Do you know why Hungary was named so why is Canada a village and what can be common between Mexico and the navel? Now we will reveal these and many other secrets related to the names of countries.
In the lessons of geography, children are told about the countries: the population, the area, minerals and so on. At the same time, information about why this or that state was chosen for this or that state is silent. We offer to restore justice and take a new look at the countries that you visited or plan to do it.
1. Gabon
The name of the country in Central Africa comes from the Portuguese name of the local river - Gabão, which sounds like a "coat with a hood", but it is associated with an unusual form of the river mouth.
2. The Vatican
The name of this tiny state is connected with the hill on which it stands. It has long been called Vaticanus, and this word is of Latin origin and means "to predict, to prophesy." On this mountain fortune-tellers and soothsayers conducted their active activities. A strange combination is the magical mountain and the place where the Pope lives.
3. Hungary
The name Hungary comes from the Latin word Ungari, which was borrowed from the Turkic language and such a concept as Onogur, and it means "10 tribes". It should be noted that this word was used to refer to the tribes that governed the eastern territories of Hungary at the end of the 9th century AD. e.
4. Barbados
There is a version that the origin of this name of the state has a connection with the Portuguese traveler Pedro a-Kampusch, who called this territory Os-Barbados, which translates as "bearded." This is due to the fact that the island is growing a huge number of fig trees, which are similar to the heads of men with beards.
5. Spain
The word Ispania originated from the Phoenician word Sphan - "rabbit". For the first time this territory of the Pyrenean peninsula was named so approximately in 300 BC. e. Carthaginians did it. When a century later the Romans came to these lands, they assumed the name Hispania.
6. Argentina
To transport silver and other treasures from Peru, the river Rio de la Plata, which was called "silver", was used. Downstream there was a land that many now know, like Argentina, which means "the land of silver." By the way, silver in the periodic table is called "argentum".
7. Burkina Faso
If you want to communicate only with honest people, then you definitely need to move to this African country, because its name translates as "the homeland of honest people." In the local language moore "burkina" is interpreted as "honest people", but the second word in the language of gyula means "adolescence".
8. Honduras
If you focus on direct translation from the Spanish language, then honduras means "depth". There is a legend that the name of the country is connected with the statement of Christopher Columbus. During the last voyage to the New World in 1502, he fell into a violent storm and pronounced this expression:
"Gracias a Dias que hemos salido de esas honduras!" ("Thanks be to God who brought us out of these depths!").
9. Iceland
The country was named Iceland, and in this name are connected two words: is - "ice" and land - "country". In the sagas of the Icelanders it is told that the first foreigner who entered this land in the 9th century was the Norwegian Naddod. Due to the fact that it was always snowing, he called this land "Snowy". After some time of the island state, a Viking arrived, which because of the harsh winter, called it the "Ice Country".
10. Monaco
One of the most popular places for recreation, it turns out, is called a "secluded house". Maybe that's why it's so nice and comfortable there. In one of the legends it is said that in the VI century BC. e. Ligurian tribes founded the colony Monoikos (Monoikos). This name includes two Greek words, which denote "solitude" and "home".
11. Venezuela
This country is called "a small Venice" and was invented in 1499 by members of the Spanish expedition that passed along the northern coasts of South America. The name was due to the fact that on this territory the Indian houses stood on piles, towering above the water, and connected with each other by bridges. A similar picture to Europeans was reminded of a wonderful city located on the Adriatic coast. It is worth noting that originally "small Venice" was called only a small settlement, but after a time so began to be called the whole country.
12. Canada
Many, going to this country, do not suspect that they will be in the village. No, this is not a joke, since the name of the state in the language of the Iroquois of the Lavra sounds like a "rope" (kanata), and the translation of this word is "village". Initially, so called only one graying, and then the word has already spread to other territories.
13. Kyrgyzstan
Decipher the name of this country as "land of forty". In the Turkic language the word "Kyrgyz" means "40", which has a connection with the story telling about the unification of 40 regional clans. The Persians use the suffix "-stand" to denote the word "earth".
14. Chile
In one of the versions associated with the emergence of the name of this country, it is indicated that it has to do with the Indian word, which means "the ends of the earth". If you look at the Mapuche language, then in it "chili" is translated differently - "where the earth ends."
15. Cyprus
There are several versions of the origin of the name of this country and, according to the most popular of them, it comes from the Eteok Cyprian language, where it denotes copper. In Cyprus, there are many deposits of this metal. In addition, the name of this element in the periodic table is also associated with this state. "Metal of Cyprus" is Cyprium, and this name was reduced to Cuprum in time.
16. Kazakhstan
The name of this state has a very beautiful origin, so, it can still be called "the land of pilgrims". In the ancient Türkic language, "kaz" means "to wander", which embodies the nomadic life of the Kazakhs. The meaning of the suffix "-stone" - "earth" has already been mentioned. As a result, the literal translation of Kazakhstan is "land of pilgrims".
17. Japan
In Japanese, the name of this country includes two characters - 日本. The first symbol stands for "the sun", and the second for "source". Japan is translated as "the source of the sun." Many people know one more version of the name of this country - the Land of the Rising Sun.
18. Cameroon
Who would have thought that the name of this African state comes from the phrase "shrimp river". In fact, this is the old name of the local river, which was named by the Portuguese Rio dos Camarões, which translates as "the river of shrimp".
19. Mexico
According to one of the existing hypotheses, the name of this country Mexihco is formed from two Aztec words that are translated as "the navel of the Moon". There is an explanation for this. So, the city of Tenochtitlan is in the middle (center) of Lake Texcoco, but the system of interconnected lakes is similar to the rabbit that the Aztecs associated with the Moon.
20. Papua
The state located in the Pacific Ocean is associated with the word combination, which in the Malay language sounds like "orang papua", which translates as "curly blackheaded man." This name was invented in 1526 by the Portuguese, Georges di Menezis, who saw on the island unusual hair from the local population. By the way, another name for this state - "New Guinea" was invented by a Spanish navigator, who noticed the similarity of local residents with the Aborigines of Guinea.