Etymological list of country names
Not too many states are called what they call themselves abroad . Often the country names are not written in the Latin alphabet . The etymological list of country names gives a systematic overview and comparison of the country names in German and the respective national language as well as their etymology .
A.
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | افغانستان | Afghānistān or Afghânestân. "Land (= -stan ) of Afghans ". Pashtuns (Hindi: Pathans, Persian: Afghans) are the people who support the state in Afghanistan and at the same time give the country its name. The word Afghan is used very rarely or hardly as a proper name of the Pashtuns today. The name Pachtun possibly has the same roots as the two Afghan provinces Paktika and Paktiya, which are derived from the word Pactyan, the name of an Iranian tribe mentioned by Herodotus in the ancient Persian province of Arachosia - corresponds roughly to the present-day area around Kandahar . |
| Egypt | مصر | Misr . The Arabic name Miṣr is probably derived from the Assyrian word misir or musri and means "strong". The German word "Egypt" goes back to the ancient Egyptian word Ḥwt-k3-Ptḥ , means " Ka-Haus des Ptah " and originally referred to the Ptah temple in Memphis , then the city of Memphis itself and finally became the meaning " Lower Egypt " and "Egypt" generalized. The Greeks adopted the word as a name for the whole country in the form Αἴγυπτος , (Aígyptos) . For his part, Strabon offers a folk etymology for the word Αἴγυπτος and considers it to be composed of Aegean Αιγίαο and υπτίως lying on the back . The Latin word Aegyptus is derived from the ancient Greek form , from which the term found its way into numerous modern European languages. The actual ancient Egyptian name of Egypt, however, is km.t "the black (earth)", which also lives on in the Coptic name Bezeichnung. |
| Albania | Shqipëria | For Karl May, Albania is the land of the Skipetars . Shqipëria originally did not mean "land of the eagle", but is derived from the no longer in use shqip (meaning clear, clear) and shqipoj (speaking clearly) and describes those who speak Albanian . The name "Albania" probably goes back to the pre-Celtic Alb ("hill", where the Alps come from) or the Indo-European * albh ("white", from which Albion comes). Another possibility would be a derivation of the Indo-European precursor * h₃órbʰos (orphan, also worker, slave), from which the root arbër could come and originally meant worker or even just human , compare the cognates in other languages. The Italo-Albanians and the Albanian minorities (in Greece) have been named differently over time: Arbënuer, Arbënor, Arbëneshë, Arbreshë. There is no doubt that the root alb- or arb- is older than shqip , from which the modern name of the country (Shqipëria) is derived. |
| Algeria | الجزائر | Al-Jazā'ir is both the name of the state and its capital, Algiers, and means "the islands". |
| Andorra | Andorra | The name of the Pyrenees state probably comes from the Basque language . |
| Angola | Angola | The African country is named after N'gola, a 16th century king of the Ndongo kingdom . |
| Antigua and Barbuda | Antigua and Barbuda | The Caribbean islands (the "old" and the "bearded") were named that way by Christopher Columbus in 1493 . |
| Equatorial Guinea | Guinea Ecuatorial | The Central African state is located near the equator . The term Guinea is probably from a Berber word ( Aguuinaoui derived = "black"). |
| Argentina | Argentina | The name of the country is derived from the Latin word argentum (= " silver "). The most important river in the country, the Río de la Plata, means “Silver River” in German. |
| Armenia | Հայաստան | Hayastan . The country is named after the hero Hayk . The German name probably goes back to the legendary character Aram . A predecessor empire of Armenia was the empire of Urartu . |
| Azerbaijan | Azərbaycan | Azerbaijan . Perhaps the country name derives from azer (= "fire") and baydjan (= "guardian"), d. H. "Guardian of the Fire". |
| Ethiopia | የኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ሪፐብሊክ
|
Ithiyopiya (Full Name: Ityop'iya Federalawi Demokrasiyawi Ripeblik ). The name of the country, formerly also called Abyssinia, comes from the Greek and means “burning face” (αἴθειν “aíthein” = “to burn”, and ὤψ “ṓps” = “face”). It is reminiscent of the Greek legend of Phaethon , who is said to have crashed with the sun chariot in this area, burning people's faces. The old name Abyssinia is Amharic and goes back to the name Habescha , which means "highland dwellers".
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| Australia | Australia | The name of the fifth continent is derived from the Latin terra australis (= "south country"), the country that the explorers sought to discover in the southern hemisphere got its name from the researcher Matthew Flinders . |
B.
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Bahamas | Bahamas | The Caribbean archipelago got its name from the Spanish conquerors, who called the waters around the islands Baja Mar ("shallow sea"), which later became "Bahamas". |
| Bahrain | البحرين | al-Bahrain . The name of the small Gulf state is derived from the Arabic al-baḥr ("the sea"); literally al-Bahrain means "the two seas". |
| Bangladesh | বাংলাদেশ | Bangladesh . Desh means "country", "area" or "state", so Bangladesh is the "land of the Bengal ". The root “desh” is also used in the name affixes of five Indian states; B. in Andhra Pradesh (analogously: "State of Andhra"). |
| Barbados | Barbados | The Portuguese explorer Pedro a Campos named the group of islands after their fig trees los barbados (= "the bearded ones "). |
| Belgium | België Belgique Belgium |
The region, which was already called Belgica by Caesar , probably derives its name from the Indo-European word * bhelgh ("angry"). |
| Belize | Belize | The Central American state is either named after the pirate Peter Wallace or is derived from the Mayan word belix ("muddy water"). |
| Benin | Benin | The West African state named itself after the old Ibîni kingdom , which was not on the territory of the state of Benin. The former name of Benin was Dahomey . |
| Bhutan | འབྲུག་ ཡུལ | Druk-Yul means "land of the dragon". The name Bhutan, which has been in international use since the end of the 19th century, probably comes from Sanskrit . However, the meaning is unclear. The name could be composed of bhota (" Tibet ") and anta ("end"); there are also other derivations. |
| Bolivia | Bolivia | The state of Bolivia is named after the revolutionary Simón Bolívar , the first president after independence in 1825 . |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bosna i Hercegovina Босна и Херцеговина |
Bosna is the name of a river and Herzegovina is derived from the German word " Herzogsland " and reminds us that Emperor Friedrich III. in 1448 had given the local ruler the title of duke. |
| Botswana | Botswana | The South African state was formerly called Bechuanaland and is named after its largest ethnic group, the Motswana . |
| Brazil | Brazil | The name Brazil came about through the trade in the wood Pau Brasil ( Brazil wood ), which has the color of red amber (Portuguese: brasil ). |
| Brunei | Brunei | The name of the small Southeast Asian sultanate is perhaps derived from the Sanskrit word bhumi ("region"). The full name of the small state is Brunei Darussalam ("Brunei, Place of Peace"). |
| Bulgaria | България | Bâlgarija. Bulg is an Old Turkic word that means "mixed". The name of the country is derived from the name of the tribe of Bulgarians , although this name is probably derived from the old Turkic word mentioned. |
| Burkina Faso | Burkina Faso | The former Upper Volta , named after the Volta River , was renamed Burkina Faso in 1984 . This name is bilingual. Burkina comes from the Mossi language , the Mòoré, which means something like “incorruptible”. Faso comes from the Dioula language and means "fatherland" ( fà : "father", só : "house, village"). Accordingly, Burkina Faso literally means “the fatherland of people of integrity”. Together with the resident name “ Burkinabe ”, whose ending “-bè” was borrowed from Fulfulde (the language of the Fulbe, Fulani), the three most important language groups in the country are represented. |
| Burundi | Burundi | In the local Bantu language , the prefix “Bu-” means the country - Burundi is the “land of the Rundi”, while Kirundi is the “language of the Rundi”. Barundi are the residents. |
C.
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Chile | Chile | One interpretation is that the word chili for Chile comes from the Quechua language with which the Inca designated their southern territories. In the Aymara language, ch'iwi means "cold" or chilli means "end of the world". Another interpretation is the derivation of an Arakaunic word for "depth", which is self-explanatory in relation to the high Andes . A widespread interpretation in Chile is that the word chili was derived from the song of the treile - a bird ( Vanellus chilensis ). |
| China | 中國 / 中国 | Zhongguo (pronounced: dschung-guo ) is made up of zhong ( 中 = "middle") and guo ( 国 ( traditional character : 國 ) = "country", "empire"). This term is mainly used by neighboring countries. The Slavs name the country after one of the peoples of the Jin dynasty , the Chitan , Kitai , a name that appears in Marco Polo as Kathai ("Cathay"). The airline Cathay Pacific takes its name from the same source. The other European and Near Eastern countries name China after the Qin dynasty (Qin, pronounced: tchin ). |
| Costa Rica | Costa Rica | The name of the Central American state comes from Spanish and means "rich coast". In the past the name was also written "Kostarika" in German. |
D.
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Denmark | Danmark | "Denmark" is probably derived from fir and marrow (= "border region") or from the Indo-European root dhen ("flat"). The name was first used by the Goths to denote the forest that separated the land of the Goths from the land of the Danes (then Scania ). |
| Germany | Germany | The “Land of the Germans”, whereby “German” is derived from the Old High German diota “Volk”. |
| Dominica | Dominica | The name of the Caribbean island state is derived from the Latin Dominica dies ("Lord's Day"), because the island was discovered by Christopher Columbus on a Sunday (November 3rd, 1493). |
| Dominican Republic | Républica Dominicana | After the name of the capital Santo Domingo . |
| Djibouti | جيبوتي; Djibouti | Djibouti. The name of the East African state probably derives from the Afar word gabouti , a mat woven from palm fibers. Another interpretation is the derivation of Tehuti , "Land of Thoth ". |
E.
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Ecuador | Ecuador | About the location of the South American country on the equator . |
| El Salvador | El Salvador | El Salvador is Spanish and means “the Savior”, meaning Jesus Christ . |
| Ivory Coast | Cote d'Ivoire | The West African state takes its name from the Portuguese ivory trade in the 16th century. At the end of the 1980s, President Félix Houphouët-Boigny decreed that the state, which was named after its once most important export product, would only be able to use the French colonial name of Côte d'Ivoire and not be translated. |
| Eritrea | ኤርትራ | Hagere Ertra. The name of the East African state is derived from the Greek words erythros ("red") and thalassa ("sea") and indicates its location on the Red Sea . |
| Estonia | Eesti | The name goes back to Tacitus , who mentions a gens aestiorum in his Germania . However, the origin is not known. |
| Eswatini | Eswatini | Official name of state: Kingdom of Eswatini (Eng.); Umbuso weSwatini (Siswati); Kingdom of Eswatini. The small state in southern Africa is named after Mswati , a king of the 16th century or after the Swazi people from the 19th century. |
F.
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Fiji | Fiji | Official name of state: Republic of Fiji Islands (Engl.); Matanitu Tu-Vaka-i-koya ko Viti (Fiji); Republic of Fiji Islands The name of the South Seas state is derived from the Tonga name of the main island, Viti Levu . |
| Finland | Suomi | Official name of the state: Suomen Tasavalta (Finnish); Republics of Finland (Sweden); Republic of Finland. The Finnish name of this state possibly goes back to an ancient Baltic word zeme ("country"). The designation in the Germanic languages deviates from this, such as German Finland , Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, English. Finland etc. as the "land of the Finns". (The Finnish language does not already know the sound "f"; France is called Ranska in Finnish without the initial "f" ) . The name for the people of the Finns can be found in Tacitus as Fenni ; with Ptolomew they are called Phinnoi . In this fin / fen / phin there is an Indo-European root * pent- (step, step on something, encounter something), which is also found in the German word to find and in the sense of "find" but also from "go and come" "is used, for example in Latin venire =" to come "and invenire =" to invent ", d. H. "come up with something". The Swedish philologist Elof Hellquist (1864–1933) put this in his Svensk Etymologisk Ordbok (Swedish Etymological Dictionary) from 1922 in the formula: Finns = wandering people and collectors. |
| France | France | Official name of state: République Française; French Republic The German country name means " Franconian country" and goes back to the Germanic word franka ("brave, free"). The former name of the country was Gaul , after a Celtic word that the Romans already referred to the Latin word gallus ("cock"). |
G
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Gabon | Le Gabon | The name of the Central African state comes from the Portuguese word gabão ("hood"). The Portuguese gave the name because of the shape of the Mbe river . |
| Gambia | The Gambia | The name of the West African state may derive from the Portuguese word câmbio ("exchange" or "trade"), referring to the trade carried out by Portuguese traders in this region. |
| Georgia | საქართველო | Sakartvelo. Sak'art'velo (Kartvelia) comes from the pagan god Kartlos , the progenitor of the Georgians. The German name of the Caucasus Republic comes either from gurz (name of the people) or from the Greek St. Georg . Other sources derive the name from the Arabic Jurj , the Persian Gurj , which probably goes back to an Indo-European word meaning "mountainous". In ancient times the region was called Colchis . Another German name for the country is Grusinien . |
| Ghana | Ghana | The former West African kingdom of Ghana ( gana = "king") was never part of the current state of Ghana . |
| Grenada | Grenada | The Caribbean island takes its name from the Spanish city of Granada, whose name goes back to the Latin granatum ("pomegranate"). Columbus named the island Concepcion for “idea”, “plan”, “conception”. |
| Greece | Ελλάς or Ελλάδα | Ellás / Elláda. The former is more formal (also on festive occasions), the latter in everyday use
The Latin Graecia (from the Greek Γραικοί) actually only refers to the inhabitants of Epirus . Also Ἑλλάς (Hellás) or Ἑλλοπία (Hellopía) was just a tribal name of the inhabitants in the north of Εὔβοια (Eúboia / Évvia), who called themselves Σελλοί (Selloí) or Ἑλλοί (Helloí) for short . The further etymology of these names is unknown. See also: Hellas |
| Guatemala | Guatemala | The name of the Central American state probably comes from the Indian word Quauhtemellan ("land of eagles"). Other sources derive the name Guatemala from the Toltec word "Goathemala", which means something like "earth of trees". According to another theory, the name means "place of piles of wood". |
| Guinea | Guinea | The West African state is derived from the Tuareg word aginaw ("black"). |
| Guinea-Bissau | Guiné-Bissau | The West African state has the name of the capital Bissau in its name . |
| Guyana | Guyana | The South American state takes its name from the Guiana landscape . Guiana is derived from an Indian word gu a yana ("blossom of the rose") or from Guiana ("land of many waters"). It could also come from Guainazes for "honorable people". |
H
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Haiti | Haiti | The Caribbean state on the island of Hispaniola ("little Spain") takes its name from the Caribbean Taíno language and means "mountainous country". |
| Honduras | Honduras | The name of the Central American state comes from the Spanish hondura and means "depth". Christopher Columbus baptized the land this way when he went ashore because of the depths in the sea not far from the Honduran coast, which are also very stormy. |
I.
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| India | भारत / India | Bharat. The state India is named after the internationally today by the state Pakistan flowing Indus -flow. The local name is Bharat , a name that goes back to a king from the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata ( maha = "great"). |
| Indonesia | Indonesia | The island state (the former Dutch colony of the Dutch East Indies ) takes its current name from the term India and the Greek word nesos ("island"). It means "Indian islands". In the Dutch language there is a difference between on the one hand India or Indiaas (German: India or Indian ) and on the other hand Indië or Indian (German: Dutch-Indian or Dutch-Indian ). |
| Iraq | العراق | al-ʿIrāq. The former Mesopotamia ("two-stream land") is derived from the old Semitic word Uruk , which means "waters" and alludes to the rivers Euphrates and Tigris . |
| Iran | ايران | Īrān literally means "land of the Aryans " and is derived from Avestan Aryanam vaeja from. The former country of Persia was renamed Iran ("Land of the Aryans ") in 1935 |
| Ireland | Éire - Ireland | Ireland is called Éire in Irish , which / e: r´ə / (r´ almost like German "d") is pronounced and goes back to Eriu , an ancient Celtic goddess of fertility. The name could also come from the Celtic word erin for "green land". |
| Iceland | Ísland | Eisland (isl. Ís = 'ice') - Some place names ( Papey ) indicate that Iceland was settled by Irish monks before the Vikings . Naddoddr from the Faroe Islands, who lived in Iceland for a short time , was first known by name. He baptized the land Snæland (Snow Country ). He was later followed by Garðar Svavarsson , who called it Garðarsholmur . The name that finally stayed - Ísland - was coined by Flóki Vilgerðarson , called Hrafna-Flóki ( raven floki ). Legend has it that in the first summer he failed to bring in hay for the winter, the winter became harsh, he lost all of his cattle and moved away again - not without giving the country its current name. |
| Israel | ישראל |
Yisra'el. The state name Israel comes from the Bible . It is the nickname of Jacob . The folk etymology of the Old Testament interprets Israel as a "warrior of God" (compare Gen. 32:29). However, this interpretation is probably wrong. The type of the name Israel corresponds to a widespread Semitic name form, which is a verb in the past tense and the theophore elementאֵל("God") as a subject. The verbal element in the name of Israel could, here the Old Testament interpretation would be right, from the rootשרה("Argue", "fight") come. A derivation from the root is also possibleשרר("to rule"). The Hebrew past tense can be reproduced with the German present tense or the German desired form, so that the possible translations result: "God strikes (for us)", "God may fight (for us)", "God rules" or "God may rule ".
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| Italy | Italia | Originally this name was only valid for a small region at the southern tip of Italy, but was later transferred to the entire peninsula (initially: south of the Apennines ). The origin of the word is unclear, in any case it is pre-Latin. Bel paese is also a metaphorical country name. |
J
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Jamaica | Jamaica | The name of the Caribbean island comes from the Arawak language. Xaymaca means "rich in springs". Xamaika means "land of forest and water". |
| Japan | 日本 |
Nihon or Nippon . Japan, the "land of the rising sun", is derived from nichi ("sun") and hon ("root", "origin"). The word "Japan" goes back to the Chinese reading (pronunciation) of the same word.
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| Yemen | اليمن | al-Yaman . Some sources derive the country name Yemen from the Arabic word yamin ("right"). This is to be seen as an indication that Yemen is from the point of view of a praying Muslim on the coast of the Red Sea to the right of Mecca . Other sources derive Yemen from the word yumn ("happiness", "blessing"), an interpretation that corresponds to the ancient Latin name arabia felix . |
| Jordan | الأردن | al-Urdunn . The Hashemite Kingdom is named after the Jordan River . The Jordan ( Hebrew נהר הירדן Nahar HaJarden ) means "the descending river". Its Arabic name isنهر الأردن Nahr al-Urdunn . |
K
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Cambodia | កម្ពុជា | Kâmpŭchea or Khmer . The official name of the Southeast Asian country is Preăh Réachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchea ("Kingdom of Cambodia"). |
| Cameroon | Cameroun Cameroon |
The name of the Central African state comes from Rio de Camarões ("River of the Shrimp"), the name that the Portuguese gave to the Wouri River in the 15th century . |
| Canada | Canada | Canada means "small settlement" or "village" in Algonquin . This name refers to what is now Stadocana in Québec . In 1840 Upper Canada and Lower Canada were united to form the Province of Canada and in 1867 they were divided into the independent provinces of Québec and Ontario in the Canadian Confederation . |
| Cape Verde | Cabo Verde | The name comes from the Portuguese Cabo Verde and means "green cape", one of the westernmost points on the continent of Africa. |
| Kazakhstan | Қазақстан | The Central Asian country (= stan ) is named after the people of the Kazakhs . The name Qazaq (also written Kazak ) is of Turkish origin. He means "independent" or "steppe rider" and was first mentioned in 1245. |
| Qatar | قطر | Qaṭar. The name of the Arab state comes from qatra ("drop"). The old name was "Katara" "كطرة" and referred to a settlement on the bank of a river. |
| Kenya | Kenya | The state of Kenya is named after the Kenya mountain, a name from the Kikuyu language, Kere-Nyaga , which means something like "white mountain". |
| Kyrgyzstan | Кыргызстан | Kyrgyzstan. The Central Asian state takes its name from the Turkish kir ("steppe") and gizmek ("nomadize"). |
| Kiribati | Kiribati | The name of the South Sea island state is derived from the English name Gilbert (former name: Gilbert Islands ). |
| Colombia | Colombia | The South American state takes its name from Christopher Columbus . |
| Comoros | Comori | The name of the island state in the Indian Ocean is derived from the Arabic Djazair al Kamar , which means "island of the moon". |
| Congo | République democratique du Congo | The Democratic Republic of the Congo, the former Belgian Congo or Congo- Kinshasa , had the name Zaire from 1971 to 1997 , which was abolished with the fall of Mobutu . Since then, the risk of confusion with the northern neighboring state, the Republic of the Congo , has been restored. The Congo Empire was a former Bantu empire in Central Africa from the 14th century to the 17th century, which emerged around 1370. The mythical founding father was Ntinu Nimi a Lukeni, who had arrived in the province of Nsundi from his father's kingdom, the kingdom of Vungu. From there he first conquered the kingdom of the Mbundu in the north of what is now Angola , where he also temporarily settled. In his second conquered area, the province of Mpemba, he founded Mbanza Kongo (in German "Königshof Kongo"), the new capital of the expanding empire. |
| Congo | République du Congo | The Republic of the Congo, formerly Congo Brazzaville , is easily confused with the Democratic Republic of the Congo . The name Congo itself comes from the Congo River and the Bakongo people . |
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kor. 조선 (Nordk.) Or Kor. 한국 (South K.) |
The German word Korea was conveyed by Islamic trade travelers and is derived from the name of the empire Goryeo , which existed on the peninsula until the end of the 14th century. Neither North Korea nor South Korea called in the vernacular Korea . In North Korea (and earlier in all of Korea) the country name Chosŏn (here in McCune-Reischauer Romanization) is common, in South Korea Hanguk (here in revised Romanization ). Depending on the situation, both can designate the whole country or half of it, comparable to the city name Berlin during the German division . Both Chosŏn and Han could have originated from Korean ethnonyms ; the Chinese logograms , with which Chosŏn ( 朝鮮 ) and Han ( 韓 ) were originally written, were probably used onomatopoeically in both names; the widespread interpretation of 朝 as “tomorrow” (according to the semantic value of the sign customary in the Chinese language) would then be a subsequent interpretation of the Chinese transcription of the non-Chinese ethnonym, which is actually only to be understood as a phonetic approximation. See also the sections on “ North ” and “ South Korea ”. |
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| Croatia | Hrvatska | Etymologically, the origin of the country name is possibly derived from the verb ringen ( rvati ). The term also denotes the meaning of "fighting first" as well as "struggling" (with opponents, about things, also: facts, arguments, etc.). An interpretation in which a warlike role of the "Croats" (-> fighters, warriors) is historically derived, is currently considered a colportage. It is known, however, that the German word tie is derived from the scarf used by Croatian soldiers. It goes back to French à la cravate (“after Croatian style”) (cf. also the dialectal form “Krawåt” from “Croatian”, Croatian Hrvat , which is especially attested in Austria ). Another form was called croatta. An Iranian etymology is being discussed about the origin of the name with a reference further back, see Croatians # Origin of names . |
| Cuba | Cuba | Cuba is a word from the Arawak language and means "central place". The Caribs named the island Cubanascnan from Cubagua for "where to find gold". Columbus first named the island Juana (name of the Spanish princess) and later Fernandina (after the Spanish king). |
| Kuwait | الكويت | al-Kuwait . The name of the state is derived from the Arabic word kūt for "fort", al-Kuwait literally means "the little fort". |
L.
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Laos | ລາວ | Official name of state: Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao; Laos People's Democratic Republic (Laos PDR) Law. The Southeast Asian state takes its name from Lo, a son of the god Rama . |
| Lesotho | Lesotho | Official name of state: Mmuso wa Lesotho (Sesotho); Kingdom of Lesotho (Eng.); Kingdom of Lesotho The name of the South African state consists of the prefix le , which denotes the singular, and the word Sotho , the name of a people. |
| Latvia | Latvija | Official name of state: Latvijas Republika; Republic of Latvia The name of the Baltic state probably comes from the word Latgale . Latgale (Latvian: Latgale ) is one of the four historical landscapes of Latvia and is regarded as the heartland of today's Latvia. |
| Lebanon | لبنان | Official name of state: al-Jumhūriyya al-Lubnāniyya (الجمهورية اللبنانية), Lebanese Republic of Lubnān . The name of the state probably comes from the Assyrian labhanu and means "white" after the snow mountains that are visible to the coast. |
| Liberia | Liberia | Official name of state: Republic of Liberia; Republic of Liberia The West African state was founded in 1822 by freed US slaves and takes its name from the Latin word liber ("free"). The name of the capital Monrovia also refers to the USA, because it is derived from the name of the American President James Monroe . |
| Libya | ليبيا | Lībiyā . The North African state is named after the Berber tribe of Libyans , who were already known in ancient Egypt under the name Rbw . |
| Liechtenstein | Liechtenstein | Official name of the state: Principality of Liechtenstein The state is named after the ruling family of Liechtenstein. This in turn has its name after the ancestral castle ( Liechtenstein Castle "light stone" in Lower Austria ). |
| Lithuania | Lietuva | Official name of state: Lietuvos Respublika; Republic of Lithuania The name of the Baltic state, which is mentioned in a Quedlinburg annal as early as 1009 , possibly comes from a body of water: Lietauka <* Lietava (right tributary of the Neris ). Formations of * Lietā without suffixes are also Leità , Leitýs ; Composite Leitupalis ; with a different suffix Leitãlė . |
| Luxembourg | Lëtzebuerg Luxembourg Luxembourg |
Official name of state: Grand Duchy of Luxembourg; Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (French); Grand Duchy of Lëtzebuerg (lux.) Lëtzebuerg , originally just the name of the capital, comes from the Middle High German compound luzzil ("small", cf. English little ) and castle , which means "small castle". |
M.
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Madagascar | Madagasikara Madagascar |
The name Madagascar does not come from any native language, but derives from Madageiscar , a corrupted form of the name of the Somali city Mogadishu from the memoirs of Marco Polo . |
| Malawi | Malawi | The name of the East African state comes from the native word Maravi ("flames" - setting sun over Lake Malawi ) |
| Malaysia | Malaysia | During the federation with Singapore , the Southeast Asian state was called Malaya , a name derived from mala ("mountains"). |
| Maldives | ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގ | Divehi raajie. The name of the island state in the Indian Ocean comes from Sanskrit and means “palace island ”, from mahal (“palace”, cf. Taj Mahal ) and diva “(island”, cf. Dhivehi ). |
| Mali | Mali | The West African desert state is named after the historic Mali Empire and the Malinke people . In the Bambara language, mali means “hippopotamus”. |
| Malta | Malta | The Mediterranean island takes its name either from the Semitic malat ("refuge") or from the Greek melitta ("bee"). It is interesting that Malta was famous for its honey in ancient times. |
| Morocco | المغرب | al-Maghrib. The Arabic term al-Maghrib means "west". From this concept also the collective name derives Maghreb off in French is le Maghreb today general term for the countries of former French North West Africa . The German country name is derived from the city of Marrakech . |
| Marshall Islands | Marshall Islands | The South Sea islands are named after the British captain John Marshall , who was the first to document the existence of these islands in 1788 . |
| Mauritania | موريتانيا | Mūritāniyā. The West African desert state does not get its name from the Latin word maurus (" Mohr "), but from the Berber tribe of the Mauri . Maure probably comes from the Phoenician word mahurim for "man of the west". |
| Mauritius | Mauritius | The island in the Indian Ocean was named by the Dutch in 1598 after Prince Mauritius (Moritz) of Nassau . |
| Mexico | México | The name of the state and its capital comes from the self-name of the Aztec Mexica . This name comes from the Nahuatl word Metztlixithlico and means either "in the middle of the moon" ( metztli ("moon") and xictli ("navel") or simply "sun"). Others derive the name from the leader Mexitli. |
| Micronesia | Micronesia | The name of the South Seas state is an artificial word with Greek components and means “small” ( micro ) “islands” (nesos) . |
| Moldova | Молдова Moldova |
It is believed that the name is derived from the Dacian words molta = "many" and dava = "fortress", "city". According to another theory, the region was named by a Hungarian nobleman after the Moldova River in Romania , not to be confused with the better-known Czech Vltava . |
| Monaco | Monaco | The name of the dwarf state on the Riviera goes back to the Greek word monos ("only", "alone"). In the 5th century the Greeks built a temple for " Herakles Mono ikos" there. |
| Mongolia | Монгол | Mongol . The name of the Mongolian state goes back to the word mengu ("brave"). The name of the ruling tribe was often carried over to all of the united tribes. |
| Montenegro | Crna Gora, Црна Гора | Montenegro , a Venetian word, got its name from Venetian conquerors and means, like the Serbian Crna gora , "black mountain forest", it means the wooded Lovćen, which appears blackish from a distance. |
| Mozambique | Mozambique | The East African state takes its name from Arabic and actually means musa malik ("King Mose "). According to other theories, the name comes from the Arab-Asian traders Muzambase or from the Mozambique island . |
| Myanmar | မြန်မာ | The Southeast Asian state was formerly known as Burma or Burma. In addition to the official name ( Pye Tawngsu Myanma Naingngan = "Union Myanmar"), the residents also briefly call the state Myanma Naingngan ("State of Myanmar"). Burma and Myanmar are not really different names. Bama , from which the English pronounced Burma (and from this presumably Germanized Burma ) is obviously derived, and Myanma have always been the names for the largest population group of the Bamar in their own language and for their country. The term Myanma is said to go back to the 6th century. It comes from the written language, while Bama is used colloquially. Efforts have been made since the 1920s to find a uniform term for all ethnic groups resident in what is now Myanmar. Bama was replaced by Myanma several times and vice versa. The official renaming of the country to Union of Myanmar by the military was primarily a project with external impact. The country should present itself as having finally escaped colonial times. The United Nations approved the new name of the state a few days after its promulgation. Many states have since followed suit, while the United States and Australia hold on to the name Burma as a sign of their disapproval of the regime. In Burmese the syllable Myan means "fast", the syllable Mar "strong". |
N
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Namibia | Namibia | Official name of state: Republic of Namibia; Republic of Namibia The former colony of German South West Africa , later South West Africa , is named after the Namib , a word from Khoekhoegowab that means “wide space”. Mburumba Kerina is considered the inventor of the name . |
| Nauru | Naoero | Official name of state: Ripublik Naoero (nauru.); Republic of Nauru; Republic of Nauru The origin of the word “Nauru” is not clear. The Nauru people called their island "Naoero" then as now. The German Paul Hambruch gave the following etymological explanation that "Naoero" as a contraction of the sentence "a-nuau-aa-ororo" (would be written today "A nuaw ea arouro"), which means "I'm going to the beach" means must be interpreted. In the German Colonial Lexicon (1920) , the Hambruch declaration with the word "Anáoero" or "Ānā́ọĕṙọ" was adopted. The Alsatian Alois Kayser rejected Hambruch's explanation because in Nauruan the word “beach”, as the goal of a verb of movement, needs the word “rodu”, which means “downwards”. The Nauru people consider the beach to be the lowest geographical point on the island, both in terms of land and sea. The fact that “rodu” is missing in Hambruch's word explanation makes his etymology of the word “Naoero” and thus also of “Nauru” untenable. |
| Nepal | नेपाल | Official name of the state: नेपाल अधिराज्य; Nepal Adhirajya; Kingdom of Nepal Nepal. The name of the Himalayan state is derived from the Sanskrit words ni ("down") and pat ("to fly"). Another interpretation is “wool market”. |
| New Zealand | New Zealand | Official name of state: New Zealand; Aotearoa "land of the long white cloud" (Maori); The archipelago was discovered in 1642 by the Dutch Abel Tasman and named as states land . The Dutch authorities called it after the Dutch province of Zeeland in Nieuw Zeeland , "New Zealand" to. |
| Nicaragua | Nicaragua | Official name of the state: República de Nicaragua; Republic of Nicaragua The country name of the Central American state is derived from Nahuatl ( nican = "here", aráhuac = "people"). Other authors attribute the country name to the meeting of the Spanish conquistador Gil González Dávila with the cacique Nicarao , which took place on October 15, 1523 near San Jorge / Rivas. |
| Netherlands | Nederland | Official name of state: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; Kingdom of the Netherlands Nederland means “low country” in German. The country got this name from the Habsburgs to distinguish the Lower Rhineland from the possessions on the Upper Rhine . The name Holland only refers to two of the 12 provinces of the Netherlands: Noord - (= North) and Zuid - (= South) Holland. The syllable holt (hol) means "wood" and indicates wooded land. |
| Niger | Niger | Official name of state: République du Niger; Republic of Niger The West African state is named after the river Niger , which the Tuareg called "ghir n-igheren", "river of rivers". This name became in Arabic Nahr al-anhur with the same meaning and in Latin "Niger", "the black". |
| Nigeria | Nigeria | Official name of state: Federal Republic of Nigeria; Federal Republic of Nigeria Also named after the Niger River or after the African word NiGir ("River Gir"). |
| kor. 조선 | Using the Korean alphabet , the only script used by the Korean states, the official state name becomes kor. 조선 민주주의 인민 공화국 , which, according to McCune-Reischauer , is transcribed as Chosŏn minjujuŭi inmin konghwaguk . Both forms only reflect the Korean pronunciation of the Chinese logograms 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國 , from which the name is built: 朝鮮 Chosŏn "Korea" + 民主主義 minjujuŭi "Democracy" + 人民 inmin "People" + 共和國 konghwaguk "Republic", together "Korean People's Democratic Republic". In non-North Korean publications, the form "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" is more common. The short form is Chosŏn ( Kor. 조선 ). It is unclear as usual in the country to use the form Pukchosŏn ( kor. 북 조선 ; puk = "North") is to clarify that only North Korea is meant. See also the section on “Korea” . |
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| North Macedonia | Северна Македонија | The name Macedonia and Macedonia comes from the Greek Makedonoi , the name given to the tribe of the ancient Macedonians , who in the course of Dorian hike (about 1200 to 1000 v. Chr.) On Pindos settled ( Herodotus 1.56 Makedonia ).
The official self-designation of the Balkan state was "Republic of Macedonia" (Република Македонија) until 2019, the UNO recognized the state under pressure from Greece , which fears territorial claims on the northern Greek region of Macedonia , as the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia". |
| Norway | Norge | Official name of state: Kongeriket Norge; Kingdom of Norway Norge comes from the Old Norse words norðr ("north") and vegr ("way"). |
O
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Oman | عمان | Official name of state: Salṭanat ʿUmān (سلطنة عُمان), Sultanate of Oman According to one theory, the Arab Sultanate is named after Uman ibn Ibrahim al-Chalil . |
| Austria | Austria | Official name of state: Republic of Austria The eastern part of the Franconian Empire in the Danube basin received the name Marcha Orientalis under Charlemagne , as a border area to the Slavs and Magyars . The name Ostarrichi appears in a document for the first time in 996. According to one theory, Austria is the vernacular translation for “ Marchia Orientalis ” (“Mark in the East”). " ..Rîchi " is not to be translated as realm here, but rather is used in the sense of a defined area. Ostarrichi was therefore the demarcated area in the east or eastern borderland. According to another, more recent theory, the name "ostarrîchi" is derived from the Celtic name for the Danube , Uister (cf. Irish Gaelic uisce or Scottish Gaelic uisge - water). Austria therefore means roughly “land on the Danube”. |
| East Timor | Timor-Leste Timor Lorosae |
Official name of the state: Repúblika Demokrátika Timór Loro Sa'e (Tetum), República Democrática de Timor-Leste (port.) The internationally used, official (Portuguese) country name Timor-Leste means "East Timor" (leste means "East"). In the official language Tetum, the country is called Timór Loro Sa'e, which also translates as "East Timor" (literally Timor of the rising sun, whereby the rising sun in this language stands for the east direction). If one takes into account that the Indonesian word timur also means “east” and the name of the island Timor is derived from it, the literal meaning “east from the east” or “east of the east island” would result. The province name Timor Timur , abbreviated Tim-Tim , which was used during the Indonesian occupation , means nothing else than "East Timor". |
P
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Pakistan | پاكستان | Official name of state: Islāmī Jamhūriyah-i-Pākistān (Urdu), Islamic Republic of Pakistan The name Pakistan is an acronym from the letters PAKI, which is made up of the words Punjab , Afghanistan , Kashmir , Indus and the syllable stan ("country"). At the same time, pak also means “pure” in Pashtu , which is why the term “land of the pure” is also used. |
| Palestine | فلسطين | Official name: Palestinian Territories Filasṭīn / Falasṭīn . The name Palestine goes back to the ancient people of the Philistines . |
| Palau | Belau | Official name: Belu'uera Belau, Republic of Palau Named after the Palauan word aidebelau ( "indirect answers"), based on the traditions to the development of the island by the destruction of the giant Chuab . |
| Panama | Panama | Official name of the state: República de Panamá (Republic of Panama) The state on the Panama Canal is named after an earlier village near today's capital. The name comes from the Cueva language and means "place rich in fish" . |
| Papua New Guinea | Papua Niugini | Official name of the state: Independent State of Papua New Guinea (Independent State of Papua New Guinea) Papua means "land of the curly-haired people" . This name was given by the Malay peoples who have straight hair themselves. |
| Paraguay | Paraguay | Official name of the state: Spanish: República del Paraguay, Guaraní : Tetä Paraguáype The state is named after the river Río Paraguay , which in turn takes its name from the Guaraní language and there para means nothing other than "river" or "water" and Gua y "That flows into the sea". |
| Peru | Peru | Official name of the state: República del Perú (Republic of Peru) The name of the state of Peru, biru is a Quechua word that means "water". There is a river Biru in Ecuador . But there are also other theories: after the Indian tribe Pyru ("source", "origin"), after the legendary gold country Piru or from the Indian word pirúa . |
| Philippines | Pilipinas | Official name of the state in Filipino : Republika ng Pilipinas The island state was named in 1542 after the Spanish Infante Philip, who later became King Philip II . |
| Poland | Polska | Official name of the state: Rzeczpospolita Polska (Republic of Poland) The country's name is probably derived from the Slavic word polje , which means "field" or "plain". The German form is nothing more than the plural form of the resident name “Pole”. |
| Portugal | Portugal | Official name of the state: República Portuguesa (Portuguese Republic) The country's name is derived from Portus Cale , the ancient name of Portos . According to different interpretations, this is of Latin or Latin-Greek origin and could mean either a beautiful harbor , a warm harbor or the Gallaeker harbor . |
| Puerto Rico | Puerto Rico | Official name of the state: Estado Libre y Asociado de Puerto Rico (= Free and Associated State of Puerto Rico or Associated Free State of Puerto Rico) The Spanish name of the Central American state means "rich port". Originally, however, the island was first called San Juan - like the capital today - and San Juan was called Puerto Rico when it was founded. The original name of the island of Puerto Rico is Borikén in Arawak , the Puerto Ricans often refer to their island as Borinquén . |
R.
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Rwanda | Rwanda | Official name of the state: Republic of Rwanda; République Rwandaise (French); Repubulika y'u Rwanda (Kinyarwanda); Republic of Rwanda The name of the East African state is derived from the Vanyaruanda people and is obviously related to the name of the neighboring state of Burundi . |
| Romania | România | Official name of state: România; Romania The country name is derived - like that of Romagna in Italy - from the name of the people Romani ("Roman"). Parts of today's Romania were incorporated into the Roman Empire by Trajan as the province of Dacia ( Dacia ) in 106 AD . |
| Russia | Россия | Official name of the state: Российская Федерация; Rossiyskaya Federazija; Russian Federation Rossija probably comes from the Swedish word Rus (for "Vikings" or "soot"), which from 750 onwards settled on the territory of what would later become Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. There are several theories about the origin of the name Rus, of which the derivation from the Finnish name for the Swedes, Ruotsi ("rowers"), or the name after their presumed home in Sweden, Roslagen, found the most popular. |
S.
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Solomon Islands | Solomon Islands | Official name of state: Solomon Islands; Solomon Islands The name of the South Seas state has a biblical background. The Spanish navigator Alvaro de Mendaña de Neyra expected to find gold there in 1567 and therefore named the islands after King Solomon , who was famous for his wealth. |
| Zambia | Zambia | Official name of state: Republic of Zambia; Republic of Zambia The name of the South African state is derived from the Zambezi River . |
| Samoa | Samoa i Sisifo | Official name of state: Malo Sa'oloto Tuto'atasi o Samoa (samoan.); Independent State of Samoa (Eng.); Independent State of Samoa The South Seas state is named after the bird moa ( sa moa = "place of the moa" or "holy chicken / moa"). |
| San Marino | San Marino | Official name of state: Repubblica di San Marino; Republic of San Marino The small state in Italian territory is named after the hermit Marinus , who died there in 301 . |
| Sao Tome and Principe | Sao Tome e Principe | Official name of state: República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe; Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe The name of the Central African state comes from the Portuguese and means "Saint Thomas", because the main island was discovered on December 21, 1471 , the festival of Saint Thomas . The name of the second large island is the Portuguese word for "prince". |
| Saudi Arabia | المملكة العربية السعودية | Official name of the state: al-Mamlakat al-ʿarabiyya as-saʿūdiyya; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia The state is named after the ruling Saud family . |
| Sweden | Sverige | Official name of state: Konungariket Sverige; Kingdom of Sweden The native name Sverige (Sve-rige) is pronounced something like swerje and is perhaps derived from sweba ("free") and Reich. The old Nordic name was Svithjoth . Svi or sve was the old word for "lake". The name of the country would then have the meaning "Sea Empire". Thjoth has the same root as the word "German" and means "people". Another old name for Sweden is Scania , another name Scania (Danish and Swedish Skåne ; Latin Scania ), which is a landscape in southern Sweden that has long belonged to Denmark. |
| Switzerland | Switzerland Suisse Svizzera Svizra |
Official name of the state: Swiss Confederation (French Confédération suisse, Italian Confederazione Svizzera, Rhaeto-Roman. Confederaziun svizra, Latin Confoederatio Helvetica) The country's name is the High German form of the canton name Schwyz , one of the three founding cantons of the Swiss Confederation . The name Schwyz comes from pre-Roman times, but cannot be interpreted with certainty (see Schwyz (municipality) #Name ). |
| Senegal | Senegal | Official name of state: République du Sénégal (French); Réewum Senegaal (Wolof); Republic of Senegal The West African state is named after the Senegal River , whose name is perhaps derived from the Arabic word as-sinighal ("navigable") or from the Wolof word for "dugout canoe". |
| Serbia | Србија | Official name of the state: Република Србија; Republic of Serbia; Republic of Serbia The name Serbia has the same root as the name of the Sorbian tribe . |
| Seychelles | Seychelles | Official name of state: Republic of the Seychelles (Engl.); République des Seychelles (French); Repiblik Sesel (Seselwa); Republic of the Seychelles The island state in the Indian Ocean is named after the finance minister of the French king Louis XV. , Named Jean Moreau de Séchelles . |
| Sierra Leone | Sierra Leone | Official name of state: Republic of Sierra Leone; Republic of Sierra Leone The name of the West African state is derived from the Spanish sierra ("mountain range") and león ("lion"). |
| Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe | Official name of state: Republic of Zimbabwe; Republic of Zimbabwe The current name of the former Southern Rhodesia (after the conqueror Cecil Rhodes ) means dzimbadza ("stone houses") in the Shona language and refers to the ancient capital of the Empire of Greater Zimbabwe . |
| Singapore |
新加坡 சிங்கப்பூர் குடியரசு Singapore |
Official name of state: Republic of Singapore (Eng.); Chinese 新加坡 共和国 , Pinyin Xīnjiāpō Gònghéguó ; Republic of Singapura (malai.); சிங்கப்பூர் குடியரசு Ciŋakappūr Kudiyarasu (Tamil); Republic of Singapore Singapore was founded in 1819 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles , who retained the Sanskrit name of the island of Simhapura , from simha ("lion") and pure ("city"). The Malay name for the island was Tamasek and comes from the word tasik ("sea"). |
| Slovakia | Slovensko | Official name of the state: Slovenská republika; Slovak Republic The former republic of Czechoslovakia takes its name from the people of the Slavs , who derive themselves from the Slavic slo / sla ("water") or from slovo ("word"). |
| Slovenia | Slovenija | Official name of the state: Republika Slovenija; Republic of Slovenia The south- east European republic takes its name from the people of the Slavs , who derive themselves from the Slavic slo / sla ("water") or from slovo ("word"). |
| Somalia | الصومال - Soomaaliya | Official name of the state: Jamhuuriyadda Dimoqraadiya Soomaaliya - Democratic Republic of Somalia The country name is derived from the Somali people . |
| Spain | España | Official name of state: Reino de España; Kingdom of Spain , the name comes from the Phoenician word "I-Shephanim", "Land of the hyrax "; The Phoenicians considered the rabbits, unknown outside of Spain at the time, to be such . |
| Sri Lanka | ශ්රී ලංකා | Official name of state: Sri Lankā Prajathanthrika Samajavadi Janarajaya; இலங்கை சனநாயக சோஷலிசக் குடியரசு; Illankai Chananaayaka Chosalisa Kudiyarasu; Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka The name of the island state, formerly known as Tamraparni and later known as Ceylon, means "happy land" or "shining island". Sinhala, the language of the inhabitants (not “ Sri Lankan ”), is derived from the Sanskrit word sinhala-dweepa , which means “land of the lions”. Another old name was Serendip . Ceylon is derived from Seilan , the Portuguese pronunciation of the Pali name Sinhalana , "land of lions". |
| St. Kitts and Nevis | Saint Kitts and Nevis | Official name of state: Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis; Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis The Caribbean archipelago, which used to be called "Saint Christopher and Nevis", is named after the two islands of St. Kitts and Nevis . |
| St. Lucia | Saint Lucia | Official name of the state: Saint Lucia According to legend, the name of the Caribbean state goes back to French sailors who were shipwrecked on December 13th 1502 and named the island after the martyr of Syracuse Sainte Alousie , the name was later changed to Saint Lucia by French chroniclers , but has nothing to do with Saint Lucia . |
| St. Vincent and the Grenadines | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Official name of state: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines The Caribbean island of St. Vincent was discovered by Christopher Columbus on January 22nd, 1498 , the day of Saint Vincent . The Grenadines, derived from Grenada , are the archipelago south of the main island. |
| South Africa |
South Africa ( English ) |
Official name of state: Republic of South Africa (Eng.); Republiek van Suid-Afrika (Afrikaans); Republic of South Africa One of the two states that have the word Africa in their name. Africa was a North African colony of the Romans . In ancient times Africa only referred to the area of what is now Tunisia , the continent was called Libya . The name could be derived from a local tribe, or based on the Phoenician afar ("dust"). |
| Sudan | السودان | Official name of the state: al-Jumhūrīyat as-Sūdān (جمهورية السودان), Republic of Sudan as-Sūdān . Sudan is on the border of White Africa to sub-Saharan Africa and is called in Arabic balad as-Sudan , the "land of the blacks". |
kor. 한국 
|
Using the Korean alphabet , the only script used by the Korean states, the official state name becomes kor. 대한민국 written what will be transcribed as Daehanminguk after the revised Romanization . Both forms merely reflect the Korean pronunciation of the Chinese logograms 大韓民國 , from which the name is built: 大dae "large" + 韓han "Korean" + 民國minguk "republic" ( min "people", guk "state"), together "Republic of Korea", or literally translated as "Great Korean Republic". The short form is Hanguk ( Kor. 한국 ). Alternatively, the form Namhan ( Kor. 남 한 ; nam = "South") can be used to make it clear that only South Korea is meant. See also the section on “Korea” .
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| Suriname | Suriname | Official name of state: Republiek Suriname; Republic of Suriname The South American state is named after the Suriname River. Originally the name can be traced back to the Indian tribe of the Surines. The former name of the colony was Dutch Guiana . |
| Syria | سوريا | Official name of the state: al-Jumhūriyyat al-ʿarabiyyat as-sūriyya (الجمهورية العربية السورية), Syrian Arab Republic Sūriya . The name may have the same background as Assyria . |
T
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Tajikistan | Тоҷикистон - Todschikiston | Official name of state: Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон; Jumhurii Todschikiston; Republic of Tajikistan , the country's name meaning "Land of the Tajiks " goes back to the Middle Persian or early-New Persian term tāǧīk or Tazi (k) with the meaning of " Arabs " (= people from the South) and the traditional Persian place name -stan back . |
| Taiwan | 臺灣 or 台湾 | Official name of state: 中華民國 , Zhōnghuá Mínguó ; Republic of China The island nation , officially called the Republic of China , has the Chinese words tái ("terrace") and wān ("bay") in its name . The island used to be known under the Portuguese name Formosa (from ilha formosa = "beautiful island"). |
| Tanzania | Tanzania | Official name of state: United Republic of Tanzania; Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania (Swahili); United Republic of Tanzania The name is made up of the first syllables of Tanganyika and Zanzibar , as well as the last syllable of Azania . |
| Thailand | ราช อาณาจักร ไทย | Official name of the state: ราช อาณาจักร ไทย, pronunciation : [
râːʧa-ʔaːnaːʤàk-tʰai ]; Kingdom of Thailand , the former Siam is today in the national language colloquially [ mʉaŋ-tai ] - เมือง ไทย or [ pratʰêːt-tai ] - ประเทศไทย ( "land of the free"). Siam has been called the country by non-Siamese since around the 12th century. The name "Siam" was changed to "Thailand" in 1939 at the instigation of the dictator General Phibul Songkhram . |
| Togo | Togo | Official name of state: République Togolaise; Republic of Togo The name of the West African state comes from the Ewe language and is made up of to ("water") and go ("shore"). |
| Tonga | Tonga | Official name of state: Pule'anga Fakatu'i 'o Tonga (tong.); Kingdom of Tonga; Kingdom of Tonga The South Seas Kingdom of Tonga used to be called the "Friendship Islands", which it was given by James Cook . The local word tonga means "south". |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Trinidad & Tobago | Official name of state: Republic of Trinidad and Tobago; Republic of Trinidad and Tobago The Caribbean state is called Trinidad (Spanish for "Trinity") after the three outstanding mountains on the main island and Tobago ("pipe") after the Haitian word tambaku ("tobacco"). |
| Chad | تشاد | Official name of state: Jumhūriyyat Taschād (جمهوريّة تشاد; arab.); République du Tchad (French); Republic of Chad The name of the African state refers to Lake Chad and means "great water desert". |
| Czech Republic | Česko | Official name of the state: Česká republika; Czech Republic Both the term “Czech Republic” and the term “Czech Republic” have been used historically. "Czech Republic" is the older form. “Czech Republic”, on the other hand, came into being after the emergence of Czechoslovakia in 1918 , namely as a contraction of Čechové + Slovakia . |
| Tunisia | تونس | Official name of state: Republic of Tunisia (الجمهورية التونسية; al-Jumhūriyya at-tūnisiyya) Tūnis . The state takes its name from the capital Tunis . |
| Turkey | Türkiye | Official name of state: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti; Republic of Turkey The collective name of the nomadic peoples or equestrian peoples (the early first "Turks") in the Central Asian area was Turk since the 2nd millennium . So: Turk and the Turkish form of the Arabic Nisba -iye: "Land of the Turks". |
| Turkmenistan | Turkmenistan | Official name of state: Turkmenistan Jumhuriyäti; Republic of Turkmenistan The word Turkmen means "the real Turks ". As in many other cases, the syllable stan means “country”. |
| Tuvalu | Tuvalu | Official name of the state: Tuvalu The South Seas state, formerly known as Ellice Islands , takes its name from the native word Tuvalu , which means "eight islands". In fact, the state consists of nine islands. |
U
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Uganda | Uganda | Official name of state: Republic of Uganda; Republic of Uganda The name of the East African state is derived from the name of the central kingdom of Buganda ("Land of Ganda") and its ethnic group, the Baganda (Ganda people). The missing B is explained by the fact that the name Buganda was not adopted, but the name in the Swahili language , which is spoken on the East African coast. This familiar instead of the loosely as "land of" translatable prefix ( Bantu - noun class ) Bu the prefix U . |
| Ukraine | Україна | Official name of the state: Україна; Ukrajina The term Ukrajina was first used for the year 1187 in the Hypatius Chronicle from the 15th century for the south-western areas of the Kiev Empire , the Halitsch-Volhynia area. It is made up of the preposition u at , in and Krajina border , Mark . In historical songs and popular ballads, the word Ukrajina also means “land” or “earth”, and not just “on the edge” or “borderland”. |
| Hungary | Magyarország | Official name of state: Magyarország; Hungary The native language and the foreign name of the country differ greatly. The German word "Hungary" comes from the Onogurs and means "people of ten spears" (= "alliance of ten tribes"). The word magyar (formerly magyeri ) appears in Mohammedan sources as early as the 9th and 10th centuries . It is probably a compound of magy (<Ugric * mańćε = human, male, gender) and he (i) (also human, male, gender). See Magyars |
| Uruguay | Uruguay | Official name of state: República Oriental del Uruguay; Republic of East Uruguay The name of the South American state comes either from the Indian words uru ("bird") and guay ("tail") or from the Guaraní language and means "snail river". |
| Uzbekistan | O'zbekiston | Official name of state: O'zbekiston Respublikasi; Republic of Uzbekistan The Central Asian country (= stan ) of the Uzbeks refers to its majority people, whose name means "own master". The Uzbeks themselves are a Turkic people with a common origin with the Kazakhs from (Western) Siberia. Her name is derived from Uzbek Khan. Muhammad Uzbek Khan was a descendant of Batu; his reign from 1312–1342 led to the heyday of the Golden Horde. In his time, the Golden Horde was already known as the Land of Uzbeks. |
V
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Vanuatu | Vanuatu | Official name of state: Republic of Vanuatu (Eng.); République de Vanuatu (French); Ripablik Blong Vanuatu (Bislama); Republic of Vanuatu The name of the South Seas state comes from the expression for "Forever on our land" in the Bislama language . The people of Vanuatus call themselves in Bislama Ni-Vanuatus . The former name of the country was "New Hebrides" after the Scottish Hebrides islands of the same name . |
| Vatican city | Vatican | Official name of the state: Status Civitatis Vaticanae (lat.); Stato della Città del Vaticano (Italian); Vatican City State The name of the Vatican comes from the Latin mons Vaticanus , one of the hills of Rome, the origin of which is not certain. In ancient times it was mostly assumed that it was named after the deity Vaticanus , today the derivation from an Etruscan settlement that previously existed there is more likely. |
| Venezuela | Venezuela | Official name of the state: República Bolivariana de Venezuela; Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Venezuela is the diminutive of Venice , ie "Little Venice". The houses on stilts in Lake Maracaibo reminded Amerigo Vespucci of the city of Venice in 1499 . |
| United Arab Emirates | الإمارات العربية المتحدة | al-Imārāt al-ʿarabiyyat al-muttaḥida; United Arab Emirates The Emirates are Abu Dhabi , Dubai , Sharjah , Ajman , Umm al-Qaiwain , Ra's al-Khaimah and Fujairah . The word " Emir " is etymologically related to the word " Admiral " (= "Commander"). |
| United States of America | United States of America - USA | Official name of state: United States of America; United States of America The continent of America takes its name from Amérigo Vespucci . The designation "United States" comes from the fact that in the declaration of independence, a list of the participating states was deliberately omitted, as it was not entirely clear which would actually sign the document. |
| United Kingdom | United Kingdom | The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is actually called "Great Brittany ", although the conquerors came from Normandy . According to another theory, the name "Britain" comes from the Romans and Gauls, who called the Celtic islanders Britanni . This name comes from the Celtic word brith for "colorful", "spotted" and refers to the colorful face paintings of the Celts. The state is called "United Kingdom" because it is an amalgamation of the former kingdoms of England , Scotland and Ireland (now Northern Ireland ) ( Act of Union ). |
| Vietnam | Việt Nam | Official name of state: Cộng Hòa Xã Hội Chủ Nghĩa Việt Nam; Socialist Republic of Vietnam The country of Vietnam is named after the word Yue (越), which was a collective term used by Chinese chroniclers for non-Chinese cultures (or non- Han ) indigenous to southern China , "southern" (南 = nam ) "Yue" (= Việt ). |
W.
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Belarus | Беларусь | Official name of the state: Рэспубліка Беларусь (Republic of Belarus) Belarus is the official name in diplomatic communications. An outdated designation is "White Ruthenia" or (in GDR parlance) "Belorussland". In East Slavic, Rus was the name for Scandinavian-Slavic domains such as the Kievan Rus . White means "west" or "north" in a geographical sense. Belarus is therefore called "Western Russia". There are also other theories according to which e.g. B. white also means "free" in Slavic or the country got its name as a contrast to the Kievan Rus, which was also called "black Rus". |
Z
| German | National language | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Central African Republic | République Centrafricaine | Official name of the state: République Centrafricaine (French), Ködrö tî Bê-Afrika (Sango); Central African Republic One of the two states that have the word Africa in their name. Africa was a North African colony of the Romans . In ancient times Africa only referred to the area of what is now Tunisia , the continent was called Libya . The name could be derived from a local tribe, or based on the Phoenician afar ("dust"). |
| Cyprus | Κύπρος Kıbrıs |
Official name of the state: Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία (Greek: Kypriakí Dimokratía), "Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti" (Turkish); Republic of Cyprus Origin of the name unknown. The name of the common metal copper was derived from the name of the Mediterranean island . |
See also
Commons : Country names in non-Latin scripts - collection of images, videos and audio files
literature
- André Cherpillod: Dictionnaire Étymologique des Noms Géographiques. 2nd Edition. Masson, Paris 1991, ISBN 2-225-82277-8
- Hugo Kastner: From Aachen to Cyprus, geographical names and their origins, anecdotes, facts and comparisons; more than 3500 names from all over the world. Humboldt, Baden-Baden 2007, ISBN 978-3-89994-124-1 .
- Dietmar Urmes: Handbook of geographical names. Their origin, development and meaning. Marix, Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 978-3-937715-70-4 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Elof Hellquist: 1. Finn . In: Svensk etymologisk ordbok . 1st edition. CWK Gleerups förlag, Berlingska boktryckerie, Lund 1922, p. 137 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).