List of country name etymologies





This is a list of countries with their name origins.

     See also: List of subnational name etymologies, Placename etymology,
     political entities named after people

   * Afghanistan - Possibly from the Sanskrit 'Upa-Ghana-Stan', "land of the
     allied tribes"
   * Albania - land of the highlanders. 'Alb' from the PIE root meaning
     "white" or "mountain". Mountain tribes from modern Kosovo are thought
     to have brought their highland ethnonym to the narrow coastal plain.
     The native name Shqip`ria means "land of the eagle", the eagle having
     probably been a tribal totem.
   * America - see United States of America below, and under "naming of America"
   * Argentina - from the Latin "Argentum" meaning 'silver'. Early traders
     used the region's Rio de la Plata or 'Silver River' to transport silver
     and other treasures from upstream Peru. The land around the terminal
     downstream stations became known as "Argentina" 'Land of Silver'.
   * Australia - from "unknown southern land" (Latin - terra australis
     incognita). The territory was named by early European explorers who
     were conscious of the fact that the Australian landmass was far larger
     than they had yet investigated. Explorer Matthew finders (1774-1814),
     the first to sail around and chart the Australian coast, used the term
     "Australia" in his publication.
   * Austria - "eastern kingdom", c.f. modern German ...sterreich. In the 9th
     century, the territory formed part of the Frankish empire's eastern
     limit, and also formed the eastern limit of German settlement against
     the Slavic area. Carl the Great dubbed the region "Ostmark" 'Eastern
     border territory'. In the 11th century the term Ostarrichi first
     appeared.
   * Azerbaijan - "land of fire" (from surface fires on ancient oil pools;
     its ancient name Atropatene became Azerbaijan in Arabic)
   * Bahamas - from the Spanish Baja Mar meaning 'Low (Shallow) Sea'.
     Spanish Conquistadors thus named the islands for the waters around them.
   * Barbados - Named by the Portuguese explorer Pedro a Campos "Los
     Barbados" 'The Bearded Ones' after the appearance of the island's fig trees.
   * Belarus - "White Ruthenia", formerly Byelorussiya, "White Russia". See
     below, Russia. The name was changed after the collapse of the Soviet
     Union to emphasize that Belarus and Russia were and would continue to
     be two separate countries. The new term was marketed as having an
     independent etymological root Rus from Ruthenia. In fact Ruthenia and
     Russia are derived from the same Viking Rus root. Thus the Ukrainian
     region Ruthenia (known commonly as Rusynia) can be found in old texts
     as "Red Russia" where the term doesn't refer to the whole of the
     Ukraine or to the Soviet Union.
   * Belize - from a Spanish mispronunciation of the name "Peter Wallece",
     the pirate who created the first settlement in Belize in 1638.
   * Benin - named after an old African Empire named Benin, on whose
     territory modern Benin does not actually lie. What is now Benin was
     previously known as Dahomey, after its principal ethnic group.
   * Belgium - from the name of a Celtic tribe, the Belgae.
   * Bhutan - land of the Bhotia. Ethnic Tibetans or "Bhotia" migrated from
     Tibet to Bhutan in the 10th century. The common root is "Bod", an
     ancient name for Tibet.
   * Brazil - from the type of wood, and the Gaelic myth of the magical
     island of Hy Brasil
   * Britain - "painted"; a reference to the original inhabitants of the
     islands use of body paint and tattoos; may also derive from the Celtic
     goddess Brigid
   * Bolivia - from Simon Bolivar 1783-1830, an anti-Spanish militant and
     first president of Bolivia after its independence in 1824.
   * Bosnia and Herzegovina - Traditionally, the region consisted of two
     distinct territories; the larger northern section was named after the
     Bosna river. The smaller southern territory takes its name from the
     German noble title Herzog, meaning "Duke". The rank was conferred upon
     the territory's ruler Grand Waywode in 1448 Stephan Vikcic by Emperor
     Frederick IV.
   * Botswana - named for the country's largest ethnic group, the Tswana.
   * Bulgaria - "land of the tribe formed of many tribes", "Bulg" from a
     Turkic root meaning "mixed"
   * Burkina Faso - "land of upright people" or "land of honest men" or
     "land of the incorruptible". Previously the country was named "Upper
     Volta", after the Volta's two main tributary rivers, both originating
     in Burkina Faso.
   * Cameroon - from Portuguese for "prawns" or "shrimp"
   * Canada - "little settlement" or "the village" in Algonquian
   * Chile - Unknown. Possibly from a native Aracaunian term meaning "the
     depths", a reference to the fact that the Andes mountain chain looms
     over the narrow coastal flatland. The Qechua word 'chili' or 'limit of
     the world' is also a possible derivation.
   * China - after the Qin Dynasty in Sanskrit (see also: China in world
     languages)
   * Colombia - after "Christopher Columbus"
   * Comoros - from the Arabic "Djazair al Kamar" 'Island of the moon'.
   * Costa Rica - "rich coast" in Spanish
   * Croatia - *unknown, but thought to be Sarmatian in origin
   * Cuba - Taino Indian, "Cubanacan" 'center place'
   * Cyprus - Named for its copper mines.
   * Denmark - from PIE *dhen "low" or 'flat' and Germanic "mark" - "border
     land" and/or "border forest". Name used by the ancient Goths to
     describe the Forest separating Gothland from (then Danish) Scania.
   * Djibouti, named after the bottom point of the Gulf of Tadjoura.
     Possibly derived from the Afar word "gabouti", a type of doormat made
     of palm fibres.
   * Dominica - From the Latin "Dies Dominica" meaning "Sunday", the day of
     the week Christopher Columbus first landed on the island.
   * Druk Yul (Bhutan) land of the thunder dragon, land of thunder, or land
     of the dragon.
   * Ecuador - "equator" in Spanish
   * El Salvador - "the saviour" in Spanish, named for Jesus Christ.
   * Egypt - "temple of the soul of Ptah"
   * Equatorial Guinea - from the word 'equator' for that country's
     geographical location, and perhaps from the Berber term "aguinaoui",
     which means "black".
   * Eritrea - named by Italian colonizers, from the ancient Greek name for
     the Red Sea "Erythrea Thalassa".
   * Estonia - from the Germanic "eastern way". Usually wrongly derived from
     Aestia of the ancient Greek writings, Aestia actually being modern
     Masuria in Poland, and probably derived from a Baltic root meaning
     "speckled", the land being 'speckled' with lakes.
   * Ethiopia - from the Latin "Aethiopia", meaning "land of the blacks",
     its roots the Greek aithein "to burn" and ops "face". The old name
     "Abyssinia" is derived from the Arabic "mixed", a reflection of the
     many ethnic groups inhabiting the country.
   * Fiji - from the Tonganese name for the islands 'Viti'.
   * Finland - from the Germanic Fennland, probably from a root meaning
     "wanderers". Suomi the name the natives use, may derive from the Baltic
     root for "land".
   * France - "land of the Franks", literally "land of the free men". The
     region had earlier been known as Gallia (Gaul), from the name of a
     Celtic tribe.
   * Gabon from the Portuguese pronunciation of the river name Mbe. "Gabao"
     in Portuguese is a type of hooded overcoat.
   * Germany
        o Germany - "land of the spear men" from the Germanic "Gar" "spear".
        o Allemagne - "land of all the men" i.e. "our many tribes"
        o Deutschland - "land of the people"
        o Nemetsy (Polish:Niemcy; Romanian: Nem?i; Czech: Nemecko) - "land
          of the mute" (where "mute" is a metaphor for "those who do not
          speak our language"). Some Eastern Europeans use this word to
          describe Germans.
   * Ghana - after the ancient West African kingdom of the same name. The
     modern territory of Ghana was however never part of the previous
     polity.
   * Greece - from the name of a certain region, and Hellas "land of light"
   * Grenada - after the southern Spanish city of the same name.
   * Guyana - possibly from the local "Guainazes", "people worthy of
     honors".
   * Haiti - Taino Indian, "Hayiti' "Tall Mountain", the island it lies on
     is 'Hispaniola' roughly, 'little Spain', but was also originally known
     also as Hayiti.
   * Honduras - from the Spanish "depths", a reference to the deep waters
     off the northern coast.
   * Hungary - "people of the 10 spears." In other words, "alliance of the
     ten tribes".
   * Iceland - "land of ice"
   * India - After the river Indus (in Hindi). The native name "Bharat" is
     often said to derive from the name of an ancient king "Jada Bharatha",
     but it could possibly also derive from a different king, Bharat, the
     son of the legendary king Dushyanta. A third possibility is that it
     derives from the name of the god "Bharat", brother of the famous god
     Rama.
   * Indonesia - "Indian Islands" from the Greek root nesos, island, added
     to the country name India.
   * Iran - "land of the Aryans" or "land of the free". The term "Arya"
     derived from the PIE, and generally carrying the meaning of 'noble' or
     'free', cognate with the Greek-derived word "aristocrat".
   * Iraq - from the ancient Semitic "Uruk" meaning "between the rivers", a
     reference to the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates.
   * Ireland - after Eire or Eriu, an ancient fertility goddess. Often
     mistakenly derived as "Land of Iron"
   * Israel - an alternative name for the biblical patriarch Jacob,
     literally "struggled with God."
   * Italy - "son of the bull god" or "calf god", the term originally
     referring only to a small region at the southern end of modern Italy.
   * Jamaica Taino Indian "Hamaica", land of wood and water, or perhaps
     "Land of Springs".
   * Japan - "nzyet-pwun kwuk" in Chinese or "sun origin country" or "land
     of the rising sun", indicating Japan as lying to the east of China
     (where the sun rises). Japanese scholars borrowed the term, simplifying
     it from Nippon-gu to Nihon-gu, currently simply Nihon or Nippon,
     "Origin of the sun."
   * Kenya - after Mount Kenya.
   * Korea - after the Koryu Goryeo Dynasty, the first Korean dynasty
     visited by westerners. The native name is Hangeuk. The ancient Choson
     meant "land of morning calm".
   * Kuwait - from the Arabic "Kut" meaning 'Fort'
   * Lebanon - fromt the Semitic "White Mountains"
   * Liberia - from the Latin liber, 'free', so named because the nation was
     created as a homeland for freed American slaves.
   * Liechtenstein - "light stone" ('light' in weight rather than in
     brightness). The country was named after the Liechtenstein dynasty
     purchased and united the counties of Schellenburg and Vaduz and were
     allowed by the Holy Roman Emperor to rename the new property after its
     own family.
   * Luxembourg - (Celtic 'Lucilem' "small" and Germanic 'burg' "castle",
     lucilemburrugh) 'little castle'
   * Malawi - from the native "Flaming Water", perhaps after the reflections
     on lake Malawi.
   * Malaysia - land of the Malay people
   * Maldives - From the Sanskrit mahal, 'palace', diva, 'island', thus
     "palace island". The main island, Male, held the palace of the islands'
     Sultan.
   * Malta - from the Phoenician MLT meaning "refuge". The term may have
     been kept long in currency by the existence of the Greek and Latin word
     melitta or "honey", the name of the island in classical times, and also
     the major export from the island during those centuries.
   * Marshall Islands named after British Captain John Marshall, who was the
     first to document the existence of the island in 1788.
   * Mauritius - named after Dutch Staatholder, Prince Maurice of Orange
   * Mexico - after the Mexica branch of the Aztecs
   * Micronesia - from the Greek for "small islands".
   * Moldova - from the river "Moldova" in Romania, itself named for the
     open pit mining its waters assisted. Molde is the German term for such
     a mine.
   * Monaco - "himself alone" a reference to the Greek demigod Hercules
   * Morocco from the city "Marakesh". The native name "Al Maghreb al Aqsa",
     means "the Farthest West".
   * Nepal - "wool market"
   * Netherlands
        o Netherlands - Germanic 'low lands'
        o Holland (often used to refer to the Netherlands) - Germanic 'holt
          (i.e. wooded) land' (often incorrectly regarded as meaning 'hollow
          [i.e. marsh] land')
        o Batavia (Germanic) - 'arable land' (derived from Betuwe as opposed
          to -the regional name "Veluwe" meaning 'fallow' or 'waste' 'land'
   * New Zealand - after Zealand ['Sj¾lland'] Denmark or "Zealand" province
     of the the Netherlands.
   * Nigeria - from a local African language "Ni Gir", "river Gir"
   * Norway - from the old Norse northr and veg "northern way". The
     Norwegian name Norge is from the roots northr and rike, "Northern
     Kingdom"
   * Pakistan - an acronym (Punjab, Afghan frontier, Kashmir, Indus Valley)
     plus -stan; also happens to form the word land of the pure
   * Palestine - from the Roman name for the country, literally "land of the
     Philistines" ("Philistines" itself is from the Semitic root P.L.Sh.,
     meaning "invader")
   * Panama - after a former village near the modern capital. From the Cueva
     Indian language meaning "place of abundance of fish", possibly from the
     Caribe "abundance of butterflies", or possible from another native term
     refering to the Panama tree.
   * Papua - "Papua" meaning "Land of the people with the frizzy hair",
     named by the neighboring Malays (who generally have straight hair).
   * Peru - possibly after the River Biru in modern Ecuador.
   * Philippines - "lands of King Philip" (the 16th century Spanish
     Monarch).
   * Poland - From the Germanic polen, "fields".
   * Portugal - From the Latin portus cale, after the name of the Roman port
     of Gaya, modern Oporto.
   * Romania -"Roman Realm" A neologism coined after the 19th century
     unification of Moldavia and Wallachia. A reminder that the local
     romanized population, the Rum‰ni or Rom‰ni believed themselves to be
     the descendants of the ancient Roman legions, as their speech descended
     from the Latin.
   * Russia - from an old Viking group known as the Rus, and from the
     kingdom they founded in present-day Ukraine.
   * Samoa - "Sacred Moa Preserve", after the Moa, a native hen-like fowl.
     In legend a sacred hen enclosure "Sa-moa" was created by King Lu. After
     battles to protect it, he had a son he named "Samoa" who became the
     progenitor of the Moa clan, who came to dominate the island of Manu'a
     and the whole Samoan area.
   * San Marino - after Saint Marinus of Rimini who is said to have founded
     San Marino in 301 AD.
   * Serbia and Montenegro
        o Serbia - unknown, possibly Sarmatian in origin; name of Sorbs in
          present day Germany is of same origin, the Serbs having migrated
          into the Balkan area from the region in Germany known as Lusatia,
          where the Sorbs are currently found.
        o Montenegro - Named by Venetian conquerors montenegro, "black
          mountain", after the appearance of Mount Lovcen or most likely its
          dark coniferous forests. Crna Gora, the modern native name for the
          country, is a literal translation of "Montenegro". The country had
          previously been known as "Zeta", Dioclea (Serbo-Croat Duklia) and
          Doclea. "Doclea" the name of the region during the early period of
          the Roman Empire, was termed for an early Illyrian tribe. In later
          centuries, Romans "hyper-corrected" to "Dioclea" wrongly guessing
          that an I had been lost due to vulgar speech patterns. The
          earliest Slavic name "Zeta" derives from the name of a river in
          Montenegro which itself derives from an early root meaning
          "harvest" or "grain". (Contrary to popular belief, "Montenegro" is
          not Italian, as "black mountain" in Italian is monte nero without
          the g.)
   * Sierra Leone - the name means lion mountains in Spanish.
   * Singapore - from the Sanskrit "Simhapura", "Lion City"
   * Slovakia - from the Slavic "glory" or "the word"
   * Slovenia - from the Slavic "glory" or "the word"
   * Spain - Phoenician 'Rabbit coast'
   * Sudan - from the Arabic Bilad as-Sudan, 'Land of the blacks'
   * Sweden - "land of the Svear". The development of the ethnonym is
     uncertain, but derives from the Old Norse "Svithjoth", Svithjoth and
     Svithjoth the Great used to denote various land areas figuring in Norse
     mythological and legendary tales, including areas in Scadinavia and
     modern Russia. The term Svear may have come into use primarily as a
     means of distinguishing the ancient culture of what is now central
     Sweden from that of the ethnic Goths, who were located to its south.
     Thus one region would be the 'Svealand' and the other 'Gothland' or
     'Gautaland'.
   * Switzerland - from the canton of Schwyz, possibly derived further from
     the OMH German "Schweitz", meaning Swamp.
   * Taiwan - "Terraced bay" in Chinese. Terraced rice fields are typical of
     Taiwanese landscape.
   * Tajikistan - from a Turkic root tasi meaning 'Muslim'.
   * Tanzania - a combination of the names of two states that merged to form
     this country, Tanganyika, and Zanzibar.
   * Timor From the Malay word timur meaning "east". In its official Tetun
     language East Timor is known as Timor Lorosae or 'east Timor'. To
     neighboring Indonesia it is known as Timor Timur, etymologically
     'eastern east'.
   * Thailand - from the native Thai "Land of the free". Previously the
     country had been as:
        o Siam - The name was given to the ancient Thai people by their
          neighbors Burmese, and probably derives from the Pali toponym
          "Suvarnabhuma" 'Land of Gold', the ultimare root the Pali root
          "sama", which variously denoted different shades of color, most
          often brown or yellow, but sometimes green or black.
   * Togo - from the settlement Togo, currently Togoville. In Ewe, to is
     'water' and go 'shore'.
   * Tonga - from the native 'South' or 'southern'. In the 19th century, the
     territory was known as "Friendship Islands", so named by Captain James
     Cook.
   * Trinidad and Tobago - "Trinidad" after the 3 prominent mountain peaks
     on the island and the Christian trinity (trinidad is Spanish for
     trinity or trio), "Tobago", after "tobacco", smoked by the natives.
   * Tuvalu - from the native "eight islands" or "eight standing with each
     other". An earlier name, Niulakita, was suppressed ; it was the name of
     the first atoll settled in 1949.
   * Uganda - from the earlier "Buganda", "land of men", the ethnomym of the
     region's dominant group.
   * Ukraine - "border territory" etymologically identical to kraijina in
     Serbo-Croat
   * United States of America - from the explorer and cartographer "Amerigo
     Vespucci", who added his own surname prominantly on the maps he sold of
     the new world, consumers confusedly believing the name to be the name
     of the new land.
   * Vanuatu - From the Bislama "Forever on our Land". The territory was
     known earlier as the New Hebrides, after the islands in Scotland.
   * Vatican City 'Vatican' from the Latin vaticinari, "to prophesy", from
     the name of the hill 'Mons Vaticanus' on which the Vatican is located,
     the street beneath having been used by fortune-tellers and sooth-sayers
     in Roman times.
   * Venezuela - "Little Venice", from "Venizia" and the diminutive "ela".
     European explorers having were impressed by the native stilt-houses
     built on Lake Maracaibo and decided to name the region after Venice.
   * Vietnam - "Southern land", The original core of Vietnamese civilization
     having been farther north.
   * Zambia - after the River Zambezi