Shqipëria(Country)Albanian From shqip, the ethnic name of the Albanian people, which is of uncertain origin. It may be a calque of Proto-Slavic slověne meaning "Slavs" (through Albanian shqipoj meaning "to speak clearly") or from Albanian shkabë meaning "eagle"... [more]
Shymkent(Settlement)Kazakh, Russian From Kazakh шым (shym) meaning "sod, turf, meadow" and кент (kent) meaning "town". This is the name of a city in Kazakhstan.
Siam(Country)English, Khmer From Portuguese Sciam, which was derived from Thai สยาม (sayam) of contested origin. It may have come from Pali suvaṇṇabhūmi meaning "land of gold", from Sanskrit श्याम (shyama) meaning "dark, black, blue" or from Mon ရာမည (ramanya) meaning "stranger"... [more]
Sichuan(Political Subdivision)Chinese Means "four rivers" in Chinese, from 四 (sì) meaning "four" and 川 (chuān) meaning "river, stream"... [more]
Siem Reap(Settlement)Khmer, English Means "submission of Siam", from Khmer សៀម (Siem) referring to Siam (or Thailand) and រាប (reap) meaning "submissive, obedient, tame"... [more]
Sierra Leone(Country)English The name of the Country in West Africa. Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean. It’s known for the white-sand beaches lining the Freetown Peninsula. The capital city, Freetown, commemorates the nation’s slave-trade history with the Cotton Tree landmark and King’s Yard Gate... [more]
Sindh(Political Subdivision)Sindhi, Urdu, English Derived from Sanskrit सिन्धु (sindhu) meaning "body of trembling water, river". This is the name of a province of Pakistan.
Sittwe(Settlement)Burmese Means "place where war meets" in Burmese and Arakanese, from စစ် (sit) meaning "war" and the suffix တွေ (-twe). This is the name of a city in Myanmar that serves as the capital of Rakhine State.
Solzha-Ghala(Settlement)Chechen Means "city (on the) Sunzha River" from Chechen Соьлжа (Solzha) referring to the Sunzha River and гӏала (ghala) meaning "town". This is the Chechen name for Grozny.
Somikh(Country)Ossetian Means "Armenian" in Ossetian, ultimately from Georgian სომეხი (somexi). This is the Ossetian name for Armenia.
Somkheti(Country)Georgian From Georgian სომეხი (somekhi) referring to the Armenian people and the suffix -ეთი (-eti) used to indicate location. This is the Georgian name for Armenia.
Songkhla(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai Derived from Malay Singgora, itself from Sanskrit सिंहपुर (sinhapura) meaning "city of lions", from सिंह (sinha) meaning "lion" and पुर (pura) meaning "city, town"... [more]
Sortobe(Settlement)Kazakh, Russian, English, Ukrainian Meaning uncertain, possibly of Dungan origin. This is the name of a town in southern Kazakhstan.
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte(Settlement)English From Sinhalese ශ්රී ජයවර්ධනපුර කෝට්ටේ (shri jayawardhanapura kotte) meaning "blessed fortress city of growing victory" or "fortified city of victory"... [more]
Srivijaya(Country)Malay, English From Sanskrit श्रीविजय (Shrivijaya) meaning "shining victory", from श्री (shri) meaning "diffusing light, radiance, splendour, beauty" combined with विजय (vijaya) meaning "victory"... [more]
Sukhumi(Settlement)English From Georgian სოხუმი (sokhumi) of uncertain origin. It may be from Georgian ციხე (tsikhe) meaning "fortress" combined with the suffix ომი (omi) denoting a geographical location or from Svan ცხუმ (tskhum) meaning "hornbeam"... [more]
Sulawesi(Political Subdivision & Island)Indonesian Probably means "iron island" in an uncertain South Sulawesi language, from sula (cognate with Indonesian pulau) meaning "island" and mesi (compare Indonesian besi) meaning "iron"... [more]
Sulu(Political Subdivision, Region & Body of Water)Filipino, Tagalog, English From Suluk, the Malay name for the Tausug people, in turn derived from Tausug Tau Sūg meaning "people of the current", from tau meaning "man, person" and sūg meaning "(sea) current, flow of water"... [more]
Sumatra(Political Subdivision & Island)Indonesian, Acehnese, Minangkabau, Malay, English From Sanskrit समुद्र (samudra) meaning "sea, ocean". This is the name of an island in Indonesia as well as three Indonesian provinces.
Surabaya(Settlement)Indonesian, Javanese From Javanese ꦯꦸꦫꦧꦪ (shurabaya), itself derived from ꦯꦸꦫ (shura) meaning "white shark" and ꦧꦪ (baya) meaning "crocodile". The name refers to 12th-century Javanese monarch Jayabaya, who supposedly saw a vision of a fight between a white shark and crocodile (which may have been a prediction of the Mongol invasion of Java in the late 13th century)... [more]
Surakarta(Settlement)Indonesian, Javanese From Sanskrit शूर (shura) meaning "brave, heroic" and कृत (krta) meaning "done, made, accomplished". This is the name of a city in Indonesia.
Taipei(Settlement)English, Japanese From Chinese 臺北 (Táiběi) derived from 臺 (tái) referring to Taiwan and 北 (běi) meaning "north". This is the name of the capital city of Taiwan.
Tangerang(Settlement)Indonesian, Sundanese Derived from Sundanese tengger or tanggeran meaning "sign, marker". The name comes from a monument that was built in the 17th century to mark the boundary between the Sultanate of Banten and a neighbouring territory to the east controlled by the Dutch East India Company (VOC)... [more]