Romanian Place Names

Africa (Region) English, Italian, Romanian, Ancient Roman
Of Latin origin, possibly from the Afri people who lived near Carthage in North Africa.

Alger (Settlement) French, Romanian
French and Romanian form of Algiers.

Algeria (Country) English, Italian, Romanian, Greek, Finnish
The name of a country in North Africa, named after its capital city Algiers.

America (Region & Country) English, Italian, Romanian, Late Roman
From the name of the explorer Amerigo Vespucci (1451-1512). This is the name of two continents (North and South America). As well, it is commonly used to refer to the United States of America.

Anglia (Country & Region) Late Roman, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian, Greek, Albanian, Armenian
Late Latin form of England (and also of Angel).

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, Malay
Portuguese 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.

Arabia (Region) Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman, English, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Norwegian, Finnish, Polish
From Greek Ἀραβία (Arabia), derived from Arabic عرب ('arab) meaning "Arabs, Arabian people". This is the name of a large peninsula in the Middle East, also called the Arabian Peninsula.

Argentina (Country) Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Romanian, Czech, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Lithuanian, Hebrew, Georgian, Azerbaijani, Indonesian, Malay
From 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".

Armenia (Country) English, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Polish, Greek, Norwegian, Finnish, Indonesian, Malay, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek
From Greek Ἀρμενία (Armenia), which was from Old Persian Armina, which is itself probably of Armenian origin. This is the name of a country in the Caucasus region, called Hayastan in Armenian.

Asia (Region) English, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Greek, Norwegian, Indonesian, Malay, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek
Perhaps derived from Akkadian asu, meaning "east". This is the name of the world's largest continent.

Bahrain (Country & Island) Arabic, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Romanian, Catalan, Indonesian, Malay, Filipino, Tagalog
Means "two seas" in Arabic, derived from بحر (bahr) meaning "sea" combined with the dual suffix ين (ayn). This is the name of a small island country in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Saudi Arabia. In Arabic it is properly written with the definite article: البحرين (al-Bahrayn).

Belgia (Country) Finnish, Romanian, Norwegian, Polish, Georgian, Indonesian
Finnish, Romanian, Norwegian, Polish, Georgian and Indonesian form of Belgium.

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, Malay
From 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.

Benin (Settlement, Body of Water & Country) English, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Romanian, Indonesian, Malay
From Portuguese Benim, derived from Itsekiri Ubinu, the name of the capital city of the historical Benin Kingdom (present-day Benin City in Nigeria). Allegedly it was initially named Ile-Ibinu meaning "land of anger" because of disputes between different factions. The Bight of Benin (a large bay) was named after the Benin Kingdom, and the modern country of Benin, west of Nigeria, was named after the bay in 1975 (formerly named Dahomey).

Botswana (Country) Southern African, Tswana, English, Shona, German, French, Italian, Catalan, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian
Means "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.

Brazilia (Country & Settlement) Romanian, Georgian
Romanian and Georgian form of Brazil. This is also the Georgian name for Brazil's capital city Brasília.

Brunei (Country) Malay, Indonesian, English, German, Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Albanian, Georgian, Turkish, Indian, Filipino, Hindi, Tagalog
Possibly 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]

Carpați (Region) Romanian
Romanian form of Carpathians.

Chile (Country) Spanish, English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Hungarian, Czech, Portuguese, Romanian, Georgian
The 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.

China (Country) English, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Malay, Sanskrit
From Persian چین (Chin), probably derived via Sanskrit चीन (China) from Qin, the name of a dynasty that ruled in China in the 3rd century BC. In China the name Zhongguo is used to refer to the country.

Ciad (Body of Water & Country) Italian, Romanian
Italian and Romanian form of Chad.

Coreea (Country) Romanian
Romanian form of Korea.

Egipt (Country) Polish, Slovene, Romanian
Polish, Slovene and Romanian form of Aegyptus (see Egypt).

Eurasia (Region) English, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Norwegian
Combination of Europe and Asia. This is the name of the landmass comprising all of Europe and Asia.

Europa (Region) Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Galician, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Croatian, Kazakh, Ancient Roman
Form of Europe in several languages.

Franța (Country) Romanian
Romanian form of France.

Gabon (Country) English, French, Italian, Romanian, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Turkish, Indonesian, Malay
Derived from Portuguese gabão meaning "cloak, overcoat", referring to the shape of the Gabon Estuary. This is the name of a country on the western coast of central Africa.

Germania (Region & Country) Ancient Roman, Italian, Greek, Romanian, Georgian
Latin, Italian, Greek, Romanian and Georgian form of Germany.

Guatemala (Country) Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian, Catalan, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Turkish
From Nahuatl Cuauhtemallan meaning "place of the woodpile". This is the name of a country in Central America.

India (Country) English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Estonian, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Albanian, Greek, Indonesian, Malay, Thai, Filipino, Tagalog, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek
Derived from the name of the Indus River. In many languages of India, the name Bharat is used to refer to the country. However, some southern Indian languages use spellings based on English India.

Iordan (River) Russian, Romanian
Russian and Romanian form of Jordan (the river).

Iordania (Country) Romanian, Greek, Georgian
Romanian, Greek and Georgian form of Jordan (the country).

Irak (Country) German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovak, Greek, Turkish, Armenian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Thai, Lao, Mongolian, Indonesian
Form of Iraq in several languages.

Iran (Country) Persian, Arabic, English, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Greek, Hebrew, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Urdu, Indian, Hindi, Indonesian, Malay, Burmese, Filipino, Thai, Tagalog, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian
Derived 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.

Irlanda (Country & Island) Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian
Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Romanian form of Ireland.

Israel (Country) English, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Indonesian, Malay, Biblical, Biblical Greek
From 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.

Italia (Country) Italian, Spanish, Greek, Romanian, Norwegian, Finnish, Georgian, Indonesian, Ancient Roman
Italian and Latin form of Italy, as well as the form in several other languages.

Japonia (Country) Polish, Romanian, Albanian
Polish, Romanian and Albanian form of Japão (see Japan).

Kazahstan (Country) Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Romanian
Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian and Romanian form of Kazakh Қазақстан (see Kazakhstan).

Kenya (Country & Mountain) English, Eastern African, Kikuyu, Swahili, French, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Romanian, Greek, Turkish
The country is named for Mount Kenya, which in the Kikuyu language is called Kĩrĩnyaga meaning "the one having stripes".

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, Indian, Hindi, Nepali, Malay, Filipino, Indonesian, Tagalog
The 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.

Lituania (Country) Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Indonesian, Late Roman
Latin form of Lietuva (see Lithuania).

Lorena (Political Subdivision) Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian
Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Romanian form of Lorraine.

Luxemburg (Country, Settlement & Political Subdivision) German, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Romanian, Catalan, Hungarian, Slovak
Form of Luxembourg used in several languages. In Hungarian this is the name of the country only (Luxembourg is the city), while in Slovak this is the name of the city only (Luxembursko is the country).

Macedonia (Region, Country & Political Subdivision) Ancient Greek (Latinized), English, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Polish
Derived from Greek Μακεδονία (Makedonia), the name of an ancient kingdom and region that was named after the ancient Macedonian people. Their name was derived from Greek μακεδνός (makednos) meaning "tall, thin", which was descriptive of the people or perhaps of where they lived in the highlands.... [more]

Mongolia (Country, Political Subdivision & Region) English, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Romanian, Polish, Finnish, Norwegian, Indonesian, Malay
From Mongolian монгол (mongol), the name for the Mongolian people, possibly from монг (mong) meaning "brave". This the name of a region in eastern Asia, now divided between the country of Mongolia (historically called Outer Mongolia) and the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia.

Myanmar (Country) English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Dutch, French, Czech, Romanian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Turkish, Indian, Hindi
From 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, 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, Sanskrit
From Sanskrit नेपाल (Nepal), of unknown meaning. This is the name of a landlocked country in south Asia.

Nigeria (Country) English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, Romanian, Albanian, Georgian
From 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, Turkish, Azerbaijani
Form of Nile in various languages. In Arabic it is properly written with the definite article: النيل (al-Nil).

Padova (Settlement) Italian, Romanian, Croatian, Serbian
Italian, Romanian, Croatian and Serbian form of Padua.

Panama (Country & Settlement) English, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Ukrainian, Russian, Belarusian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Georgian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek, Persian, Urdu, Indian, Hindi, Bengali, Burmese, Thai, Lao, Khmer, Indonesian, Filipino, Malay, Tagalog, Japanese, Korean
From Spanish Panamá, of uncertain meaning. It may be derived from the name of a tree commonly found in the area (species Sterculia apetala). Alternatively it could be related to Guaraní panambi meaning "butterfly" or Kuna bannaba meaning "distant, far away". This is the name of a country in Central America. It is also the name of its capital, usually called Panama City in English.

Paris (Settlement) French, English, Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Romanian
From the ancient Celtic tribe known as the Parisii. This is the capital city of France.

Polonia (Country) Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Greek
Italian, Spanish, Romanian and Greek form of Poland.

Praga (Settlement) Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Slovene, Russian, Bulgarian, Greek
Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Slovene, Russian, Bulgarian and Greek form of Praha (see Prague).

Roma (Settlement) Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Romanian, Ancient Roman
Latinate form of Rome.

România (Country) Romanian
Romanian form of Romania.

Rusia (Country) Spanish, Romanian, Indonesian, Malay
Spanish, Romanian, Indonesian and Malay form of Russia.

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, Indian, Hindi, Bengali, Korean, Indonesian, Filipino, Malay, Tagalog
From 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.

Serbia (Country) English, Romanian, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Norwegian, Finnish
From Serbian Србија (Srbija), of uncertain meaning. This is the name of a Balkan country in southeastern Europe.

Singapore (Country, Settlement & Island) English, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Romanian
From Malay Singapura meaning "lion city", derived from Sanskrit sinha "lion" and pura "city". This is the name of a city-state situated on an island (of the same name) at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula.

Slovenia (Country) English, Italian, Romanian, Norwegian, Finnish, Greek, Georgian
From Slovene, the language of the Slovenes, derived from the medieval Slavic tribal name slovene meaning "Slavs". This is the name of a country in central Europe. Note that the name of this country is closely related to that of Slovakia.

Somalia (Country) English, Italian, Spanish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Romanian, Greek, Albanian, Indonesian, Malay
From 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.

Spania (Country) Romanian, Norwegian
Romanian and Norwegian form of Hispania (see Spain).

Sudan (Country) English, Arabic, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Indonesian, Malay, Chinese, Thai
From 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).

Tanzania (Country) Eastern African, Swahili, English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Romanian, Greek, Armenian, Georgian, Indonesian, Malay
From 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.

Teheran (Settlement) German, Dutch, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Romanian, Croatian, Serbian
Form of Tehran in several languages.

Ucraina (Country) Italian, Romanian
Italian and Romanian form of Ukraine.

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, Malay
From 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.

Ungaria (Country) Romanian
Romanian form of Hungary.

Venezuela (Country) Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovene, Croatian, Albanian, Turkish, Indonesian, Malay
Possibly 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.

Yemen (Country) English, Danish, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Turkish, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Filipino, Tagalog
From Arabic يمن (Yaman), probably derived from يمين (yamin) meaning "right hand, south". This is the name of a country at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula.

Zambia (Country) Southern African, Chewa, Bemba, Tonga, English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian
From 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, Romanian
From 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.