Paraguay (Country, River & Settlement) Spanish, English, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Czech, GuaraniThe name of a landlocked country in South
America. It is derived from a river of the same name, of uncertain meaning. It possibly means
"water from the sea" in Guaraní, from
para "sea",
gua "from" and
y "water". In Guaraní
Paraguái is the name of the country and the river, with
Paraguay the name of the capital city Asunción.
Pays-Bas (Country) FrenchFrom French
pays "country, land" and
bas "low". This is the French name for the
Netherlands (for which it is also a translation).
Persia (Country) Ancient Roman, English, Spanish, ItalianLatin form of Greek
Περσίς (Persis), from Old Persian
Parsa. This is the name used in the West for a region in western
Asia, as well as several empires that were based there, including the Achaemenid Empire, Parthian Empire, and Sasanian Empire. This was the Western name for the country of Iran until 1935, when the king requested that the native name
Iran be used instead.
Peru (Country) English, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Russian, Ukrainian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Hungarian, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Georgian, HindiFrom Spanish
Perú, older
Birú, which was possibly derived from the name of a chieftain (who nevertheless resided in modern-day Panama).
Philippines (Country) English, FrenchFrom Spanish
Filipinas, which was derived from the given name
Felipe, bestowed in 1543 in honour of the crown prince Philip (later king Philip II) of Spain by the explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, who originally used it only to refer to the islands of Leyte and Samar. It now refers to the entire archipelago and nation of the Philippines in southeastern
Asia. In English it is usually referred to using the definite article,
the.
Poland (Country) EnglishFrom the name of the Slavic tribe of the Poles, derived from the medieval Slavic word
polje meaning "field", combined with
land. This is the name of a country in Eastern
Europe.
Portugal (Country) Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, Galician, Catalan, German, Dutch, Luxembourgish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Indonesian, MalayFrom
Portugale, which was derived from
Portus Cale, the old name of the city of Porto. The name of the city was later applied to the entire country.
Romania (Country & Region) English, Italian, Ancient RomanFrom Latin meaning
"land of the Romans" (see
Rome). This is the name of a country in Eastern
Europe, so named in the 16th century because of its historic and linguistic connections to the Roman Empire.
... [more] Ruanda (Country) German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Catalan, Finnish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Turkish, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, English, FrenchForm of
Rwanda in several languages, as well as a variant spelling in other languages.
Ruotsi (Country) FinnishProbably borrowed from Old Norse
róðr meaning
"rowing", referring to people from the coastal region of Roslagen in Sweden. This is the Finnish name for
Sweden.
Russia (Country) English, Italian, Late RomanDerived from the name of the medieval state of
Rus. The modern country of Russia includes the eastern portions of Rus, and has also expanded far to the east across
Asia.
Rwanda (Country) Rwandan, English, French, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Czech, Slovak, SwahiliOf Kinyarwanda origin, of uncertain meaning. This is the name of a small landlocked country in central
Africa.
Sakartvelo (Country) GeorgianFrom Georgian
ქართველი (kartveli), a term referring to a Georgian person, itself derived from the central region of
ქართლი (Kartli). It is prefixed with
სა (sa), indicating a place. This is the Georgian name for the country of
Georgia.
Salvador (Country & Settlement) Spanish, Portuguese, French, Hungarian, Czech, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek, MongolianMeans
"saviour" in Spanish, referring to
Jesus. This is the name of a country in Central America. Since 1915 its official name has been
El Salvador, with the definite article. Many languages also include the Spanish article at the front of the name.
... [more] Saudi Arabia (Country) EnglishFrom 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.
Scotland (Country) EnglishMeans
"land of the Scots", from Latin
Scoti meaning "Gaelic speaker". This is the name of a country (part of the
United Kingdom) in the north of the island of Great
Britain.
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, TagalogFrom 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.
Shqipëri (Country) AlbanianFrom Albanian
shqip meaning
"Albanian", which is of uncertain origin. It is possibly from
shqipe, a variant of
shkabë meaning "eagle". It could also be from
shqipoj meaning "to say clearly". This is the modern Albanian name for
Albania, replacing
Arbënia around the 18th century. It is usually written with the definite article suffixed:
Shqipëria.
Sin (Country) Arabic, HebrewArabic and Hebrew form of
China. In Arabic it is properly written with the definite article:
الصين (al-Ṣīn).
Singapur (Country, Settlement & Island) Hindi, Urdu, Spanish, German, Estonian, Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, Uzbek, Turkish, ArmenianForm of
Singapore in several languages.
Somalia (Country) English, Italian, Spanish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Romanian, Greek, Albanian, Indonesian, MalayFrom 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.
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".
Sri Lanka (Country & Island) English, German, Dutch, Afrikaans, French, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Romanian, Albanian, Greek, Turkish, Malay, IndonesianFrom Sinhalese
ශ්රී ලංකා (Shrī Lankā), derived from the Sanskrit honorific
श्री (śrī) meaning "holy, sacred" combined with the name of the legendary island of
Lanka. This is an island nation in southern
Asia. Formerly known as
Ceylon when it was a colony of the Portuguese, Dutch and English, the country adopted the name
Sri Lanka when it became a republic in 1972.
Sudan (Country) English, Arabic, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Indonesian, Malay, Chinese, ThaiFrom 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).
Suomi (Country) FinnishPossibly from the Balto-Slavic root
zeme meaning
"ground, earth". This is the Finnish name for
Finland.
Suriye (Political Subdivision & Country) TurkishTurkish form of
Syria. This was the name of a province of the Ottoman Empire.
Sweden (Country) English, Medieval DutchFrom 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.
Switzerland (Country) EnglishFrom
Switzer, a word meaning "Swiss", ultimately derived from the name of the Swiss town and canton of
Schwyz, plus
land. This is the name of a country in central
Europe.
Syria (Country & Region) English, Polish, Norwegian, Greek, Ancient Roman, Ancient GreekFrom Greek
Συρία (Syria), which was probably a variant of
Assyria, used in an expanded sense to refer to the northern Levant. This was the name of a province of the Roman Empire. It is now the name of a country in western
Asia, having gained independence from the Ottoman Empire early in the 20th century.
Tajikistan (Country) English, Urdu, Hindi, Arabic, Indonesian, Malay, TagalogFrom Tajik
Тоҷикистон (Tojikiston), which is derived from the name of the Tajik people combined with the Persian suffix
ستان (stān) meaning "land of". The ethnic name is of debated origin, but it is generally believed to be from Persian
تازیک (tāzīk) meaning "Arab". This is the name of a country in central
Asia.
Tanganyika (Region & Country) Swahili, EnglishFrom Swahili
tanga "sail" and
nyika "wilderness". This is the name of a region in East
Africa. It was a German then British colony until 1961 when it gained independence. In 1964 it united with the island of
Zanzibar to create the new country of
Tanzania.
Tanzania (Country) Swahili, English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Romanian, Greek, Armenian, Georgian, Indonesian, MalayFrom 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.
Thai (Country) Thai, KhmerPossibly from a Thai root meaning
"person". This is the Thai word for
Thailand, usually written in the compounds
เมืองไทย (Meueng Thaiy) meaning "region of Thailand",
ประเทศไทย (Prathet Thaiy) meaning "nation of Thailand" or
ราชอาณาจักรไทย (Rachanachakn Thaiy) meaning "kingdom of Thailand".