Этимология названий стран: от Афганистана до Андорры

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This list covers English language country names with their etymologies. Some of these include notes on indigenous names and their etymologies. Countries in italics are endonyms or no longer exist as sovereign political entities.

From Classical Persian افغان‎ (afğān, “Afghan”), from Bactrian αβαγανο (abagano), first attested in the fourth century CE, most likely a compound of *apāka (“distant, faraway”), from Proto Iranian *Hapá, from Proto Indo Iranian *Hapá (“away”), from Proto Indo European *h₂epó + * āna (“ethnic group”), from Proto Indo European * nós, thus: "people from a distant land". Various scholars have proposed Sanskrit etymologies since the nineteenth century (especially prior to the 2007 publication of earlier Bactrian attestations for the word), but linguist Johnny Cheung notes that these are "extremely difficult to reconcile" with recent evidence pointing to a Bactrian source.

"Land of the Albanians", Latinized from Byzantine Greek Albanía (Αλβανία), land of the rebel Albanoi (Αλβανοι) mentioned in Michael Attaliates The History around AD 1080. In her Alexiad, Anna Comnena also mentions a settlement called Albanon or Arbanon. Both may be survivals of the earlier Illyrian tribe, the Albani of the Albanopolis northeast of modern Durrës which appears in Ptolemy around AD 150. The demonym has been supposed to ultimately originate from Latin alba ("white") or from the proposed Proto Indo European *alb ("hill") or *alb ("white"). Arbëri, its medieval endonym: "Land of the Albanians" in Albanian, presumably from the same source as above by way of rhotacism. An Arbanitai were mentioned in Attaliates's History as subjects of the Duke of Dyrrachium, near modern Durrës. Shqipëri, its modern endonym: "Land of the Understanding", from the Albanian adverb shqip, "understanding each other". A popular pseudoetymology ("Land of the Eagles") erroneously derives it instead from shqiponjë ("eagle"). The city's name derives from French Alger, itself from Catalan Aldjère, from the Ottoman Turkish Cezayir and Arabic al Jazāʼir (الجزائر, "the Islands"). This was a truncated form of the city's older name, Jazā’ir Banī Māzġānna (جزائر بني مازغان, "Islands of the sons of Mazġannā"), which referred to four islands off the city's coast which were held by a local Sanhaja tribe. (These islands joined the mainland in 1525.) An alternate theory traces the Arabic further back to a transcription of the Berber Ldzayer in reference to Ziri ibn Manad, founder of the Zirid dynasty, whose son Buluggin ibn Ziri resettled the city. In Berber, ziri means "moonlight". Algiers or Algier, former names: As above.

Etymology unknown. Andorra was established as part of Charlemagne's Marca Hispanica and its name may derive from Arabic ad Darra (الدرا, "the Forest") or Navarro Aragonese andurrial ("scrubland"). One folk etymology holds that it derives from the Biblical Endor, a name bestowed by Louis le Debonnaire after defeating the Moors in the "wild valleys of Hell".

"Land of Ndongo", from the Portuguese colonial name (Reino de Angola), which erroneously derived a toponym from the Mbundu title ngola a kiluanje ("conquering ngola", a priestly title originally denoting a "chief smith", then eventually "king") held by Ndambi a Ngola (Dambi Angola) as lord of Ndongo, a state in the highlands between the Kwanza and Lukala Rivers.

Antigua: "Ancient", corrected from earlier Antego, a truncation of the Spanish Santa Maria la Antigua, bestowed in 1493 by Christopher Columbus in honor of the Virgen de la Antigua ("Virgin of the Old Cathedral"), a revered mid 14th century icon in the Chapel of La Antigua in Seville Cathedral. Barbuda: "Bearded" in Spanish, corrected from earlier Barbado, Berbuda, Barbouthos, &c. This may derive from the appearance of the island's fig trees or from the beards of the indigenous people.

The first description of the region by the word Argentina has been found on a Venetian map in 1536. The name "Argentina" comes from Italian. Argentina (masculine argentino) means in Italian "(made) of silver, silver coloured", derived from the Latin "argentum" for silver. La Argentina ("the silvery"), a 17th century truncation of Tierra Argentina ("Land beside the Silvery River", lit. (literally) "Silvery Land"), named via argento (either in Italian or poetic Spanish) in reference to the Río de la Plata, so called by Italian explorer Sebastian Cabot during his expedition there in the 1520s after acquiring some silver trinkets from the Guaraní along the Paraná near modern day Asunción, Paraguay.

from "Marrakesh", the south region's former capital, from Portuguese Marrocos. Form of the Berber name Mərrakəš (ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ), probably from mur [n] akush (ⵎⵓⵔ ⵏ ⴰⴽⵓⵛ, "Land of God"). Al Maghrib, a native name: Arabic for "the West" (المغرب), although note that in English use, the Maghreb typically refers to all of northwest Africa, not Morocco in particular. Also, Maghreb means "The Land of Sunset".

From the name of the Island of Mozambique, which in turn probably comes from the name of a previous Arab ruler, the sheik Mussa Ben Mbiki.

From the coastal Namib Desert. Namib means "area where there is nothing" in the Nama language. South West Africa, a former name: location on the continent. For Africa, see List of continent name etymologies. German Southwest Africa, a former name: As above. For Germany, see Germany above.

The name "Nauru" may derive from the Nauruan word Anáoero, which means "I go to the beach". The German settlers called the island Nawodo or Onawero.

The name "Nepal" is derived from "Nepa" as mentioned in the historical maps of South Asia. "Nepa" literally means "those who domesticate cattle" in the Tibeto Burman languages. The land was known by its people the Nepa or Nepar, Newar, Newa, Newal etc., who still inhabit the area i. e. the valley of Kathmandu and its surroundings. The Newa people use "Ra" and "La" or "Wa" and "Pa" interchangeably, hence the different names mentioned above. Some say it derives from the Sanskrit word nīpālaya (Sanskrit: नीपालय), which means "abode at the foot of mountain', referring to its proximity to the Himalayas. (Compare the analogous European toponym "Piedmont".) Others suggest that it derives from the Tibetan niyampal, which means "holy land".

Netherlands literally means Low countries or Lowlands. Dutch neder and its English cognate nether both mean 'down(ward), below'. The English word is now uncommon, mostly replaced by lower in English. Neder or nether may simply have denoted the geographical characteristics of the land, both flat and down river. This may have applied to the singular form Nederland, or Niderland. It was a geographical description of low regions in the Germanic lands. Thus it was also used to refer specifically to the estuaries of the Scheldt, Meuse and Rhine, including the Lower Rhineland. Holland, a former name: From the region of Holland within the Netherlands, often used by metonymy for the country as a whole. "Holland" from the Germanic holt land ("wooded land"), although often pseudoetymologized as "hollow" or "marsh land"). Batavia, a former and poetic name: From the Latin name of the Germanic Batavii tribe.

After the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands, which means "sea land", referring to the large number of islands it contains. Abel Tasman referred to New Zealand as Staten Landt, but later Dutch cartographers used Nova Zeelandia, in Latin, followed by Nieuw Zeeland in Dutch, which Captain James Cook later anglicised to New Zealand. Aotearoa has become the most common name for the country in the indigenous Māori language, supplanting the loan phrase Niu Tireni. Aotearoa conventionally means "land of the long white cloud". Nua Shealtainn in both Irish and Scottish Gaelic, meaning "New Shetland" (Sealtainn), itself from a metathesised form of Scots Shetland. Gaelic speakers seem to have folk etymologised Zeeland when translating New Zealand's name from English.

A merger coined by the Spanish explorer Gil González Dávila after Nicarao, a leader of an indigenous community inhabiting the shores of Lake Nicaragua and agua, the Spanish word for "water"; subsequently, the ethnonym of that native community.

In English, Niger may be pronounced '/n//aɪ//dʒ//ər/ or /n//iː/'/ʒ//ɛər/. Named after the Niger River, from a native term Ni Gir or "River Gir" or from Tuareg n'eghirren ("flowing water").

After the Niger river that flows through the western areas of the country and into the ocean and area. See Niger above.

Self descriptive, from its location in the northern portion of the Korean Peninsula. For the etymology of Korea, see Korea above.

Self descriptive, from its location in the northern portion of Macedonia. Macedonia: The country name is from the Greek word Μακεδονία (Makedonía), a kingdom (later, region) named after the ancient Macedonians. Their name, Μακεδόνες (Makedónes), derives ultimately from the ancient Greek adjective μακεδνός (makednós), meaning "tall, taper", which shares the same root as the noun μάκρος (mákros), meaning "length" in both ancient and modern Greek. The name is originally believed to have meant either "highlanders" or "the tall ones". The provisional term "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" was used in many international contexts in acknowledgment of a political dispute with Greece over the historical legitimacy of the country's use of the name. In February 2019, the country renamed itself to the Republic of North Macedonia.

From the Old Norse norðr and vegr, "northern way". Norðrvegr refers to long coastal passages from the western tip of Norway to its northernmost lands in the Arctic. Natively called Norge in Bokmål and Noreg in Nynorsk. Urmane, or Murmane (урмане; Му́рмане) in Old East Slavic: from the Old Norse pronunciation of the word Normans: "Northmen". (This word survives in the name of the Russian city Murmansk.) An Iorua (Irish) seems to derive from a misinterpretation of Old Norse Norðrvegr as beginning the Irish definite article an, common to most country names in Irish. The rest of the word was then taken as the country name. (A similar process took place in the development of the English word "adder": originally "a nadder".)

Etymology uncertain. It seems to be related to Pliny the Elder's Omana and Ptolemy's Omanon (Όμανον εμπόριον), both probably the ancient Sohar. The city or region is typically etymologized in Arabic from aamen or amoun ("settled" people, as opposed to the bedouin),

The name Pakistan literally means "Land of the Pure" in Urdu and Persian. It was coined in 1933 as Pakstan by Choudhry Rahmat Ali, a Pakistan Movement activist, who published it in his pamphlet Now or Never, using it as an acronym ("thirty million Muslim brethren who live in PAKSTAN") referring to the names of the five northwestern regions of the British Indian Empire: Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh, and Baluchistan". The letter i was incorporated to ease pronunciation and form the linguistically correct and meaningful name.

From the native name Belau ("Palau"), traditionally derived from Palauan aidebelau ("indirect replies"), in reference to the island's creation story involving the destruction of the giant Chuab. Belau, the local endonym: As above. Los Palos, a former name: A Spanish adaptation of the above. Pelew, a former name: From the transcription of Belau above by the British captain Henry Wilson, whose ship was wrecked off Ulong Island in 1783.

After a former village near the modern capital, Panama City. From the Cueva language meaning "place of abundance of fish" or "place of many fish", possibly from the Caribe "abundance of butterflies", or possibly from another native term referring to the Panama tree.

The country acquired its name in the 19th century. The word "Papua" derives from Malay papuah describing the hair styles found in Papuan cultures. "New Guinea" comes from the Spanish explorer Yñigo Ortiz de Retez, who noted the resemblance of the local people to those he had earlier seen along the Guinea coast of Africa.

The exact meaning of the word "Paraguay" is unknown, though it seems to derive from the river of the same name. One of the most common explanations is that it means "water of the Payagua (a native tribe)". Another meaning links the Guarani words para ("river") and guai ("crown"), meaning "crowned river". A third meaning may be para ("river"), gua ("from"), y ("water") meaning "water that comes from the river", referring to the bog in the north of the country, which is actually in Brazil.

The exact meaning behind the word "Peru" is obscure. The most popular theory derives it from the native word biru, meaning "river" (compare with the River Biru in modern Ecuador). Another explanation claims that it comes from the name of the Indigenous chieftain Beru. Spanish explorers asked him the name of the land, but not understanding their language, he assumed they wanted his own name, which he gave them. Another possible origin is pelu, presumptively an old native name of the region.

"Lands of Prince Philip of Asturias", from the Spanish Felipinas, honoring the future King Philip II of Spain, bestowed on the islands of Leyte and Samar by the explorer Ruy López de Villalobos in 1543 and later extended to refer to the entire archipelago. Philip's name itself is Greek (Φίλιππος, Phílippos) and means "lover of horses". Ma i, a former name: From the Mandarin pronunciation Máyì of the Chinese characters 麻逸 used by Cantonese traders to spell Ma yat and Zaytonese traders to spell Ma it, sinicizations of a local prehistoric state (probably on Mindoro or Laguna) recorded by the Sultanate of Brunei as Maidh. St. Lazarus Islands, a former name: from the Spanish name Las islas de San Lázaro bestowed by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 upon reaching Homonhon on the feast of St. Lazarus of Bethany. Islands of the West, a former name: from the Spanish name Las islas de Poniente, adopted in order to assert their ownership by Spain under the terms of the Treaty of Tordesillas; the Portuguese, who (correctly, as it happens) felt the islands fell within their sphere, instead called them Ilhas do oriente ("Islands of the East"). As the problem of longitude had not been solved, and as the islands had no spice to attract conflict, López de Legazpi successfully colonized the islands for Philip II in 1565. Katagalugan, an alternate name: "Land of the river dwellers", used by the Katipunan, originally in reference to the Tagalog speaking areas only.

"Land of Polans", the territory of the tribe of Polans (Polanie). When the Polans formed a united Poland in the 10th century, this name also came into use for the whole Polish country. The name "Poland" (Polska) expressed both meanings until, in the 13th/14th century, the original territory of the Polans became known as Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) instead. The name of the tribe comes probably from Polish pole: "field" or "open field". Lengyelország (Hungarian), Lenkija (Lithuanian), لهستان Lahestân (Persian) all derive from the Old Ruthenian or Old Polish ethnonym lęděnin (possibly "man ploughing virgin soil") and its augmentative lęch.

From medieval Romance Portucale, from Latin Portus Cale (modern Porto and Gaia). Portus is the Latin for "port", but the meaning of Cale is debated. Some derive it from the Greek kallis (καλλἰς, "beautiful") or the Latin calēre ("to heat"). It likely was related to the Gallaeci, a Celtic people who lived nearby north of the Douro River in pre Roman times. The etymology of their name is also unknown, but may have been related to the divine hag Cailleach. Lusitania (ancient predecessor and literary variant): after the Lusitanians, probably of Celtic origin, as Lus and Tanus, "tribe of Lusus".

Derives from Qatara, believed to refer to the Qatari town of Zubara, an important trading port and town in the region in ancient times. The word "Qatara" first appeared on Ptolemy's map of the Arab world. In the early 20th century, English speakers often pronounced Qatar as "Cutter", close to the local pronunciation in Qatar. However, the traditional English pronunciation ("Kuh tahr") has prevailed.

"Roman Realm". The Roman Empire conquered a large part of the country, and the inhabitants became Romanized (Romanians). Older variants of the name include Rumania and (in a French influenced spelling) Roumania. The term român (the ethnic group of Romanians) comes from the Latin term romanus, which means Roman, so the name Romania was adopted to accentuate the Latin origin of Romanian people and language. The term was first used during the leadership of Carol I, whose 1866 constitution declared Romania the country's official name. Dacia, older name and Latin variant: named after the ancient people the Dacians. Wallachia, Slavic and Germanic name for the country, from the Gothic word for Celts: walh. Later also used for the Romanized tribes. This Germanic form derives from the name of the Celtic tribe of Volcae. Compare with the etymologies of Wales and Wallonia.

English and Russian: from Rosia or Rossiya, from the Byzantine Greek Rōsía (Ρωσία), meaning "Land of the Rōs" (Ρως). Generally agreed to be from a Varangian group known as the Rus', named after the Roslagen region in Sweden, ultimately from Old Norse rods , "row" or "rower". Within Russia, Soviet scholarship depreciated Kievan Rus's Scandinavian origin in favor of Slavic ones, offering a variety of other pseudoetymologies. See also Sweden below. , named after the ancient Krivichs tribe, related to the modern Belarusians. Vene or Venemaa (Estonian) and Venäjä (Finnish): after the ancient Venedes.

"Large or big", from the Kinyarwanda kwanda ("expand"), as eventually applied to the Tutsi Nyiginya mwamis descended from Ruganzu Ndori or the speakers of Kinyarwanda. Rwanda means a big country. Historically Rwanda expanded from Gasabo (a tiny locality near Lake Muhazi) to the entire territory as it was known before the Berlin conference. Rwanda's zone of influence expanded to southern parts of Uganda, western parts of Tanzania and eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

After the Sahrawi people. Their territory is disputed with Morocco, who claim the region as their Western Sahara territory. Western Sahara, the name of the territory it claims: After its geographic position. "Sahara" derives from the Arabic aṣ Ṣaḥrā (الصحراء), meaning "desert". Spanish Sahara, a former name: from its previous occupation by Spain.

St. Kitts took its name in honour of Saint Christopher, the patron saint of travelling. Christopher Columbus probably named the island for Saint Christopher, though this remains uncertain. British sailors later shortened the name to St. Kitts. Nevis derives from the Spanish phrase Nuestra Señora de las Nieves, which means "Our Lady of the Snows", after the permanent halo of white clouds that surrounded mountains on the island.

"Saint Lucy" in Latin, for the shipwreck upon the island of French sailors on St. Lucy's Day, 13 December 1502.

Saint Vincent: bestowed by Christopher Columbus for their discovery on St. Vincent's Day, 22 January 1498. The Grenadines: From the Spanish city of Granada. (See Grenada)

"Holy Center", from a compound of the Samoan sa ("sacred") and moa ("center"). The name is alternatively derived from a local chieftain named Samoa or an indigenous word meaning "place of the moa", a now extinct bird.

"Saint Marinus" in Italian, for the (possibly legendary) stonemason who fled to the area's Mount Titano around AD 301 or 305 from his home on the island of Arbe in modern day Croatia to order to escape Roman persecution.

São Tomé: "Saint Thomas" in Portuguese, for its discovery on St. Thomas Day, 21 December 1470 or 1471. Príncipe: "Prince" in Portuguese, from shortening its original name Ilha do Principe ("Isle of the Prince") in reference to the Prince of Portugal to whom duties on the island's sugar crop were paid.

Named after House of Saud, the ruling dynasty of the country. The dynasty itself took its name from its patriarch Saud (script=latn), whose name means “Happiness”. Arabia itself from the Latin name, of uncertain though probably Semitic etymology, although as early as Ancient Egypt the region was known as Ar Rabi.

"Land of the Scots", from the Latin "Scoti" as recorded by the Romans to refer to the Gaels of then Ireland and western Scotland, the later of which were later conquered by but then assimilated the Picts to form the medieval Kingdom. The use of Scot to refer to Gaels of Ireland gradually stopped. Alba in Scottish Gaelic, and is probably of Pictish origin, being a cognate with Albion, the old Celtic name for Britain.

From the Senegal river. After a Portuguese variant of the name of the Berber Zenaga (Arabic Senhaja) tribe, which dominated much of the area to the north of modern Senegal, i. e. present day Mauritania.

The exact origin of the name is uncertain (see Names of the Serbs and Serbia). The name of the Sorbs in present day Germany has the same origin.

Self descriptive, from its two constituent states. For the etymology of each, see Montenegro and Serbia above.

Named after Jean Moreau de Séchelles, Finance Minister to King Louis XV of France from 1754 to 1756.

"Lion Mountains". (Terra Leone) Adapted from Sierra Leona, the Spanish version of the Portuguese Serra Leoa. The Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra named the country after the striking mountains that he saw in 1462 while sailing the West African coast. It remains unclear what exactly made the mountains look like lions. Three main explanations exist: that the mountains resembled the teeth of a lion, that they looked like sleeping lions, or that thunder which broke out around the mountains sounded like a lion's roar.

"Lion City", from Singapura (in Malay) derives from Sanskrit word simhapura (Sanskrit: सिंहपुर). Singapore is the anglicized form of the Malay name, which is still in use today, along with variants in Chinese and Tamil. The lion, or what became the legendary Merlion, usually depicts Sang Nila Utama's discovery of the island Temasek, from Malay or Javanese root tasik, meaning lake.

From the Slavic "Slavs". The origin of the word Slav itself remains uncertain.

"Land of the Slavs" in Slovene and other South Slavic languages. The etymology of Slav itself remains uncertain. Some etymologists believe that the part ven refers to the ancient Germanic tribes of the Venetii who supposedly also gave their name to the city of Venice.

Named for the Biblical King Solomon by the Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendaña y Neyra in 1567 or 1568. The name was bestowed after the legendary wealth of King Solomon's mines, which Mendaña y Neyra hoped to find.

"Land of the Somali". Somali itself is of uncertain etymology, although some have proposed a derivation from sac maal ("cattle herders") or a legendary patriarch named Samaale.