estonia. This is the Latvian name of
Estonia.
India (Country) English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Estonian, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Albanian, Greek, Indonesian, Malay, Thai, Tagalog, Ancient Roman, Ancient GreekDerived from the name of the
Indus River. In many languages of India, the name
Bharat is used to refer to the country. However, some southern Indian languages use spellings based on English
India.
Indija (Country) Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovene, Macedonian, Latvian, LithuanianSerbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovene, Macedonian, Latvian and Lithuanian form of
India.
Indo (Country) Japanese, KoreanJapanese and Korean form of
India. It is usually written in katakana in Japan and Hangul in Korea.
Indonesia (Country) Indonesian, Malay, Buginese, Minangkabau, English, Italian, Spanish, Norwegian, Finnish, KoreanFrom Greek
Ἰνδός (Indos), referring to the
Indus, combined with
νῆσος (nesos) meaning "island". This name has been used since the 18th century by colonial powers to refer to the Indonesian archipelago and since 1945 to refer to the independent nation.
Irak (Country) German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovak, Greek, Turkish, Armenian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Thai, Lao, Mongolian, IndonesianForm of
Iraq in several languages.
Iran (Country) Persian, Arabic, English, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Greek, Hebrew, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Urdu, Hindi, Indonesian, Malay, Burmese, Thai, Tagalog, Japanese, Korean, MongolianDerived from Middle Persian
Eran, related to Old Iranian
Arya meaning
"Iranian, Aryan". This is the name of a country in western Asia, formerly called
Persia in the West.
Ireland (Country & Island) EnglishDerived from Irish Gaelic
Éire and English
land. This is the name of an island to the west of Great Britain. The country of Ireland occupies the majority of the island.
Israel (Country) English, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Indonesian, Malay, Biblical, Biblical GreekFrom the name of the Old Testament hero Jacob, who was also called
Israel. This was the name of an ancient kingdom that existed until the 8th century BC. The modern country of Israel is named for it.
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, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Hindi, BurmeseFrom Portuguese
Japão, which was derived from a Malay form of
Riben, the Chinese reading of
Nippon.
Jemen (Country) German, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Dutch, Afrikaans, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, MacedonianForm of
Yemen in several languages.
Jordan (River & Country) English, Danish, Norwegian, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, German, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Slovene, BiblicalRiver that 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 (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).
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.
Kanada (Country) German, Swedish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Russian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Uzbek, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, Indonesian, Malay, JapaneseForm of
Canada in several languages.
Kazahstan (Country) Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian, RomanianSerbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian and Romanian form of Kazakh
Қазақстан (see
Kazakhstan).
Kenya (Country & Mountain) English, Kikuyu, Swahili, French, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Romanian, Greek, TurkishThe country is named for Mount Kenya, which in the Kikuyu language is called
Kĩrĩnyaga meaning
"the one having stripes".
Kolumbija (Country, Region, Settlement & Political Subdivision) Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovene, Macedonian, Latvian, LithuanianSerbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovene, Macedonian, Latvian and Lithuanian form of
Columbia and
Colombia.