ACHTERBERG (Settlement) Low GermanThe name of various villages and estates in the Netherlands and Germany, derived from Low German
achter "behind" and
berg "mountain, hill".
AFGHANISTAN (Country) Pashto, Arabic, Urdu, Indian, Hindi, English, German, Dutch, French, ItalianFrom Pashto
افغانستان (Afghanistan), from the Persian ethnic name
افغان (Afkhan) meaning "Afghan, Pashtun" combined with the Persian suffix
ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the name of a country in central Asia.
ANGOLA (Country) Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Polish, Croatian, SerbianPortuguese 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.
ANTWERPEN (Settlement) Dutch, German, Luxembourgish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Hungarian, Slovene, Croatian, BosnianDutch form of
ANTWERP, as well as the form in several other languages.
ASSISI (Settlement) Italian, English, GermanFrom Latin
Asisium, which is of unknown, possibly pre-Latin, origin. This is the name of a city in central Italy.
BABYLON (Settlement) English, German, Dutch, Biblical, Ancient Roman, Biblical Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical GreekGreek form of Akkadian
𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 (Babili), which appears to mean
"gateway of God", from Akkadian
𒆍 (babu) meaning "gate" and
𒀭 (ilu) meaning "God", though it may in fact derive from a non-Semitic language. This was the name of a major city in ancient Mesopotamia, the capital of the Babylonian Empire. It was located in present-day Iraq.
BELIZE (Country & River) English, Italian, Portuguese, German, DutchFrom 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.
BETHLEHEM (Settlement) English, German, Dutch, BiblicalMeans
"house of bread" in Hebrew, from the roots
בַּיִת (bayit) meaning "house" and
לֶחֶם (lechem) meaning "bread". This is the name of a city in Palestine. It appears in the both the Old Testament and the New Testament, notably as the town where
Jesus is born.
BOLL (Settlement) GermanFrom Middle High German meaning
"hill". This is the name of several towns in Germany.
BOLOGNA (Settlement) Italian, English, GermanFrom Latin
Bononia, possibly derived from a Celtic word meaning
"settlement". This is the name of a city in northern Italy.
BRETAGNE (Region) French, GermanFrench form of
Britannia (see
BRITAIN). In French this typically refers to the region known as Brittany in France, while Great Britain is called
Grande-Bretagne.
DEUTSCHLAND (Country) GermanDerived from the German
deutsch meaning "German" (ultimately from Germanic
þeudo "people") and
Land. This is the German endonym for
Germany.
ENGLAND (Country) English, German, Swedish, Danish, NorwegianFrom Old English
Englaland meaning
"land of the Angles", the Angles being one of the Germanic tribes that settled in the area in the post-Roman period.
ESSEN (Settlement) German, EnglishFrom older
Astnide, possibly a derivative of Old High German
asc meaning
"ash tree". This is the name of a city in Germany, founded in the 9th century.
FRANKREICH (Country) GermanDerived from German
Frank, the name of a Germanic tribe, and
Reich meaning "empire, realm". This is the German name for
France.
GHANA (Country) English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Czech, SlovakFrom 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.
GUINEA (Region, Country & Island) English, Italian, Spanish, GermanFrom Portuguese
Guiné, which is of unknown meaning, possibly of Berber origin. This name was used by the Portuguese to refer to a portion of western Africa. It was also applied by westerners to the island of New Guinea starting in the 16th century. It is now the name or part of the name of the countries of Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea and Papua New Guinea.
HOLLAND (1) (Political Subdivision & Country) Dutch, English, GermanFrom Old Dutch
holt "forest" and
lant "land". This is the name of two provinces (North and South Holland) in the Netherlands. It is sometimes used to refer to the entire country of the
Netherlands.
HOLSTEIN (Political Subdivision & Region) German, English, DutchFrom the name of a Saxon tribe, derived from Old Saxon
holt meaning "wood" and
sat meaning "inhabitant". This is the name of a historical region in Germany, near the Danish border. It forms part of the name of the modern German state of Schleswig-Holstein.
IRAK (Country) German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian, SlovakForm of
IRAQ.
IRAN (Country) Persian, Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Croatian, SerbianDerived from Middle Persian
Eran, related to Old Iranian
Arya meaning
"Iranian, Aryan". This is the name of a country in western Asia, formerly called
Persia in the West.
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.
JORDAN (River & Country) English, Danish, Norwegian, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, German, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Slovene, BiblicalRiver that flows between the countries of Jordan and Israel. The river's name in Hebrew is
יַרְדֵן (Yarden), and it is derived from
יָרַד (yarad) meaning
"descend" or
"flow down". The river has lent its name to the country to the east (in German, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish and Slovene this is only the name of the river, with the name of the country taking a different form).
KANADA (Country) German, Swedish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Russian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Turkish, AzerbaijaniForm of
CANADA in several languages.
KONGO (Region, River & Country) Central African, Kongo, German, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, Russian, Croatian, SerbianForm of
CONGO.
KOREA (Country) English, German, Dutch, Finnish, CzechFrom medieval Latin
Corea, itself derived from
GORYEO, the name of a kingdom that ruled most of the Korean Peninsula from the 10th to 14th centuries. This is the name of two countries, North and South Korea.
Hanguk and
Joseon are the Korean names for the countries.
KURDISTAN (Region) Kurdish, Arabic, English, French, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, RussianFrom Kurdish
کوردستان (Kurdistan), from the Persian ethnic name
کرد (Kord) meaning "Kurd" combined with the Persian suffix
ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the name of the region in the midst of Iran, Iraq and Turkey that is primarily inhabited by the Kurdish people.
LANDAU (Settlement) GermanFrom Old High German
lant meaning "land" and
auwa meaning "damp valley". This is the name of a town in the Palatinate region of Germany.
LEITZKAU (Settlement) GermanPossibly of Slavic origin. This is the name of a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
LYON (Settlement) French, English, GermanFrom Latin
Lugdunum, derived from the name of the Celtic god
LUGUS combined with Gaulish
dunon meaning "hill fort, citadel". This is the name of a city in central France.
MEIßEN (Settlement) GermanProbably of Slavic origin. This is the name of a town in eastern Germany.
MYANMAR (Country) English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, French, Indian, 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, Indian, Hindi, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, SanskritFrom Sanskrit
नेपाल (Nepal), of unknown meaning. This is the name of a landlocked country in south Asia.
NIGER (River & Country) English, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Croatian, Serbian, Late RomanMeaning unknown, possibly of Berber origin, though influenced by Latin
niger "black". This is the name of a river in western Africa (and a country that is named after it).
NIGERIA (Country) English, French, Italian, Spanish, GermanFrom the name of the
NIGER River, applied in the 19th century to the British colonial territory in western Africa. It continued to be used after the territory became an independent country in 1960.
NIL (River) Arabic, French, German, Luxembourgish, Catalan, Czech, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, AzerbaijaniForm of
NILE in various languages. In Arabic it is properly written with the definite article:
النيل (al-Nil).
OCHTRUP (Settlement) GermanThe name of a town in Germany, of uncertain meaning.
PADUA (Settlement) English, German, Spanish, DutchFrom Italian
Padova, Latin
Patavium, of unknown meaning. This is the name of a city in northern Italy.
PAKISTAN (Country) Urdu, Punjabi, English, Italian, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Slovak, Russian, Bulgarian, Croatian, SerbianFrom Persian
پاک (pak) meaning "pure" and the suffix
ستان (stan) meaning "land of". The name was coined in 1933 by the Pakistani nationalist Choudhry Rahmat Ali who justified it as an acronym of Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir and Sindh, plus the final three letters of Baluchistan.
PARIS (Settlement) French, English, GermanFrom the ancient Celtic tribe known as the Parisii. This is the capital city of France.
PEKING (Settlement) German, Dutch, Luxembourgish, Swedish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, English (Archaic)Form of
BEIJING in various languages, as well as an older English form.
PERU (Country) English, Portuguese, German, DutchFrom 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, BosnianFrom
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.
PRAG (Settlement) German, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic, Luxembourgish, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, TurkishGerman, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic, Luxembourgish, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian and Turkish form of
Praha (see
PRAGUE).
PROVENCE (Region) French, English, GermanFrom Latin
provincia meaning
"province", a Roman territorial division. This is the name a region in southern France, originally acquiring its name because it was the first Roman province beyond the Alps.
ROMAGNA (Region & Political Subdivision) Italian, English, GermanFrom Latin
ROMANIA, in this case the name of a historic region on the Adriatic coast of Italy (part of the modern administrative region of Emilia-Romagna).
SAMARRA (Settlement) Arabic, English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, GermanThis is the name of a city in Iraq, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate in the 9th century. It was possibly built at the site of the ancient Assyrian city of
Surmarrati, which is of uncertain meaning.
SCHWYZ (Settlement & Political Subdivision) German, English, SpanishMeaning uncertain, possibly related to Old High German
suedan "to burn" or possibly of Celtic origin. This is the name of a town (and a canton named for it) in central
Switzerland.
SENEGAL (River & Country) Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian, German, Croatian, SerbianFrom Portuguese, possibly from the name of the Berber Zenaga people of northern Senegal. This is the name of a river in western Africa, and a country named after it. It gained independence from France in 1960.
SOMALIA (Country) English, Italian, Spanish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, PolishFrom 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.
SUDAN (Country) English, Arabic, German, ItalianFrom Arabic
سُود (sud) 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:
السُودان (al-Sudan).
TEHERAN (Settlement) German, Dutch, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Romanian, Croatian, SerbianForm of
TEHRAN in several languages.
URAL (Region & River) Russian, English, German, Turkish, BashkirMeaning unknown, possibly from Turkic
aral meaning
"island, boundary". This is the name of a mountain range and a river in western Russia.
VALENCIA (Settlement & Region) Spanish, Italian, English, GermanThe name of a city and surrounding region in eastern Spain, originally named in Latin
Valentia (Edetanorum) meaning
"strength (of the Edetani people)", and derived from Latin
valentius "strength, vigour", from
valens "strong, vigorous". Besides the city in Spain, this is also the name of a city in Venezuala.