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.
Buganda (Region & Political Subdivision) GandaThe name of a region within Uganda and also the root of the country's name (see
Uganda).
Chili (Country) French, Dutch, Afrikaans, Greek, Russian, Bulgarian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Tajik, Mongolian, Indonesian, ThaiForm of
Chile in several languages.
El Salvador (Country) Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, English, German, Dutch, Afrikaans, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Estonian, Finnish, Bosnian, Macedonian, Greek, Hebrew, Turkish, Indonesian, Malay, TagalogForm of
Salvador with the Spanish definite article, which was officially added to the name in 1915. Some languages include the untranslated article, some do not, and some use both forms.
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.
Jemen (Country) German, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Dutch, Afrikaans, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, MacedonianForm of
Yemen in several languages.
Jerusalem (Settlement) English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Luxembourgish, 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, 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) 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.
Libya (Country & Region) Berber, English, Norwegian, Finnish, Turkish, Hausa, Swahili, Indonesian, Malay, Tagalog, Ancient RomanFrom
Λιβύη (Libye), the Ancient Greek name for North
Africa. It was derived from the Berber tribe of the
Libu, attested as
rbw in Ancient Egyptian. This name was revived in 1934 when the Italian colonies of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were merged, carrying forward when the country gained independence in 1951. It is called
ليبيا (Lībiyā) in Arabic.
Malawi (Country) Chewa, English, Swahili, French, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Turkmen, ArabicPossibly from Chewa
malawi meaning
"flame, fire". This is the name of a landlocked country in the south of
Africa. It was renamed from Nyasaland when the country gained independence from
Britain in 1964. Hastings Banda, the country's first president and the man who chose the name, claimed to have seen it on an old map in the form
Maravi, referring to a lake.
Mali (Country) Manding, Fula, Arabic, French, Portuguese, Italian, Catalan, English, German, Dutch, Afrikaans, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Romanian, Hungarian, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, Greek, Hebrew, Armenian, Georgian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek, Persian, Urdu, Sinhalese, Hindi, Chinese, Mongolian, Burmese, Thai, Lao, Indonesian, Malay, TagalogA landlocked country in West
Africa, named after an empire that lasted until the 17th century. The empire's name is possibly from a dialectal variant of the name of the Mande peoples. Alternatively, it could be from the name of the empire's capital (which has not been located) or from a Mande word meaning "hippopotamus".
Meksiko (Country & Settlement) Finnish, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, 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.
Nairobi (Settlement) English, Swahili, Kikuyu, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Hungarian, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Turkish, Japanese, KoreanFrom Maasai
enkare nyrobi meaning
"cold water", referencing a nearby river. This is the name of the capital city of
Kenya. It was founded in 1899 by the British colonial authorities.
Namibia (Country) English, German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Polish, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Albanian, Georgian, Armenian, Swahili, Indonesian, Malay, Japanese, KoreanFrom the name of the Namib Desert, meaning
"desert, vast place" in Khoekhoe. This is a country in southwestern
Africa.
Palestina (Country & Region) Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Romanian, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, Afrikaans, Russian, Czech, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Indonesian, Tagalog, HebrewForm of
Palestine in several languages. In modern Hebrew this refers to the region, with
פָלַסְטִין (Falastin) used for the country.
Paris (Settlement) French, English, Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Romanian, Turkish, Persian, HausaFrom the ancient Celtic tribe known as the Parisii. This is the capital city of
France.
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.
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.
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.
Timbuktu (Settlement) English, Arabic, 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, 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.
Zambezi (River) Chewa, Bemba, Tonga, Shona, EnglishThe name of a river in the south of
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) 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) 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.