How are countries named?

There's a fascinating trend in country names – countries are almost always named after one of four things: a directional description of the country, a feature of the land, a tribe name or an important person, usually male.

How do we come up with names for other countries?

What is the only country named after a family?

An Arab sovereign state in Western Asia, known as Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is named after its Royal Family – the al-Sauds.

What is named after a country?

Indian Ocean is the only ocean to be named after India. The Indian Ocean is the world's third largest ocean, after the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. Q. Which is the only ocean named after a country?

How did European countries get their name?

You might have noticed by now that a bunch of European countries were named after the tribes that were living at the time. The Franks, for example, often fought with the Alemani tribes who occupied regions along the Rhine River – which is why the French call Germany Allemagne, and the Spanish call it Alemania.

How Did Each European Country Get Its Name

Why is Asia named Asia?

The word Asia originated from the Ancient Greek word Ἀσία, first attributed to Herodotus (about 440 BCE) in reference to Anatolia or to the Persian Empire, in contrast to Greece and Egypt. It originally was just a name for the east bank of the Aegean Sea, an area known to the Hittites as Assuwa.

Who named China?

That is a bit more difficult to answer. Scholars disagree on the name's exact origin. Some argue that it comes from a Roman bastardization of China's unifying dynasty, the Qin (pronounced 'cheen'). Others say that it is from the Persian word 'cin' and was spread throughout Europe by world traveler Marco Polo.

What did they name America after?

America is named after Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian explorer who set forth the then revolutionary concept that the lands that Christopher Columbus sailed to in 1492 were part of a separate continent.

What is the only country named for a woman?

The island nation of Saint Lucia, part of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean and geographically included in Central America. St. Lucia in the Caribbean stands out as the only country in the world named after a woman.

What is the oldest country name?

By many accounts, the Republic of San Marino, one of the world's smallest countries, is also the world's oldest country. The tiny country that is completely landlocked by Italy was founded on September 3rd in the year 301 BCE.

What country doesn't have an A in its name?

In Europe, a total of ten nations lack the letter "a" in their names. Those countries are Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Sweden, Turkey, and United Kingdom. In the Americas, just four countries don't have the first letter of the alphabet in their names.

What is the oldest surviving name of country?

It's hard to imagine how they managed to keep their country intact, though, considering the wars and invasions that have bloodied the lands around them. San Marino is the oldest sovereign state in the world, having been founded in 301AD.

Why do Americans call it Germany?

The root of the name is from the Gauls, who called the tribe across the river the Germani, which might have meant "men of the forest" or possibly "neighbor." The Old High German word "diutisc," meaning "belonging to the people" or "popular," served as the basis for the English phrase "Germany." Those who spoke Old High ...

Why is Germany not called Deutschland?

Deutsch means people, and Deutschland stands for the “land of people.” Deutschland is still a trendy name for Germany, and Germans use it for themselves. However, many Englishmen also started using the word Dutchland for Germany. But the title was later given to the Netherlands to avoid confusion.

Why is China called China in English?

China, the name in English for the country, was derived from Portuguese in the 16th century, and became common usage in the West in the subsequent centuries. It is believed to be a borrowing from Middle Persian, and some have traced it further back to Sanskrit.

What was America's old name?

On September 9, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted a new name for what had been called the "United Colonies.” The moniker United States of America has remained since then as a symbol of freedom and independence.

What was America's first name?

If he had discovered the land, it would be known as Vespucciland. The country was named after Richard Ameryk, a Bristol merchant who paid for the voyage of discovery, several years before Vespucci. In addition, Christopher Columbus never set foot in North America.

What was America before 1492?

Before 1492, modern-day Mexico, most of Central America, and the southwestern United States comprised an area now known as Meso or Middle America.

What does Japan call itself?

In English, the modern official title of the country is simply "Japan", one of the few countries to have no "long form" name. The official Japanese-language name is Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku (日本国), literally "State of Japan".

Why do we call Japan Japan?

The origin of the name Japan is not certain, but researchers say it probably came from the Malayan ″Japung″ or the Chinese ″Riben,″ meaning roughly land of the rising sun.

What do Chinese call themselves?

Chinese people are known as Zhongguoren (simplified Chinese: 中国人; traditional Chinese: 中國人) or as Huaren (simplified Chinese: 华人; traditional Chinese: 華人) by speakers of standard Chinese, including those living in Greater China as well as overseas Chinese.

Who named Europe?

As a name for a part of the known world, it is first used in the 6th century BCE by Anaximander and Hecataeus.

Why is it called Australia?

The name Australia (pronounced /əˈstreɪliə/ in Australian English) is derived from the Latin Terra Australis (“southern land”), a name used for a hypothetical continent in the Southern Hemisphere since ancient times.

What are the other names for Africa?

Africa is sometimes nicknamed the "Mother Continent" due to its being the oldest inhabited continent on Earth.