Turkey (Country) EnglishFrom Latin
Turcia, derived from the ethnonym
Turk, which is from Old Turkic possibly meaning "ancestry". This is the name of a country situated on the Anatolian peninsula. It is called
Türkiye in Turkish.
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, MalayFrom
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.
Ukraina (Country) Polish, Russian, Macedonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Turkmen, Albanian, Armenian, Georgian, Hebrew, IndonesianForm of
Ukraine in several languages.
Ukraine (Country) English, French, German, Danish, MalayFrom Ukrainian
Україна (Ukrayina), which is probably from Old East Slavic
ꙋкраина (ukraina) meaning
"boundary, borderland", derived from
ꙋ (u) meaning "at, from" and
краи (krai) meaning "edge, end, rim". This is the name of a country in Eastern
Europe.
United Kingdom (Country) EnglishThe name of a Western European island country, composed of the smaller countries of
England,
Wales,
Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is almost always written with the definite article
the. This name came into use in the year 1801, when the realm was officially renamed from the
Kingdom of Great Britain to the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. After
Ireland became independent in 1922 it was formally renamed the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
United States (Country) EnglishThe name of a country in North America, almost always written with the definite article
the. The country is officially named the
United States of America, and is also commonly called
America or the
USA. It was selected in 1776 when 13 British colonies on the eastern coast united to declare their independence from
Britain. Etymologically, the English words in the name are both of Latin origin (
unitus and
status).
Urdun (River & Country) ArabicArabic form of
Jordan, usually written with the definite article:
الأردن (al-ʾUrdun).
Uruguay (Country & River) Spanish, English, French, Italian, Romanian, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Czech, TurkishThe name of a country in South
America, derived from a river of the same name. It is possibly from Guaraní
uruguá, referring to a type of water snail. Alternatively it could come from
uru "quail",
gua "from" and
y "water".
Venezuela (Country) Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovene, Croatian, Albanian, Turkish, Indonesian, MalayPossibly from Italian
Veneziola meaning
"little Venice". This is the name of a country on the northern coast of South
America. The region was supposedly named this in 1499 by a Spanish expedition (which included Amerigo Vespucci) because an indigenous town on Lake Maracaibo was built on stilts over the water, reminiscent of the Italian city. Another theory suggests that the country's name comes from
Veneciuela, the name of a local people.
Vietnam (Country) English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Italian, Spanish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Greek, Indonesian, MalayFrom
Việt Nam, meaning
"southern Yue", derived from Sino-Vietnamese
越 (việt), referring to the Yue people, and
南 (nam) meaning "south". This is the name of a country in southeastern
Asia.
Viro (Country) FinnishFrom the name of the old region of
Virumaa in northern Estonia, which got its name from the Finnic tribe of the Vironians. This is the Finnish name for
Estonia.
Viti (Country & Island) Fijian, EnglishFijian form of
Fiji. This name is also used in English (and other languages) to refer to the main Fijian island of Viti Levu.
Yamato (Country) JapanesePossibly 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".
Yemen (Country) English, Danish, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Turkish, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Chinese, Korean, Thai, TagalogFrom Arabic
يمن (Yaman), probably derived from
يمين (yamīn) meaning
"right hand, south". This is the name of a country at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula.
Zaire (River & Country) Portuguese, EnglishOlder 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.
Zambia (Country) Chewa, Bemba, Tonga, English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Slovak, Hungarian, RomanianFrom the name of the
Zambezi River. It was adopted as the name of the African country of Zambia, formerly called Northern
Rhodesia, when it became independent of the United Kingdom in 1964.
Zealand (Country) English, Danish, Norwegian, SwedishFrom Dutch
Zeeland, from Middle Dutch
Seelant, derived from
see "sea" and
lant "land". This is the name of a province in the western
Netherlands (now typically called
Zeeland in many languages). It is also borne by the country of New Zealand in the South Pacific, which was named by the Dutch in the 17th century.
Zhongguo (Country) ChineseMeans
"middle kingdom", from Chinese
中 (zhōng) meaning "middle" and
国 (guó) meaning "country, state". This is the Chinese name for
China. The name originally referred to China's central regions, as opposed to the territory on the fringes.
Zimbabve (Country) Russian, Ukrainian, Latvian, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Armenian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek, MongolianForm of
Zimbabwe in several languages.
Zimbabwe (Country & Settlement) Shona, Ndebele, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, RomanianFrom 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.