| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Continent | Country | Language of origin | Words in original language | English translation of name/etymology | Explanation behind etymology | Source 1 | Source 2 | Source 3 |
2 | Africa | Algeria | Arabic | Al Jazā᾽ir | The Islands | Algeria is the Anglicization of the Arabic name Al Jazā᾽ir, ‘the islands’. + Latinate "country" suffix -ia. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Algeria | |
3 | Africa | Angola | Portuguese | Ngola | The Land of Ngola | The Portuguese called the Angola area after the first word of the title of the ruler of the Mbundu people in Ndongo, Ngola a kiluanje. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Angola | |
4 | Africa | Benin | Yoruba | Ile–ibinu | Land of Argument | The name may be derived from the Bini, Benin’s original inhabitants. Alternatively, Benin may come from the Yoruba Ile–ibinu, ‘Land of Argument’, a possible reference to a time when the tribes were at war. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Yoruba | |
5 | Africa | Botswana | Tswana | Bechuanaland | Those Who Went Away | Named after the indigenous people, the Tswana or baTswana. Their name apparently means ‘those who went away’ or ‘the separators’. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.britannica.com/place/Botswana | |
6 | Africa | Burkina Faso | More/ Dioula | Burkina/faso | Land of Honest Men | Burkina Faso translates to ‘Land of Honest Men’, from Mandekan Burkina, ‘honest’ or ‘upright’, and faso, ‘fatherland’. | https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uv.html | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.britannica.com/place/Burkina-Faso |
7 | Africa | Burundi | Kirundi | Burundi | Home of Rundi Speakers | The name comes either from Kirundi, a Bantu language spoken in Burundi, with Bu, a prefix indicating the country, or from the name of the Rundi people. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.britannica.com/place/Burundi | |
8 | Africa | Cameroon | Portuguese | Camarões | River of Prawns | Cameroon is the Anglicized form of the Portuguese Camarões. The area was named Rio dos Camarões, ‘River of Prawns’, by Portuguese explorers. | https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cm.html | https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=Cameroon | |
9 | Africa | Cape Verde | Portuguese | Cabo Verde | Green Cape | The name of the country stems from the nearby Cap-Vert, on the Senegalese coast. In 1444 Portuguese explorers had named that landmark as Cabo Verde, a few years before they discovered the islands (Verde is Portuguese for "green"). | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.britannica.com/place/Cabo-Verde | |
10 | Africa | Central African Republic | French | République centrafricaine | Republic in the Centre of Africa | The country’s name is a reference to the fact that it lies at the centre of Africa. Its previous name, Oubangui-Chari, comes from the Bantu ou, ‘land’, and bangi, ‘rapid’, and from a reference to the river Chari. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191751394.001.0001/acref-9780191751394 | |
11 | Africa | Chad | Kanuri | Tsade | Land of the Large Lake | The name is taken from the Lake Chad, which in turn takes its name from the Bornu tsade, ‘lake’, itself from the Arabic tŝād, ‘large lake’. | https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cd.html | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Chad | |
12 | Africa | Comoros | Arabic | جزر القمر | Moons | Name derives from the Arabic designation "Juzur al Qamar" meaning "Islands of the Moon" | https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cn.html | http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191751394.001.0001/acref-9780191751394 | |
13 | Africa | Congo | Bantu | Kongo | Kingdom of Mountains | The Congo got its name from the river Kongo, which is named after the Kongo people who founded the Kongo kingdom. Kong or kongo is a Bantu word for ‘mountains’. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Congo | |
14 | Africa | Côte d'Ivoire | French | Côte d'Ivoire | Ivory Coast | The Cote d’Ivoire, or Ivory Coast in English, is so called because the French and Portuguese confined themselves to the coast to trade in ivory in pre-colonial times. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191751394.001.0001/acref-9780191751394 | |
15 | Africa | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Bantu | Kongo | Democratic Republic of the Mountains | The Congo got its name from the river Kongo, which is named after the Kongo people who founded the Kongo kingdom. Kong or kongo is a Bantu word for ‘mountains’. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Congo | http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191751394.001.0001/acref-9780191751394 |
16 | Africa | Djibouti | Afar | Gabouri | Plate | The name probably comes from an Afar word gabouri, ‘plate’ or 'plateau.' It may refer to the fact that the city is on the coastal plain and surrounded by flat desert. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191751394.001.0001/acref-9780191751394 | |
17 | Africa | Egypt | Greek | Αἴγυπτος | Temple of the Soul of Ptah | The ancient Greek and Roman names Aiguptos and Ægyptus are derived 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 below the Aegean Sea’, from aigaiou hyptios. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Egypt | |
18 | Africa | Equatorial Guinea | Portuguese | Aguinaw | (Equatorial) Land of the Black Men | Guinea was given its name by the Portuguese after a Berber word, aguinaw, meaning ‘black man’, or akal n-iguinamen, meaning ‘Land of the Black Men’. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=country&category=&publisher=&type=COUNTRYPROF&coi=GIN&rid=456d621e2&docid=4954ce60c&skip=0 | |
19 | Africa | Eritrea | Greek | Ἐρυθρά Θάλασσα | Land of the Red Sea | Eritrea was named by the Italians, from the Italianized version of the Latin Mare Erythraeum, ‘Red Sea’, from the ancient Greek erythros, ‘red’. | https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/er.html | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Eritrea |
20 | Africa | Ethiopia | Greek | Æthiopia | Land of Burnt Faces | The Greeks named the country Aithiops, ‘(Land of) Burnt Faces’, from aithō, ‘I burn’, and opsis, ‘appearance’. + Latinate "country" suffix -ia. | http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:id=aethiopia-geo | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191751394.001.0001/acref-9780191751394 |
21 | Africa | Gabon | Portuguese | Gabão | Hooded Cloak | The country adopted the name from the Portuguese, who came up with the name Gabão, ‘hooded cloak’, for the Gabon Estuary, so called because of its shape. | https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gb.html | http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191751394.001.0001/acref-9780191751394 | |
22 | Africa | Ghana | Ghanaian | Ghana | The King's Land | Ghana perhaps means ‘king’ or ‘sovereign’ and may be derived from the title assumed by the tribal chieftain of the old Ghanaian empire that was located to the north of modern Ghana. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Ghana | |
23 | Africa | Guinea | Portuguese | Aguinaw | Land of the Black Men | Guinea was given its name by the Portuguese after a Berber word, aguinaw, meaning ‘black man’, or akal n-iguinamen, meaning ‘Land of the Black Men’. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=country&category=&publisher=&type=COUNTRYPROF&coi=GIN&rid=456d621e2&docid=4954ce60c&skip=0 | |
24 | Africa | Guinea-Bissau | Portuguese | (black people) aguinaw + Bissau | Black Bissau | The name Guinea remains a source of debate; it is perhaps a corruption of an Amazigh (Berber) word meaning “land of the blacks.” The country also uses the name of its capital, Bissau, to distinguish it from Guinea, its neighbour to the east and south. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.britannica.com/place/Guinea-Bissau | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Guinea |
25 | Africa | Kenya | Kikuyu | Nyaga | Mountain of Whiteness | Kenya is a shortened version of the Kikuyu name, Kirinyaga, a corruption of the Swahili kere nyaga, ‘Mountain of Whiteness’. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Kenya | |
26 | Africa | Lesotho | Sesotho | Basotho | Land of the Sotho | Lesotho translates approximately into ‘the land of the Sotho’. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191751394.001.0001/acref-9780191751394 | |
27 | Africa | Liberia | Latin | Liber | Free Country | Liberia is from the Latin liber ‘free’ – the same root of the word liberty – and is so called because it was founded in 1822 as a settlement for freed slaves from the US, and proclaimed independent in 1847. + Latinate "country" suffix -ia. | https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/li.html | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Liberia |
28 | Africa | Libya | Greek | Libyē | Land of the Libu | The name Libya comes from the Greek name given to Northwest Africa; Libya was the daughter of Epaphus and Memphis in Greek mythology. Name is of unknown origin. | https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ly.html | http://self.gutenberg.org/articles/eng/Ancient_Libya | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Libya |
29 | Africa | Madagascar | Arabic | Madageiscar | Holy Land | The name Madageiscar originated with explorer Marco Polo in the 13th century as a result of hearsay and misunderstanding. He never visited the island and mistook the Italian version of the Arab name for Mogadishu, Mogadiscio, on the Somali coast to refer to the island which he called Madeigascar. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Mogadishu | https://www.britannica.com/place/Madagascar/History |
30 | Africa | Malawi | Bantu | Maravi | Land of Flames | Malawi comes from Maravi people. Their name means ‘flames’, which may be taken from their habit of burning off dead grass to prepare the land for cultivation. | https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mi.html | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.britannica.com/topic/Maravi |
31 | Africa | Mali | Malinké and Bamana | Mali | Hippopotamus | Mali may come from the Malinké people, also known as the Mandinka, who are closely related to other Mande-speaking peoples who trace their ancestry to the Mali Empire. It has also been suggested that the name comes from the Mande word for ‘hippopotamus’. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Mali | |
32 | Africa | Mauritania | Latin | (Tribe) Mauri + (Land) -itania | Land of the Mauri | The name comes from the country’s biggest ethnic group, the Mauri. + Latinate "country" suffix -ia. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Ruritanian | https://www.britannica.com/place/Mauritania |
33 | Africa | Mauritius | Dutch | Maurice van Nassau | Land of Governor van Nassau | Mauritius had various name changes before being named, in 1598, after the Dutch Prince Maurice van Nassau. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.britannica.com/place/Mauritius#ref4723 | |
34 | Africa | Morocco | Arabic | Maghrib-al-Aqsa | The Far West | from Italian, from Berber Marrakesh (properly the name of the city of Marrakesh), from Arabic Maghrib-al-Aqsa "Extreme West." Compare French Maroc, German Marokko. In English, the first vowel has been altered, apparently by influence of Moor. Related: Moroccan. | https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mo.html | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Morocco | |
35 | Africa | Mozambique | Arabic | Musa al Biq | Land of Musa al Biq | Mozambique is said to have come from a ruling Arab Shaikh, Musa al Biq and the town which developed here was known to medieval Arab geographers as Musanbīh and in Swahili as Musambiki. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://web.archive.org/web/20100630040028/http://www.ilhademo.net/history.html | |
36 | Africa | Namibia | Nama | Namib | The Vast Place | Named for the coastal Namib Desert; the name "namib" means "vast place" in the Nama/Damara language | https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/wa.html | https://www.britannica.com/place/Namibia | |
37 | Africa | Niger | Tamasheq | Ger-n-ger | River of Rivers | named for the river Niger, probably an alteration (by influence of Latin niger "black") of a local Tuareg name, egereou n-igereouen, from egereou "big river, sea" + n-igereouen, plural of that word. Translated in Arabic as nahr al-anhur "river of rivers." | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Niger | https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-niger.html |
38 | Africa | Nigeria | Tamasheq | Ger-n-ger | Land of the Niger River | Nigeria is named after the Niger River; The river’s name, may come from the Berber phrase ger-n-ger, ‘river of rivers’. + Latinate "country" suffix -ia. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Nigeria | https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-niger.html |
39 | Africa | Rwanda | Kinyarwanda | Vanyarwanda | Land of the Rwandans | The country takes its name from its indigenous people, the Vanyarwanda. Name is of unknown origin. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Rwanda | https://www.britannica.com/place/Rwanda/Land#toc40762 |
40 | Africa | Sao Tome and Principe | Portuguese/Berber | São Tomé and Príncipe | Saint Thomas and Prince | São Tomé and Príncipe translates from Portuguese as ‘St Thomas and Prince’. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191751394.001.0001/acref-9780191751394 | |
41 | Africa | Senegal | Wolof | Il sunu gaol | Our Canoe | An explorer pointed to the Senegal River and asked what its name was. Another theory is that the country is named for the river through it, perhaps from a local word meaning "navigable." | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Senegal | https://www.britannica.com/place/Senegal |
42 | Africa | Seychelles | French | Séchelles Repiblik Sesel (Creole); République des Seychelles (French) | Republic of Seychelles | The French laid claim to the islands in 1756 and named them after Jean Moreau de Séchelles (1690–1761), the French controller-general of finance. The name was later changed by the British to Seychelles | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.britannica.com/place/Seychelles | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Seychelles |
43 | Africa | Sierra Leone | Spanish | Sierra Leona | Lion Mountains | Sierra Leone means ‘Lion Mountains’ from the Portuguese sierra, ‘mountain chain’, and leão, ‘lion’. However, there are no lions here, even if there once were. | https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sl.html | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Sierra%20Leone |
44 | Africa | Somalia | Somali | Somalis | Land of Soma | Somalia is named after its indigenous inhabitants, the Somalis, or Soomaali, who may have taken their name from a legendary ancestor, Soma or Samale; it has also been suggested that their name may come from so ‘go’ and mal ‘milk’, a reference to their pastoral lifestyle. + Latinate "country" suffix -ia. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.britannica.com/place/Somalia | |
45 | Africa | South Africa | Afrikaans | Suid-Afrika | Beautiful Southern Land | South Africa is, of course, the southernmost country in Africa; the word Africa may come from the Berber word afar, ‘dust’, or perhaps the ancient Egyptian root n’fr, meaning ‘good’, ‘beautiful’, or ‘perfect’. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/South%20Africa | |
46 | Africa | Sudan | Arabic | Bilad-al-sudan | Country of the Blacks | From Arabic Bilad-al-sudan, literally "country of the blacks" (originally the stretch of Africa between the Sahara and the equator), from sud, plural of aswad (fem. sauda) "black." In early use also Soudan, from French. Related: Sudanese. | https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/su.html | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Sudan | |
47 | Africa | Swaziland | Swati (Swazi) | Umbuso weSwatini | Kingdom of Swaziland | The country is named after King Mswati II. The Swazis were a Nguni clan, taking their name from Ngwane III, who led them to this region of southern Africa. | https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/wz.html | https://www.britannica.com/place/Swaziland | |
48 | Africa | Tanzania | Tonga(Tanganyika) and Arabic(Zanzibar) | Tanganika and Zanzibar | Land of Tanganika and Zanzibar | Tanzania is formed by merging the names of its constituent parts, Tanganyika and Zanzibar, which were united in 1964. + Latinate "country" suffix -ia. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Tanzania | |
49 | Africa | The Gambia | Portuguese | Ba-Dimma | The River | The country takes its name from the Gambia River, itself named by the Portuguese after the local name, Ba-Dimma, ‘The River’. + Latinate "country" suffix -ia. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Gambia | |
50 | Africa | Togo | Ewe | Togo | Land by the Water | Derived from the Ewe words "to" (water) and "go" (shore) to give the sense of "by the water"; originally, this designation applied to the town of Togo (now Togoville) on the northern shore of Lake Togo, but the name was eventually extended to the entire nation | https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/to.html | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | |
51 | Africa | Tunisia | Berber | Tunisia | Land of Tunis | Tunisia is named after the city of Tunis with the suffix -ia adapted from the French name for the protectorate, Tunisie. | https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ts.html | http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191751394.001.0001/acref-9780191751394 | |
52 | Africa | Uganda | Swahili | Buganda | Land of the Ganda People | Uganda means ‘Land of the Ganda (People)’ from the Swahili u ‘land’ and ganda, the root word and adjective for Buganda, the principle province. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Uganda | |
53 | Africa | Zambia | Tonga | Great River | Land of the Great River | The country is named after the Zambezi which forms its southern border with Zimbabwe. + Latinate "country" suffix -ia. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.britannica.com/place/Zambia/Climate#toc44122 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Zambezi-River |
54 | Africa | Zimbabwe | Shona | Dzimba-dze-mabwe | Stone Enclosure | Zimbabwe means ‘stone enclosure’ or ‘stone dwelling’ from the Bantu zimba, ‘houses’, and mabwe, ‘stones’. | https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/05/17/country-name-origins/ | https://www.etymonline.com/word/Zimbabwe |
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