Phần Lan(Country)Vietnamese From a non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 芬蘭 (Fēnlán), perhaps altered based on Vietnamese phân meaning "feces" or phần meaning "part, portion". This is the Vietnamese name for Finland.
Phan Rang – Tháp Chàm(Settlement)Vietnamese Derived from Eastern Cham Pandarang, itself from Sanskrit पाण्डुरङ्ग (panduranga) meaning "white god" (an epithet of the Hindu god Vithoba), combined with Vietnamese tháp Chàm meaning "Cham tower" or "Cham temple"... [more]
Phan Thiết(Settlement)Vietnamese The meaning of the name is not certain, but it is widely believed to be of Cham origin. The first element, Phan, may come from Eastern Cham Pandarang, itself derived from Sanskrit पाण्डुरङ्ग (panduranga) meaning "white god", an epithet of the Hindu god Vithoba... [more]
Pháp(Country)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 法 (Pháp), from a contraction of Chinese 法國 (Fǎguó). This is the Vietnamese name for France.
Phasis(Settlement & River)Ancient Greek The ancient Greek name for the Rioni River as well as a historical town along that river, meaning unclear. It may be of Georgian-Zan (Mingrelian and Laz), Svan or Semitic origin.
Phatthalung(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai Thai form of the Malay name Mardelong of uncertain meaning. This is the name of a province of, as well as a district and town in, Thailand.
Phayao(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai Possibly from a corruption of Thai ภูกามยาว (Phu Kamyao), the name of a local sacred mountain. This is the name of a province of Thailand, as well as a district and city within that province.
Phetchabun(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai Means "full of diamonds" from Thai เพชร (phet) meaning "diamond" and บูรณ์ (bun) meaning "full, perfect, complete". It is believed to be a corruption of the original name เพชรบุระ (Phetchabura) meaning "city of diamonds", from เพชร (phet) meaning "diamond" and บุระ (bura) meaning "city"... [more]
Phetchaburi(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai Means "city of diamonds" from Thai เพชร (phet) meaning "diamond" and บุรี (buri) meaning "city, town". This is the name of a province of, as well as a district and town in, Thailand.
Phichit(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai Means "beautiful" in Thai, ultimately from Sanskrit विचित्र (vichitra). This is the name of a province of, as well as a district and town in, Thailand.
Philistia(Region)English, Biblical From Hebrew Pleshet. This was the name of a confederation of cities in Southwest Levant inhabited by the Philistines. See also Palestine.
Phitsanulok(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai Derived from Thai พิษณุ (Phitsanu) referring to the Hindu god Vishnu and โลก (lok) meaning "land, world". This is the name of a province of and city in Thailand.
Phnom Penh(Settlement)English, French From Khmer ភ្នំពេញ (Phnum Pin) meaning "Penh's hill", from ភ្នំ (phnum) meaning "hill, mountain" and ពេញ (pin), the name of a legendary woman who supposedly founded the city in 1372... [more]
Phoenice(Settlement)Ancient Greek Phoenice or Phoenike was an ancient Greek city in Epirus and capital of the Chaonians. It was also the location of the Treaty of Phoenice which ended the First Macedonian War, as well as one of the wealthiest cities in Epirus until the Roman conquest.... [more]
Phoenicia(Region)History from the Ancient Greek: Φοινίκη, Phoiníkē meaning "purple country", Phoenicia was a thalassocratic ancient Semitic civilization that originated in the Eastern Mediterranean and in the west of the Fertile Crescent.
Phoenix(Settlement)English (American) Phoenix is the capital city of Arizona state in the United States of America.
Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai From Thai พระ (phra), an honorific term for gods and royal individuals, นคร (nakhon) meaning "city", ศรี (si), an honorific meaning "glory, honour, splendour", and อยุธยา (ayutthaya) referring to the kingdom of Ayutthaya... [more]
Phuket(Political Subdivision, Settlement & Island)Thai Derived from Malay bukit meaning "hill". This is the name of an island province and city in southern Thailand.
Phuthan(Country)Lao, Thai Lao form of Bhutan as well as an alternate transcription of Thai ภูฏาน (see Phutan).
Phú Thọ(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 富 (phú) meaning "rich" and 壽 (thọ) meaning "life".
Phú Thọ(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 富 (phú) meaning "abundant, wealthy" and 壽 (thọ) meaning "long-lived, long life". This is the name of a province of, as well as a town in, Vietnam.
Phú Yên(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 富 (phú) meaning "rich" and 安 (yên) meaning "safe".
Phú Yên(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 富 (phú) meaning "abundant, wealthy" and 安 (yên) meaning "calm, peaceful". This is the name of a province of Vietnam.
Piauí(Political Subdivision)Portuguese (Brazilian) From Piagoí, through the earlier name Piagüí, which is an early rendition of Tupi piauí, which means "river of the piabas" (piaba being a term used to indicate several types of fish)... [more]
Picardie(Political Subdivision & Region)French French form of Picardy. From Old French pic, meaning "pike", which was the characteristic weapon used by ancient Picards.... [more]
Piedmont(Political Subdivision & Region)English From Italian piemonte, itself derived from Medieval Latin Pedemontium, ultimately from Latin ad pedem montium, literally "at the foot of the mountains".... [more]
Pimu(Island)Tongva This is the Tongva for Catalina Island. It was valued for natural resources by the Tongva. They built little villages on the island including where the city Avalon is now.
Pindoráma(Country)Guarani From Tupi-Guarani pindó-rama meaning "land of palm trees", from pindo meaning "palm tree" and ráma meaning "land, section". This is the Guarani name of Brazil.
Pindorama(Country)Portuguese Portuguese form of Pindoráma, used to refer to historical Brazil or as a poetic term for the country.
Pittsburgh(Settlement)English From the English surname Pitt and burg meaning "fortress, citadel". The city in Pennsylvania was named for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, a Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Pleiku(Settlement)Vietnamese Derived from Jarai Plơi Kơdưr meaning "northern village" or "high village", from plơi meaning "village" and kơdưr meaning "north, upper". This is the name of a city in Vietnam.
Plovdiv(Settlement)Bulgarian From a Thracian translation of the Latin name Pulpudeva, which was possibly derived from the given name Phillip combined with Dacian dava meaning "city, town, fortress"... [more]
Plymouth(Settlement)English The name of a port city in the south-western English county of Devon as well as dozens of locations in the United States, Canada and elsewhere, notably the one in Massachusetts.... [more]
Podgorica(Settlement)Montenegrin Podgorica literally means "area below Gorica", Gorica meaning "little hill", refering to the cypress-covered hillocks that overlook the city center. This is the capital and largest city of Montenegro.
Pokhara(Settlement)Nepali Means "pool, pond" in Nepali, ultimately from Sanskrit पौष्कर (paushkara) or पुष्कर (pushkara) meaning "lotus". This is the name of a city in Nepal.
Polynesia(Region)English From Ancient Greek πολύς (polys) meaning "much, many" and νῆσος (nesos) meaning "island". This is the name of a subregion in Oceania.
Pomona(Settlement)English Various cities are named for Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit.
Pompeii(Settlement)Ancient Roman Possibly derived from the Oscan pompe "five", becoming the Latin second declension plural, pompeii. This may be because the community formerly consisted of five hamlets, or was perhaps settled by a family group (gens Pompeia).... [more]
Pondicherry(Political Subdivision & Settlement)English Derived from Tamil புதுச்சேரி (putuccēri) meaning "new town". Pondicherry (Puducherry) is the capital city of an Indian state of the same name.
Pontefract(Settlement)English From Latin ponte fracto, meaning 'broken bridge'.
Pontianak(Settlement)Indonesian From the name of a female ghost in Indonesian folklore that is said to be the spirit of a woman who died pregnant. This is the name of a city in Indonesia, so named because the region was once believed to be inhabited by pontianaks.
Posyolok Central'noj Usad'by` Sovxoza Imeni Sorok-letiya Velikogo Oktyabrya(Settlement)Russian Posyolok Central'noj usad'by` sovxoza imeni 40-letiya Velikogo Oktyabrya is a settlement in Russia. It translates to "A settlement of The Central Farmstead of the Sovkhoz named after the 40-years Anniversary of the Great October" from Russian.
Potenza(Settlement)Italian, English, French From Latin Potentia, itself from the Latin adjective potens, meaning "powerful", "mighty". This is the name of the capital city of the southern Italian region of Basilicata.
Poti(Settlement)Georgian The name of a city in Georgia, meaning uncertain. It is most likely related to Phasis (Φᾶσις), the ancient Greek name for the Rioni River (which flows through Georgia) as well as an ancient city along that river... [more]
Prasino Akrotirio(Country)Greek Greek form of Cape Verde. It is literally a direct translation of the country's name, since it consists of the Greek adjective πράσινος (prasinos) meaning "green" combined with the Greek noun ακρωτήριο (akrotirio) meaning "cape".
Prater(Settlement)English Taken directly from the surname Prater. This is the name of a community in Virginia.
Prato(Settlement)Italian, English, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish, Dutch Italian for "meadow". This is the name of a city in northern Italy, which was probably chosen because the city was founded on a meadow.
Preah Sihanouk(Political Subdivision)Khmer Means “province of the holy Sihanouk (former king)” in Khmer.
Preah Sihanouk(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Khmer Named in honour of Cambodian king Norodom Sihanouk (1922-2012), who reigned from 1941-1955 and again from 1993-2004. This is the Khmer name of the province and city of Sihanoukville.
Preah Vihear(Political Subdivision)Khmer Means “sacred sanctuary” in Khmer.
Preah Vihear(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Khmer From the name of an ancient temple itself meaning "temple, sanctuary", derived from Khmer ព្រះ (preah) meaning "god, lord" and វិហារ (vihear) meaning "temple, monastery"... [more]
Précy(Settlement)French Précy is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France.
Presil(Country)Khmer Khmer form of Brazil via the French form Brésil.
Prey Veng(Political Subdivision)Khmer Means “long forest” in Khmer.
Prey Veng(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Khmer Means "long forest" from Khmer ព្រៃ (prey) meaning "jungle, forest, woods" and វែង (veng) meaning "long". This is the name of a province of, as well as a town in, Cambodia.
Prince Edward Island(Political Subdivision)English (Canadian) Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province. It was named for Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (1767–1820), Queen Victoria's father.
Pripyat(River & Settlement)Russian, English Russian form of the Ukrainian name Прип'ять (Prypyat) of uncertain meaning. This is the name of a river in Eastern Europe that flows through Ukraine and Belarus. It is also the name of an abandoned Ukrainian city that was evacuated after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Pristina(Settlement)Kosovar City in Kosovo. Possibly from the Proto-Slavic '*pryščina', meaning "spring of water".
Providence(Settlement)English Name chosen by Puritan minister Roger Williams, in honor of "God's merciful Providence". This is the name of several settlements in the United States, including the capital city of the state of Rhode Island.
Provo River(River)English (American) River in Utah, named after the French-Canadian trapper Etienne Provost. The river inspired the name of the city to which it belonged, Provo.
Prussia(Country)History Became a Duchy in 1660 and a kingdom in the following century. At its greatest extent it included the northern two-thirds of Germany and western Poland. Prussia, by World War II a federal unit of Germany, was fully disbanded at the end of World War II.
Prypiat(River & Settlement)Ukrainian Alternate transcription of Ukrainian Прип'ять (see Prypyat).