Riga(Settlement)English, Russian From Latvian Rīga, origin disputed. It may be derived from Livonian ringa meaning "loop", referring to an ancient harbor formed by the tributary loop of the Daugava river, from Riege, the German name of the Rīdzene (a tributary of the Daugava), or from Latvian rija meaning "threshing barn"... [more]
Rijad(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Polish Polish form of Riyadh.
Rijeka(Settlement)Croatian Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia... [more]
Sakha(Political Subdivision)Yakut, Russian From the name of the Sakha (Yakut) people, which is derived from Turkic jaka meaning "collar, edge". This is the name of a Russian federal republic also known as Yakutia.
Sakhalin(Political Subdivision & Island)Russian, English Derived from Manchu ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ (sahaliyan) meaning "black", itself most likely from the expression ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ ᡠᠯᠠ ᠠᡢᡤᠠ ᡥᠠᡩ᠋ᠠ (sahaliyan ula angga hada) meaning "island (peak) at the mouth of the Amur River"... [more]
Samarkand(Settlement)English, Russian, Ukrainian, Tatar From Uzbek Samarqand, derived (via Persian) from Sogdian smʾr/smā́r meaning "stone, rock" and knδh/kąθ meaning "fort, town, city". This is the name of a city in Uzbekistan.
Sarajevo(Settlement)Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian, English From Turkish saray meaning "palace, mansion, house" and ova meaning "plain, lowland" or the Slavic suffix -evo used to indicate place names. This is the name of the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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.
Slavkov u Brna(Settlement)Czech Historically named Slavkov, it is derived from the name Slávek, a colloquial derivative of Bohuslav, which was likely the name of a prominent town figure or property owner. In 1918, Slavkov was renamed Slavkov u Brna, meaning "Slavkov near Brno", to distinguish it from other places with the same name.... [more]
Snezhnaya(River)Russian The name of a river in Russia. Снежная means "snowy" in Russian, thus the river name literally means "snowy river".
Śnieżka(Mountain)Polish Name of a mountain on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland, the most prominent point of the Silesian Ridge in the Krkonoše mountains.
Sofia(Settlement)Bulgarian, English Capital of Bulgaria named after the Saint Sofia Church located in the city. The name was first used by Bulgarian tsar Ivan Shishman in the 14th century.
Sortobe(Settlement)Kazakh, Russian, English, Ukrainian Meaning uncertain, possibly of Dungan origin. This is the name of a town in southern Kazakhstan.
Sparta(Settlement)English, Czech, Danish, Finnish, German, Icelandic, Manx, Polish, Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman From Doric Greek Σπάρτα (Sparta) and Attic Greek Σπάρτη (Spartē), which is of uncertain origin but possibly derived from σπάρτον (sparton) meaning "rope, cable" - a reference to the cords laid as the city’s foundation boundaries, though this could be just a folk etymology.... [more]
Split(Settlement)Croatian Split is the second-largest city of Croatia and the largest city of the region of Dalmatia.... [more]
Stalingrad(Settlement)Russian From the surname Stalin and Russian grad meaning "town, city". The former name of the city Volgograd, after Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, the then-General Secretary of the USSR's Communist Party.
Svazi(Country)Bosnian, Croatian, Slovene Bosnian, Croatian and Slovenian form of Swaziland. The country changed its name to Eswatini in 2018 and so it is now known as Esvatini in the aforementioned three languages.
Tashkent(Settlement)English, Russian From Uzbek Toshkent meaning "stone city", from tosh meaning "stone" combined with Turkic kend meaning "city". This is the name of the capital city of Uzbekistan.
Tatarstan(Political Subdivision)Tatar, Russian From the ethnic name татар (tatar) combined with the Persian suffix ستان (stan 2) meaning "land of". The ethnic name is of uncertain origin, though it is believed to be derived from tata, an endonym for the Mongols... [more]
Tbilisi(Settlement)Georgian, English, Russian Derived from Georgian თბილი (tbili) meaning "warm", given in reference to the area's sulfuric hot springs. This is the name of the capital city of Georgia (the country).
Turin(Settlement)English, French, German, Piedmontese, Russian From Latin Augusta Taurinorum, itself from Taurini, the name of a tribe. This is the name of the capital city of Piedmont, in northern Italy.
Tuva(Political Subdivision)Russian From Tuvan Тыва (Tyva), itself from the name of the Tuvan people, which is of uncertain meaning. This is the name of a federal subject of Russia.