We all belong to one country. Every country has a meaning. He has reason to make a name for himself. Countries are generally named (or named) after ethnic groups, famous people, geographical locations, and geological features. We bring the meaning and origin of the country name from A to Z. Try it!
Albania
Like Afghanistan, Albania is a mountainous country. It is named after the Albanoi tribe, who in turn adopted it from an Indo-European word alb, meaning "mountain".
Afghanistan
While some sources claim that Afghan may come from the Sanskrit Avagana, possibly derived from the Sumerian name for the region of Badakshan, Ab-bar-Gan, "mountain country," Afghan means "weep" or "moan" according to a Persian translation. .'. .
Algeria
Algeria is the Anglicization of the Arabic name Al Jazā᾽ir, "the islands".
Andorra
Andorra's name comes from a local Navarrese word, andurrial, meaning 'land covered with scrub'. It has also been suggested that the country's name derives from Arabic al-Gandura, "the lascivious woman", a legacy of the Moors.
Angola
The Portuguese called the area Angola due to the first word of the title of the ruler of the Mbundu people in Ndongo, Ngola a kiluanje.
Old and bearded
Christopher Columbus named Antigua after the Church of Santa María de la Antigua, 'Santa María la Antigua', in Seville, Spain. The origin of the name Barbuda is unclear, but it has been suggested that it derives from the Spanish barbados, "bearded".
Argentina
The name Argentina is said to have been coined by Spanish explorers who, upon arrival in the region, noticed the silver ornaments worn by the natives. So the word comes from the Argentine Spanish “Prateado” and means “(land of) silver (river)”.
Armenia
The Armenians call themselves "Haik" after Noah's great-great-grandson, from whom the Armenians descend. Therefore, the Armenian name means "Land of Hayk". However, Armenia is possibly a derivative of the Arameans, a tribe that lived in northern Syria.
Australia
The Greeks imagined the existence of a country in the southern hemisphere and created the name Terra Australis Incognita, meaning "Unknown Land of the South".
Austria
The current name derives from the fact that since the Frankish rule of Emperor Charlemagne, as a buffer against the Avars, the region became a military district on the eastern frontier called Ostmark; it is also known as the Avarian Brand.
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan could be named after one of Alexander III's Persian generals. the great, Atropates, who in turn got his name from the Greek atropatan, "protected by fire".
Bahamas
It's not entirely clear where the Bahamas got its name from, but it's said to mean "flat sea" from the Spanish deep sea. It has also been speculated to be derived from a much older Lucayan word.
Bahrain
Bahrain means "Two Seas", from baḥrayn, the plural of baḥr. It is a reference to the fact that the kingdom has "seas" to the east and west.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh means "Land of the Bengalis", from deś, "land" or "land". Bengalis are named after Banga, the chief of the Dravidian-speaking Bang tribe.
Barbados
Barbados means "bearded man" or "the bearded ones".
Barbados is a Spanish word meaning "bearded man" or "the bearded ones". It is speculated that Barbuda got its name from the same root.
Belarus
Today's name Belarus is an abbreviation of Belaya Rus, meaning "White Ruthenia", but translated "Belarus" in 1795.
Belgium
The country takes its name from the Belgae, a confederation of tribes that lived between the Rhine and the Loire in Roman times.
Belize
The name of the Belize River. The real name Belize may be a Spanish mispronunciation of the name of Wallace, a Scottish adventurer who is said to have established a settlement at the river's mouth.
Mine
The name could be derived from the Bini, natives of Benin. Alternatively, Benin could derive from Yoruba Ile-ibinu, "land of strife", a possible reference to a time when the tribes were at war.
Bhutan
Called Dzongkha in the Bhutanese language, from Druk-Yul, "Land of the Thunder Dragon", often translated as "Land of the Peaceful Dragon". Bhutan itself may come from the Sanskrit Bhot-ant, "end of Tibet," or Bhutan, "high end," or Bhots-than, "land of Bhutia" (a Himalayan people originally from Tibet).
Bolivia
Bolivia is named after Simón Bolívar, a national hero who led revolutions against Spanish rule in South America.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia is named after the river Bosna, while the name Herzegovina derives from Old Serbian herceg, "duke", ov, to indicate the genitive of herceg to indicate possession, and ina, "property". Hence it means "property of a duke" or simply "duchy".
Botsuana
The name of the indigenous people, the Tswana or baTswana. His name apparently means "those who have gone" or "the breakers".
Brazil
Brazil takes its name from the Pau Brasil tree, from which a precious red dye is extracted.
Brunei
The name Brunei can be derived from the Sanskrit bhūmi, "country".
Bulgaria
Possibly from the Turkish bulga, "mixed", Bulgaria got its name from the Bulgars, a mixture of Turkic and Slavic tribes.
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso means "land of honest men", from Mandekan Burkina, "honest" or "sincere", and faso, "homeland".
Burundi
The name comes from Kirundi, a Bantu language spoken in Burundi, with Bu, a prefix denoting the country or the name of the Rundi people.
Cambodia
Cambodia is the Latinized form of Sanskrit Kambuja, which in turn is derived from Sanskrit nagara, "city".
Cameroon
Cameroon is the English form of Portuguese Cameroon. The area was named Rio dos Camarões, "Rio dos Camarões" by Portuguese explorers.
You have
That of Canada may be derived from Huron-Iroquois kanata, meaning "city" or "settlement". Canada's name may derive from the Huron Iroquois word kanata, meaning "city" or "settlement."
Cap Verde
Named by the Portuguese, Cabo Verde means "Cape Verde".
Central African Republic
The name of the country indicates that it is located in the center of Africa. Its former name, Oubangui-Chari, comes from bantu ou, "earth," and bangi, "fast," referring to the Chari River.
Chad
The name comes from Lake Chad, which in turn takes its name from Bornu tsade, "lake", in turn from Arabic tŝād, "big lake".
Chile
It is not known how the country got its name, but it may derive from an Araucanian word for a species of bird. Another theory is that it could be a local word meaning "where the land ends".
porcelain
China takes its English name from the state of Quin, a kingdom in western China during the Zhou Dynasty.
Colombia
Formerly named Nueva Granada after Granada in Spain, Colombia's current name was adapted in 1863 in honor of Christopher Columbus.
Komoren
The name Comoros is an adaptation of the Arabic qamr, "moon".
Kongo
The Kongo is named after the Kongo River, which is named after the Kongo people who founded the Kingdom of Kongo. Kong or Kongo is a Bantu word for "mountains".
Costa Rica
Costa Rica means "rich coast". The name was chosen by Christopher Columbus who may have believed that gold would be found there.
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, or Côte d'Ivoire in English, is so called because the French and Portuguese were confined to the coast in pre-colonial times because of the ivory trade.
Croatia
The name of the Croatians. Its name derives from the Persian choroatos, "nomads", from the Caucasus, or from the Serbo-Croatian hrbat, "mountains", a reference to the mountains along the Adriatic coast.
Because
Located roughly in the center of the Caribbean, Cuba may have taken its name from the word Taino Cubanacan, meaning "central place."
Cyprus
It is believed that the rich deposits of copper on the island prompted the Greeks to call it Cyprus. However, according to another theory, the name Cyprus could come from the son or daughter of Kinyras, mentioned by Homer as king of Cyprus.
Czech Republic
Named after the Češi, a Slavic tribe that came from the east. The name may derive from the Slavic četa, "company" or "group of warriors", or from Čech, a legendary Slavic chief. In 2016, the country announced its plan to shorten its English name Czech Republic to Czechia.
Denmark
Denmark is named after the Danes, which possibly means "warriors". Another theory holds that it derives from the Old High German tanar, "sandbank," an indication of the number of islands belonging to the country.
Yibuti
The name probably comes from an Afar word, gabouri, "court". It may refer to the city being on the coastal plain and surrounded by a flat desert.
Dominica
Discovered by Christopher Columbus and named after "Day of the Lord", Dies Dominica or "Sunday" in Latin.
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic used to be called Santo Domingo, "Holy Sunday," in reference to the fact that it was discovered on a Sunday.
read Timor
Timor comes from the Malay timur, "east". Timor-Leste, also known as "Timor-Leste", takes Timor from Malay timur, "east"; hence Timor Leste means "East-East".
Ecuador
The name means "Ecuador" in Spanish and refers to the equator that runs through the northern part of the country.
Egypt
The ancient Greek and Roman names Aiguptos and Ægyptus derive from the Egyptian hūt-kā-ptah, "temple of the soul of Ptah", from hūt, "temple", and kā, "soul", and the god Ptah. The Latin name Ægyptus is said to mean "the land beneath the Aegean Sea", from aigaiou hyptios.
The saviour
The country means "El Salvador" and takes its name from a Spanish fort located at the current location of the capital, San Salvador.
Eritrea
Eritrea was named by the Italians from the Italian version of Latin Mare Erythraeum, "Red Sea", from Ancient Greek erythros, "red".
Estonia
The country is named after its inhabitants, the Eesti. Where the word eesti comes from is not clear.
Ethiopia
The Greeks called the land Aithiops, "(land of) burning faces", from aithō, "I burn", and opsis, "appearance".
Better
The meaning of Fiji is not known, but it takes its name from its largest island, Viti Levu, meaning "Great Fiji".
Finland
Finlandia leitet sich vielleicht vom germanischen finna, „Fischschuppen“, ab. Der englische Name, der "Land der Finnen" bedeutet, leitet sich möglicherweise vom germanischen (oder skandinavischen teutonischen) finna, "Fischschuppe", ab. Es kann ein Hinweis auf die Art der Kleidung sein, die von frühen finnischen Stämmen getragen wurde.
France
The country takes its name from a coalition of Germanic tribes, the Franks, who conquered Gaul (the former region of Europe corresponding to modern France, Belgium, southern Netherlands, southwestern Germany, and northern Italy) after the fall of the Roman Empire. . The name Frank comes from the Old German word franka, meaning "wild" or "brave," or from a personal name.
Gabon
The country takes its name from the Portuguese, who coined the name Gabon, "hooded cloak," for the Gabon estuary, so named because of its shape.
Gambia
The country takes its name from the Gambia River, which was named by the Portuguese after the local name Ba-Dimma, "The River". It has also been suggested that the name derives from the Portuguese cambium, "barter", referring to trade along the river.
Georgia
The name derives from the Arabic and Persian words kurj and gurj, meaning 'land' or 'land'.
Deutschland
The English name Germany comes from the Roman Germania. Its origin is not clear, but it is thought to derive from the Germanic words gari, "spear," and man, "people." Another theory connects it to the Celtic gair, meaning "neighbor".
Gana
Ghana can mean "king" or "sovereign" and may derive from the title assumed by the tribal chief of the former Ghanaian empire north of present-day Ghana.
Greece
In English it is named after the Graeci people, who may have adopted the name Graecus, a personal name. The Romans used the name Greece for the country, from which the current name is derived.
Grenada
Called Granada by Spanish sailors because the landscape reminded them of the Granada region of Spain.
Guatemala
The origin of the name Guatemala is not entirely clear, but it has been suggested that it comes from an Aztec word, Quauhtemallan, meaning "land of many trees" or "land of the eagle". It is also possible that the country's name comes from the word Guhatezmalha, "mountain of dripping waters", in honor of the volcano Agua.
Guinea
Guinea got its name from the Portuguese from a Berber word, aguinaw, meaning "black man" or akal n-iguinamen, meaning "land of black men".
Guinea-Bissau
The second part of the country's name, Bissau, comes from its capital. It comes from the indigenous Bijagó people of the offshore islands.
Guiana
The swampy coast and many rivers probably gave Guyana its name, which means "land of waters" after an Arawak or Caribbean word.
Haiti
Haiti takes its name from the Arawak name Ayti, the original name of the island now shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Ayti means "land of mountains".
Honduras
The name means "deep water" in Honduran Spanish, a possible reference to the depth of the coastal waters.
Hungary
The name Hungary comes from On Ogur, "Ten Arrows". Hungary's current name comes from On Ogur, "Ten Arrows", the name of a group of tribes (seven Magyars and three Kavars) who lived along the northern Black Sea coast before moving to modern Hungary in the 16th century.
Island
Originally called Snæland, 'land of snow', Iceland's current name comes from the Norse settlers who renamed it to prevent visitors from coming to the island.
If
India is a Greek and Latin term for "the land of the Indus", with Indo probably coming from the Sanskrit word sindhu, "the sea".
Indonesia
The name means "Indian Islands", from the Greek Indos Nesos.
willpower
The name Iran derives from the Old Persian aryānam, the genitive plural of arya, "noble" in the sense of "well-born". It means “(Land of) Aryans”.
Irak
Iraq's name refers to its location between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. It comes from Arabic al-'iraq, "the bank (of the river)" or "by the water".
Ireland
The name is a form of Iar-en-land, 'land in the west', from the Gaelic iar, 'west'.
Israel
Israel takes its name from the ancient land of Israel, descended from Jacob, son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham. Jacob's name was changed to Israel because he was "the one who prevailed with God" (Genesis 32:28).
Italy
The name is believed to come from the Vitali tribe, whose name may be related to the Latin vitulus, 'calf', or witaloi, 'sons of the bull'. Another theory holds that the name derives from diovi-telia, "land of the day" or "land of light."
Jamaica
From the Arawak name Xaymaca or Yamaya, meaning 'land of wood and water'.
Japan
The name means "land of the rising sun" and refers to Japan's location east of China. It comes from the Chinese pronunciation of "Jipen", from the Chinese characters rì, "sun", and bĕn, "origin".
Jordan
Named after the Jordan River, from the Hebrew root yrd, "to descend (to the Dead Sea)". However, the name of the river could mean "river of Dan" since Dan is one of Jacob's sons.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan means 'land of the Kazakhs', from stan and from Turkish kazak (qazaq or quzzaq), 'knight' or 'knight of the steppe'. However, Kasak is more commonly translated as "adventurer," "outlaw," "invader," or "free or independent man."
Kenya
Kenya is a shortened version of the Kikuyu name Kirinyaga, a corruption of Swahili Kere-Nyaga, "White Mountain".
Kiribati
Formerly called the Gilbert Islands, "Kiribati" is the native pronunciation of Gilbert and is pronounced "Kir-a-bas".
North Korea
Korea is the western name for the Koryŏ dynasty (918–1392). It can be translated as "tall and handsome".
Kuwait
Kuwait takes its name from a small fort. It is a diminutive of Arabic kūt, meaning "strong".
Kyrgyzstan
The name means "land of Kyrgyzstan" and comes from the Turkish kir, "steppe" and gizmek, "to wander".
Laos
Known in the Lao language as “Pathét Lao” (“State of Laos”), Laos was the name given to unite the three kingdoms of Laos in 1893.
Latvia
The name Latvia derives from what the Latvians themselves call Latvis; means "clean forest".
Lebanon
Lebanon comes from the Semitic word lavan, meaning "white" or "off-white". Lebanon comes from the Semitic word lavan, meaning "white" or "cream-colored," probably referring to the snow-capped peaks of Mount Lebanon.
Lesotho
Lesotho roughly translates to "the land of Sotho".
Liberia
Liberia comes from the Latin liber "free," the same root as the word liberty, and is so named because it was founded in 1822 as a settlement for freed American slaves and proclaimed its independence in 1847.
Libya
The name Libya comes from the Greek name for north-west Africa; In Greek mythology, Libya was the daughter of Epaphos and Memphis.
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein is named after the Liechtenstein family from the Liechtenstein Castle in Lower Austria. The name means "shining stone".
Lithuania
The meaning of Lithuania is unknown, although it has been suggested that it may derive from the Latin litus 'coast', a reference to the Baltic coast or the small river Letavka.
Luxemburg
Luxembourg is originally found as Luciliburhuc, meaning "little castle".
Macedonia
Ultimately, Macedonia comes from the ancient Greek root mak, "big, big," possibly describing the tall people who live there.
Madagascar
The name Madageiscar came about with the explorer Marco Polo in the 13th century due to rumors and misunderstandings. He never visited the island and mistook the Italian version of the Arabic name for Mogadishu, Mogadishu off the coast of Somalia, to refer to the island he called Madeigascar.
Malawi
Malawi is descended from the Maravi people. Its name means "flames," due to its habit of burning dead grass to prepare land for cultivation.
Malaysia
Malaysia probably comes from the Tamil words malai (mountain) and ur (city).
Maldives
The name probably comes from the Sanskrit mālādvīpa "island garland" from mālā "garland" or "necklace" and dvīpa.
The small
Mali may have descended from the Malinké people, also known as Mandinka, who are closely related to other Mande-speaking peoples who trace their ancestry back to the Mali Empire. It has also been suggested that the name comes from the Mande word for "hippopotamus".
Malta
Malta may derive from the ancient Greek melitta, "bee". Once famous for its honey, Malta can be derived from the ancient Greek melitta, "bee", producing meli, "honey".
Marshall Islands
The islands are named after British explorer John Marshall, who explored them in 1788.
Mauritania
The name comes from the largest ethnic group in the country, the Mauri.
Mauricio
Mauritius underwent several name changes before being named after Dutch Prince Maurice van Nassau in 1598.
Mexico
México is the simplified Spanish version of a Nahuatl name for the Aztec capital Metztlixihtlico, meaning "in the navel of the moon", from mētztli "moon", xictli "navel" or "centre" and the suffix -co "place" - to give 'Place in the center of the moon'.
Micronesia
Micronesia means "small" + "island" from Greek.
Moldau
Moldavia comes from the name of the Moldavia river, which according to legend was named by Prince Dragoș after a dog named Molda who drowned in the river after hunting an aurochs. Unfortunately, it is more likely that the name comes from the Gothic Mulda, "dust".
Monaco
It was founded in the 6th century B.C. Founded by the Phocaeans. C. as Monoikos, a Greek word meaning "single house" or "single temple", meaning a place to rest. However, it may come from the Monegu “rock” in Liguria.
Mongolia
Mongolia is named after the Mongols, who took the name between "brave" and "undefeated".
Montenegro
Montenegro means "black mountain" and refers to the dark appearance of Mount Lovćen at different times of the year and the surrounding densely forested areas.
Morocco
Morocco derives from marrūkus, the old Arabic version of Marrakesh, the former capital.
Mozambique
Mozambique is said to have descended from an Arab Shaikh ruler, Musa al Biq, and the city that developed here was known to medieval Arab geographers as Musanbīh and in Swahili as Musambiki.
Burma
Myanmar changed its name from Burma in 1989 because the latter was considered a relic of European colonialism. The current name comes from Mranma, the local name for the Burmese people and their language. Myan means "fast" and ma means "strong".
Namibia
Namibia comes from the word nama namib, "shield".
Nauru
Nauru can be derived from anaero, "I go to the beach". The name of the island could derive from anaero, "I go to the beach".
Nepal
The origin of Nepal is disputed: it can mean "beginning of a new era", "wool house", "holy place", "fly down" and "home" or be named after one or more kings named Nepa.
Netherlands
Holland or "Low Lands" is the literal English translation of Nederlanden, itself a translation of the Low Latin Terra.
New Zealand
The name New Zealand comes from the Dutch province of Zeeland, "land of the sea".
Nicaragua
Nicaragua may come from the name of a 16th-century local chief, Nicarao, and agua, "water" in Spanish. Alternatively, it has been suggested that some Spaniards may have heard the name Nicaragua, perhaps meaning "here by the lake".
Niger
The landlocked country takes its name from the Niger River, which flows through Guinea, Mali, Niger and Nigeria.
Nigeria
Nigeria is also named after the Niger River; Niger, in the river's name, may come from the Berber phrase ger-n-ger, "river of rivers."
Norway
The name means "The Way of the North" or "The Way of the North" from Old Norse Norrevegr, a reference to one of the routes traveled by the Vikings.
Oman
There are several theories about the origin of Oman. Sumerian tablets mention a land called Magan, possibly a reference to Oman's copper mining industry.
Pakistan
Pakistan is an acronym of Punjab, Afghan Frontier, Kashmir and Balochistan. Pakistan is an acronym derived from Punjab, Afghan Frontier, Kashmir and Balochistan: Muslim-dominated countries.
paleos
The origin of the name Palau is unknown, but should not be confused with Pulau, an Indonesian word meaning "island".
Panama
Panama is named after the capital, Panama City, meaning "(place with) many fishes," although some believe it derives from a Cuna expression panna mai, "far away."
Papua New Guinea
The name comes from Papuah Malay "curly men".
Paraguay
The country takes its name from the Paraguay River, whose name is composed of para ('river' or 'water') and guay ('born'). This name could be related to the Payaguá tribe and perhaps means "(people) who were born (by) the river".
Peru
The name comes from Guarani biru or river Peru, actually Guarani biru or piru, "water" or "river".
Philippines
The Philippines are named after Philip II, King of Spain in the 16th century; Philippines is an Anglicization of the Philippines.
Poland
The land was called Polanie "people of the fields or plain" from Pol "field".
Portugal
Portugal derives from the Latin portus cale, "hot port", which referred to a Roman settlement, modern-day Porto, at the mouth of the Douro River and the fact that the port was never connected to ice.
Zug
There is no certainty about the origin of the name. Qatara means "to fall," "to trickle," or "to trickle," or "to align camels in a single row and connect them with halters," while qutr means "region" and qutra "to fall." Hence the name could have been inspired by the presence of a waterhole or a camel park.
Romania
The name, perhaps unsurprisingly, comes from the Romans as some members of the Roman legions settled in Dacia.
Russia
Russia comes from the “Land of Rus”; It has been suggested that Rus comes from Ruotsi, the Finnish word for Sweden, and hence means "Swedish Vikings"; or that it is a Viking word meaning "rower".
Rwanda
The country takes its name from its indigenous people, the Vanyarwanda.
Saint Kitts and Nevis
St. Kitts is an acronym for Saint Christopher, chosen by Christopher Columbus as his patron saint. Nevis also originated with Columbus, who thought the island's often cloud-shrouded tip resembled snow.
St. Lucia
St. Lucia is believed to have been discovered by Christopher Columbus, possibly on December 13, the feast day of St. Lucia.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
The island of São Vicente was discovered by Christopher Columbus on January 22, 1498, the feast of São Vicente de Zaragoza, a martyr who died under torture in 304.
Samoa
Samoa is said to mean "Sacred Center" because legend has it that Tagaloalagi created the world here. However, it can mean the "place of the moa", an extinct bird, in the Samoan language.
San Marino
San Marino is named after a Christian stonemason and later saint named Marinus, who is said to have fled Dalmatia to avoid persecution by Diocletian (245-316), Roman Emperor (284-305), and built a hermitage on Mount Titanus to have founded.
Saint Tomé and Principe
Sao Tome and Principe translates from Portuguese as "Saint Thomas and Principe"
Saudi Arabian
Arabia refers to the name of the dynasty whose namesake is Sa'ūd ibn Muhammad ibn Muqrin, while Arabia refers to the geographic region, primarily the Arabian Peninsula.
Senegal
Senegal could be named after the Zenaga Berbers. There is another apocryphal explanation that an explorer pointed to the Senegal River and asked its name. Il sunu gaol was the answer, meaning "our canoe".
Serbia
Serbia is named after the Serbs; It declared its independence in 2006, having previously been part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and later Serbia and Montenegro.
Seychelles
The French claimed the islands in 1756 and named them after Jean Moreau de Séchelles (1690–1761), the French auditor-general of finances (1754–6); The islands became independent in 1976.
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone means "mountains of the lion" from the Portuguese words cordillera, "mountain", and león, "lion". However, there are no lions here, even if there were any.
Singapore
Singapore is derived from the Sanskrit Sim̄hapura and means "lion city". Singapore is derived from Sanskrit Sim̄hapura, meaning "lion city", from sim̄ha, "lion", and pur, "city".
Slovakia
Slovakia is named after the Slovaks, a Slavic tribe that probably came from Silesia in the 6th or 7th century.
Slovenia
The country is named after its native people, the Slovenes.
Solomon Islands
The islands were named after the Spaniard Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira (1542-1595), inspired by Inca tales about islands 600 miles west of Peru that were the source of the gold that adorned King Solomon's court.
Somalia
Somalia is named for its indigenous people, the Somalis or Soomaali, who may have taken their name from a legendary ancestor, Soma or Samale. It has also been suggested that his name may have come from so 'go' and mal 'milk', a reference to his pastoral lifestyle.
South Africa
South Africa is of course the southernmost country in Africa; The word Africa may come from the Berber word afar, "dust," or perhaps from the ancient Egyptian root n'fr, meaning "good," "beautiful," or "perfect."
Spain
Spain may come from Punic span or tsepan, "rabbits", which were numerous in the peninsula, or from Punic sphan, "north", as was the north of Cartago - or from Basque ezpaña, "lip" or "Edge". ' ', a reference to this area of southwestern Europe.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka means 'blessed island' (sometimes translated as 'bright island') and may be derived from Sanskrit shri, 'holiness', 'happiness', 'prosperity' or 'honourable', and lak means 'solid land' . '.
Sudan
Sudan comes from Balad as-Sūdān, "land of the blacks", from balad, "land", as, "el", and sūdān, the plural of aswad, "black".
Surinam
The name Suriname supposedly comes from a local tribe called the Surinas or Surinians, its first inhabitants.
Swasiland
The country is named after the Swazis. The Swazis were a Nguni clan named after Ngwane III who led them to this region of southern Africa.
Sweden
Sweden is named after a powerful Germanic people, the Svear or Suiones (the Roman name), who inhabited the area around Lake Mälaren.
Swiss
Switzerland is named after Schwyz, a German-speaking forest community that, along with Uri and Unterwalden, signed a mutual assistance agreement as the Eternal League.
Syria
The origin of the name Syria is not known, but it can be associated with the ancient kingdom of Assyria, although found primarily in modern-day Iraq.
Tajikistan
Tajikistan is named after its original people, the Tajiks, with the suffix stan. Tajiks take their name from an Arabic tribal name, Taiy or Tayyi, a name that was widely used in pre-Islamic times to describe Arabs.
Tanzania
Tanzania is created by merging the names of its component parts, Tanganyika and Zanzibar, which joined in 1964. The suffix -ia means "country".
Thailand
The country is named after the Thai people, whose name means "free (people)", from fra, "to be free".
Y
Togo comes from Lake Togo, whose name can come from "water" and mean "shore" or "shore". However, it has also been suggested that the name means 'over the hill' in the language of the Ewe, Togo's largest ethnic group.
Tonga
Tonga means "south". Tonga simply means "south". It is named after Samoa.
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad was named by Christopher Columbus in 1498 after the three peaks that surround the southern bay. Tobago comes from the Haitian tambaku, "pipe," or the local word tobacco, in reference to its crops.
Tunisia
Tunis is named after the city of Tunis with the suffix -ia, adopted from the French name for the protectorate of Tunisie.
Peru
Turkey comes from the word Turks, although they themselves used the Greek name Anatolia.
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan simply means “land of Turkmens” from Oğuz and Stan Turks. His name may mean "Turk-like" from Persian tork and the root mandan "resemble" or the suffix men may indicate strength.
Tuvalu
Tuvalu means "eight standing together" from Tuvaluan tu "get up" and valu "eight". The eight were the eight inhabited islands and atolls (of today's nine) when the first Europeans arrived in the 16th century.
Uganda
Uganda means "land of Ganda (people)" from Swahili u "land" and ganda, the root word and adjective for Buganda, the capital province.
Ukraine
Ukraine derives from Russian okraina "(land) on the edge", hence u "borderland" "next to" and kray "edge" to denote the area between the open steppes of Russia and Asia to the east and the settled lands to the east Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the west.
United Arab Emirates
This is simple: it's the United Arab Emirates. Six of them joined in 1971 (Abu Dhabi, 'Ajmān, Dubai, al-Fujairah, Sharjah (ash-Shāriqah) and Umm al Qaywayn) and Ra's al-Khaymah in 1972.
Great Britain
This is the United Kingdom of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Britain, in turn, was used to indicate that Britain was larger than Brittany in France, where British refugees were fleeing Anglo-Saxon invaders.
USA
The United States of America originally comprised 13 states when it was formed in 1776; there are now 50, with Alaska and Hawaii being the most recent additions.
The America bit was first applied to South America in 1507 by Martin Waldseemüller (c. 1470–c. 1521), a German geographer and cartographer, named after an Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci (1451–1512). ). Vespucci explored what he initially believed to be the east coast of Asia, but later realized he was in a "new world".
Uruguay
Uruguay may derive from uruguä, the guaraní for a species of shellfish, hence "Rio dos Mariscos," or from uru, a species of bird that lived near the river, gua "income from" and and "water."
Uzbekistan
The country is named after the Uzbeks, a common name for the region's Turkic-speaking peoples.
Vanuatu
Vanuatu means "our country forever", from Polynesian/Fijian vanua, "land".
Venezuela
Venezuela, "Little Venice", got its name because it reminded the Spaniards Alonso de Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci of the Italian city.
Vietnam
Viet is the Vietnamese pronunciation of a Chinese character meaning "beyond" or "far" and refers to people living in the Southern China Empire and Red River Delta. Vietnam means "South Vietnamese".
Yemen
The importance of Yemen is disputed. Some say it comes from Arabic Yamīn "on the right side" of the Kaaba in Mecca or on the right side of the Red Sea; others that it comes from yumn "good luck" or "prosperity"; Still others say it is named after Yamin bin Qahtan, grandson of Noah and progenitor of the southern Arabian tribes, or simply al-Yaman "the South".
Zambia
The country is named after the Zambezi River, which forms its southern border with Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe means "stone enclosure" or "stone dwelling" from the Bantu Zimba, "houses," and Mabwe, "stones."
(Quelle: Oxford Dictionary)