Amazonas (River & Political Subdivision) Portuguese, Spanish, German, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Czech, SlovakPortuguese, Spanish and German form of
Amazon (the river). This is also the name of states and departments within
Brazil,
Venezuela,
Colombia and
Peru. Other languages such as English and French have different names for the river but use
Amazonas to refer to the regions.
Angola (Country) Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Turkish, Georgian, Armenian, Indonesian, MalayPortuguese form of
Ngola, the royal title of the kings of Ndongo, an African kingdom that was conquered by the Portuguese in the 17th-century. It was a Portuguese colony until 1975, when it became an independent country.
Argentina (Country) Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Czech, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Lithuanian, Hebrew, Georgian, Azerbaijani, Indonesian, MalayFrom Latin
argentinus meaning
"silvery", a derivative of
argentum meaning "silver". This is the name of a country in South
America, arising from a Latinized form of Spanish
Río de la Plata meaning "river of silver".
Bangladesh (Country) Bengali, Assamese, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Bulgarian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Mongolian, Armenian, Hebrew, Persian, Indonesian, MalayFrom Bengali
বাংলাদেশ (Bānglādesh) meaning
"country of the Bengali people", from the name of the Bengali people
বাংলা (Bānglā) combined with
দেশ (desh) "country, state". The ethnic name is derived from that of the ancient kingdom of
Vanga. This is the name of a country in south
Asia.
Belize (Country & River) English, Italian, Portuguese, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Turkish, Indonesian, MalayFrom Spanish
Belice, earlier
Balis, from the name of the Belize River, which may itself be from Mayan
beliz meaning
"muddy water". This is the name of a country on the Atlantic coast of Central
America.
Brunei (Country) Malay, Indonesian, English, German, Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Albanian, Georgian, Turkish, Hindi, TagalogPossibly from Sanskrit
वरुण, the Hindu god
Varuna or figuratively meaning
"water, ocean". However, according to tradition,
Brunei was from the Malay phrase
baru nah meaning "there!" or "that's it!", which was supposedly declared by Brunei's first sultan Muhammad Shah when he discovered it in the 14th century.
... [more] Chaves (Settlement) Portuguese, SpanishFrom the Roman name
Flavius. This is the name of a Portuguese city, which was originally named for the Roman emperor Vespasian, whose family name was Flavius.
Chile (Country) Spanish, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Hungarian, Czech, Portuguese, Romanian, GeorgianThe name of a country in South
America, possibly from Quechua
chiri meaning
"cold" or Mapuche
chülle meaning
"seagull". This name was applied to the region by the conquistador Diego de Almagro.
Congo (River & Country) English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, DanishFrom
Kongo, of uncertain origin, the name of a kingdom in central
Africa that existed from the 14th to 19th century. The Congo River (also called the
Zaire River) was named after the kingdom. Belgian and French colonies were established in the 19th century, named after the river, which eventually led to two African countries, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) and the Republic of the Congo.
Dubai (Settlement & Political Subdivision) English, Portuguese, Italian, Catalan, Romanian, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Turkish, Hindi, Bengali, Indonesian, Malay, Tagalog, ChineseFrom Arabic
دبيّ (Dubayy), of uncertain meaning, possibly related to Arabic
دبّ (dabba) meaning
"to creep, to crawl", referring to the slow flow of a creek in the area. This is the name of an emirate and city in the United Arab Emirates.
Europa (Region) Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Galician, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Croatian, Kazakh, Ancient RomanForm of
Europe in several languages.
Fátima (Settlement) PortugueseDerived from the Arabic feminine name
Fatima, apparently after a Moorish princess who converted to Christianity during the Reconquista. This is the name of a town in
Portugal, which became an important Christian pilgrimage center after 1917 when three local children reported witnessing repeated apparitions of the Virgin Mary.
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.
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.
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.
Hong Kong (Political Subdivision, Settlement & Island) English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, Turkish, Persian, Hindi, Indonesian, Malay, TagalogFrom Cantonese
香港 (Hoenggong), a compound of
香 (hoeng) meaning "fragrant" and
香 (gong) meaning "port, harbour". This is the name of a city, island and special administrative region of southeastern
China.
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.
Laos (Country) French, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek, Turkmen, Greek, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Hebrew, Hindi, Nepali, Malay, Indonesian, TagalogThe name of a country in southeastern
Asia, derived from the Lao people, the majority ethnic group. Their name may be derived from an Austroasiatic root meaning "human". The name
Laos was originally applied to the region by
France, who established it as a colony in 1893. It achieved independence in 1953.
Madrid (Settlement & Political Subdivision) Spanish, Asturian, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, French, Italian, English, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek, Turkmen, Mongolian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Hindi, Indonesian, Malay, TagalogFrom Old Spanish
Magerit, itself from Arabic
مجريط (Majrīṭ), of uncertain meaning. It may be derived from Arabic
مجرى (majrā) meaning
"watercourse, channel" or from Latin
matrix meaning
"source, origin (of a river)". This is the name of the capital city of
Spain as well as an autonomous community surrounding it.
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".
México (Country & Settlement) Spanish, Portuguese, Finnish, Estonian, SloveneSpanish (and Portuguese) form of
Mexico. This native spelling is also used in several other languages to refer to the capital city, while the name of the country has other forms.
Miranda (Settlement & Political Subdivision) Spanish, PortuguesePossibly a derivative of Latin
mirandus "admirable, wonderful". This is the name of several towns in
Spain,
Portugal and the Americas. It is also the name of a Venezuelan state.
Moscou (Settlement & River) French, Portuguese (Brazilian), CatalanFrench, Brazilian Portuguese and Catalan form of
Moscow. In Portuguese it refers to both the city and the river, while in French and Catalan it only refers to the city.
Myanmar (Country) English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Dutch, French, Czech, Romanian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Turkish, HindiFrom Burmese
မြန်မာ (Myanma), the name of the main Burmese ethnic group (also called the Bamar), which is of unknown origin. This is the name of a country in southeastern
Asia. It was formerly called
Burma, derived from a variant of this term.
Nepal (Country) Nepali, Hindi, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Romanian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Greek, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Indonesian, Malay, SanskritFrom Sanskrit
नेपाल (Nepāl), of unknown meaning. This is the name of a landlocked country in south
Asia.
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.
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).
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.
Praga (Settlement) Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Slovene, Russian, Bulgarian, GreekItalian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Slovene, Russian, Bulgarian and Greek form of
Praha (see
Prague).
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.
Santana (Settlement) PortugueseThe name of several places in the Portuguese-speaking world, in honour of Saint
Anna.
Santiago (Settlement) Spanish, PortugueseThis is the name of several cities in
Spain and
Portugal, so named for Saint
James (see the given name
Santiago for more information). It is also used for many other cities in the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking worlds, notably the capital city of Chile.
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.
Sousa (River) PortuguesePossibly derived from Latin
salsus "salty" or
saxa "rocks", but likely of pre-Latin origin. This is the name of a river in
Portugal.
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.
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.
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.
Washington (Settlement & Political Subdivision) English, German, Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish, PortugueseMeans
"settlement belonging to Wassa's people", from the given name
Wassa and Old English
tun meaning "enclosure, yard, town". This is the name of a town in northern
England. It is also the name of the capital city and a state in the
United States, both named after the president George Washington (1732-1799), whose surname was derived from the name of the English town.
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.