Botswana (Country) Southern African, 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 southern 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.
Chili (Country) French, Dutch, Southern African, Afrikaans, Greek, Russian, Bulgarian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Mongolian, Indonesian, ThaiForm of
Chile in several languages.
Gana (Country) Western African, 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.
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.
Jerusalem (Settlement) English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Luxembourgish, Southern African, Afrikaans, Catalan, Bosnian, BiblicalFrom Hebrew
יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Yerushalayim), from an earlier Canaanite form like
Urushalim, probably meaning
"established by (the god) Shalim". This is the name of a city in Israel and Palestine. Originally a Canaanite city, it was conquered by the Israelites under King
David at the beginning of the 10th century BC. It is now regarded as a holy city by Jews, Christians and Muslims.
Kenya (Country & Mountain) English, Eastern African, 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".
Kongo (Region, River & Country) Central African, Kongo, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Russian, Bulgarian, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Turkish, GeorgianForm of
Congo in many languages.
Meksiko (Country & Settlement) Finnish, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Southern African, Indian, Afrikaans, Hindi, Bengali, Nepali, IndonesianFinnish, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Afrikaans, Hindi, Bengali, Nepali and Indonesian form of
Mexico. In Finnish it refers only to the country, not the capital city.
Tanganyika (Region & Country) Eastern African, Swahili, EnglishFrom Swahili
tanga "sail" and
nyika "wilderness". This is the name of a region in eastern Africa. It was a German then British colony until 1961 when it gained independence. In 1964 it united with the island of
Zanzibar to form the new country of
Tanzania.
Tanzania (Country) Eastern African, 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 eastern African country of Tanzania in 1964.
Timbuktu (Settlement) English, Arabic, Central African, BamilekeMeaning uncertain. It could be derived from Songhai meaning
"hollow, hole", or from Berber meaning
"place of small dunes". This is the name of a city in central Mali. Descriptions of the city's wealth and remoteness first reached Europe from the 16th-century Berber author Leo Africanus. Since then the city has been used in Western Culture as a symbol for a distant, mysterious place.
Uganda (Country) English, Eastern African, 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 eastern Africa.
Zambezi (River) Southern African, Chewa, Bemba, Tonga, Shona, EnglishThe name of a river in southern Africa, of uncertain meaning. It could possibly be from the name of the Bisa people of Zambia. According to the explorer David Livingstone it meant "great river".
Zambia (Country) Southern African, 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.
Zimbabwe (Country & Settlement) Southern African, 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.