Countries of Asia – Etymologically Speaking (M to Z)

Following on for last week’s look at the origins of the names of Asian nations, here is the completion of the list.

Malaysia – is probably from the Sanskrit malai or ‘mountain’, although the alternative maha lanka, also Sanskrit, for ‘big island’.

Maldives – has almost as many suggested origins as there are islands. The most likely of them Sanskrit dwipa ‘island’, which would give maldiva ‘thousand islands’ even though there are twice that number.

Mongolia – another named after the native peoples, the Mongols name meaning ‘brave ones’. Earlier they called themselves Bide, a much more modest name meaning simply ‘we’.

Myanmar – used to be known as Burma, both names derived from the indigenous Bamar people themselves coming from the Sanskrit mranma or bama ‘strong ones’.

Nepal – is possibly another of Sanskrit origin where nipalaya means ‘abode at the foot’ (of the Himalayas) or alternatively from Tibetan niyampal ‘holy land’.

Oman – was also the name of an ancient city named from the Arabic for ‘stopped here’, as it was settled by nomads, or from the founder Oman-ben-Ibrahim.

Pakistan – a recent name, first suggested in 1931 although the nation did not officially exist until 1947, which is thought to come from Urdu or Iranian pak ‘clean’ (in spirit) with that common suffix stan ‘country’.

Palestine – shares an origin with the Philistines, both from the Hebrew palash meaning ‘to travel’.

Philippines – when first spotted by Magellan it was December 17th 1521 and he named them the St Lazarus Islands, this being the feast day of St Lazarus. However when the first settlers arrived in 1543 they named them in honour of the heir to the Spanish throne, the future Philip II.

Qatar – is thought to derive from an ancient port or city of the same name, although the meaning is unknown.

Russia – a surprisingly recent name only used for the entire country since the 15th century. It comes from the local Rus people, whose name has been explained several ways. Perhaps this is a Slavic name describing the Varangians, who were Swedish Vikings and ruled from the 9th century and had a name meaning ‘foreigners’. It could also refer to the Swedish Ruotsi tribe, their name meaning ‘rowers’, ie of Viking ships.

Saudi Arabia – was named after King Ibn-Saud, he united the former states of Nejd and Hejaz to create the country in 1932.

Singapore – another name of Sanskrit origins where singa pura may literally mean ‘lion town’ but should be seen as ‘strong’ as there are no lions here. The traditional story of this being named in the 7th century when an Indian prince landed here and mistakenly thought the first animal he saw was a lion can be ignored.

Sri Lanka – named as such from 1972 and taken from the local Sinhalese for ‘blessed island’, the Sanskrit lanka means ‘island’. Originally this was Singhala, named for the local people, which came from Sanskrit sinha, literally ‘lion’ but used in the sense ‘brave’.

Syria – a name of uncertain origin until the discovery of a tablet at the beginning of the 21st century which showed the name does have a link to the Assyrian people, themselves named for their chief city of Assur which was named for their chief god.

Tajikistan – is another stan or ‘country’, here being that of the Tajiks. These were undoubtedly the people who were here in the 7th century but their name is difficult to define as it is not clear if these were of Turkic or Iranian heritage.

Thailand – comes from the native name of the island of Prathet Thai meaning ‘country of the free’. Prior to 1939 it was known as Siam, this from the Sanskrit word sian meaning ‘brown’, the distinctively different colour of the skin of the indigenous people here.

Timor – is simply an Indonesian word meaning ‘east’, it is the most easterly of the Lesser Sunda Islands but one which explains why this has not been listed under the official name of East Timor.

Turkey – has already had a number of clues under other nations with mentions of the Turkic people with the suffix from Latin ia showing it was their territory. The Turks probably get their name from tora ‘to be born’, although some maintain the English ‘turban’ has also influenced the name.

Turkmenistan – is again named after the local tribe, these the Turkmens with the addition of stan ‘country’. The origin of turkmend or ‘Turk-like’ is possible but, with the different uses of men in Turkish languages, it is difficult to know if this is ‘pure Turks’, ‘good Turks’, ‘great Turks’, or several other similar terms.

United Arab Emirates – a name which explains itself, the unification of (seven) Arabic states headed by an emir and known by this name since 1971. Prior to this it was the Trucial States, again a comparatively modern name and dating from 1820 when British presence here ensured a truce in the area which had previously been known as the Pirate Coast.

Uzbekistan – and another stan or ‘country’ named after the indigenous peoples. The Uzbeks are thought to get their name from Khan Uzbek, the fourteenth-century chieftain of the Golden Horde, even though both the language and the race had already existed for centuries.

Vietnam – a local Annamese name meaning ‘land of the south’. Prior to 1945 the country was separated into Annam, Tonkin and Cochin-China.

Yemen – is thought to be from the Arabic yamin or ‘on the right hand’. Hence this describes this land as being to the right when facing Mecca while Sham (a part of Syria) speaks of it being ‘on the left’.

As previously etymologies for the relevant capital cities will follow.

Countries of Asia – Etymologically Speaking (A to L)

The last couple of posts have looked at the origins of the names of the countries, and then the capital cities, of the nations of the Americas. Having already looked at countries and capitals of Europe and also Africa, thought I should complete the set with those of the largest continent, Asia.

Afghanistan – is held to be named after the legendary forefather of all the Afghans and thus the name Afghana is followed by the Iranian word stan meaning simply ‘country’. It will soon become apparent this suffix is used for a number of countries around the western part of Asia.

Armenia – a name of uncertain etymology, albeit definitely an ancient one. The native name for the region is Hayk, the legendary patriarch of the Armenians and the great-great-grandson of Noah who led his people around 4,500 years ago. The first mention of the present name is said to be seen on a Persian Inscription dating from 515BC as Armina and, once again, said to point to a legendary father of the nation, one Armenak.

Asia – it did seem appropriate to give the origin of the name of the continent at this point. Originally this name referred solely to the eastern coastline of the Aegean Sea where Assyrian asu with the joint meaning of ‘sunrise, east’ corresponded with ereb ‘sunset, west’ and the basis for the name of Europe. As recently as the 1st century BC the name applied only to a Roman province along this coast.

Azerbaijan – is another ancient name and of uncertain origins. However the traditional explanation points to the Persian Atropates, a satrap or governor of this region. Some suggest his name comes from the region already known as ‘land of (holy) fire’. Geologically the land here does release combustible gases and did attract a culture of fire-worshippers who built their temples here.

Bahrain – has a name originating from Arabic al-Bahrayn meaning ‘two seas’. Even today the sea to the north and that to the south are known by different names, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Bahrain, respectively.

Bangladesh – until 1971 this was East Pakistan and, as one of the world’s youngest nations, has one of the easiest names to define. This is from Bengali and means ‘Bengal nation’.

Bhutan – is quite simply the Sanskrit bhot ‘country’.

Brunei – again this may represent a Sanskrit word meaning ‘land’, although others would suggest a Malay word meaning ‘plant’. Yet traditionally this was founded, and therefore named, by one Awang Alak Betatar who came here and, on discovering the estuary, pointed and exclaimed Baru nah! meaning ‘That’s it!’

Cambodia – is yet another nation held to be named after a mythical forefather. Here the Khmers came from Cambu, also the local name for the Mekong River, and while the correct name today is Kampuchea, the earlier Cambodia is just a Portuguese version of that name.

China – as with Cambodia this has been influenced by the Portuguese. There are two possible origins for this, either from the Ch’in dynasty of the 3rd century BC or, and this seems less likely, Ji-nan ‘south of the sun’. Note the Chinese name for China is Chung-hua ‘the middle land’. As one who delights in etymologies, especially of place names, and as this ‘middle land’ is how every homeland is seen to its inhabitants, I am so very thankful others were infinitely more imaginative.

Cyprus – even with its long recorded history the name of Cyprus remains a mystery. Of course there have been suggestions, all from the Greek, where it would either be from its many cypress trees (although these are not native but were imported from Lebanon), a reference to the henna plant Lawsonia alba, or a pointer to the large deposits of copper ore.

Georgia – has its modern name from an anglicised form of the Russian name, the Russians referring to the people as Gruzia. The origins of their name is disputed but may come from Middle Persian varkana or ‘the place of wolves’.

India – in 1947 what had been the India under British rule split to form the new nations of Pakistan and what is now known as Bangladesh. This is ironic as India was named after the River Indus, now entirely in Pakistan. As with nearly all major rivers the name of Indus means ‘river’, this from the Sanskrit sindhu.

Indonesia – is an island which shows etymologically historical links to India, for this takes the name of India and adds the Greek nesos or ‘island’.

Iran – is another name ultimately traceable to Sanskrit. Here aria, which also gave the Iranian ariya, means ‘worthy’. This had been the name of the Indo-European people who settled this region many thousands of years ago. For such an ancient name this has only been the official name of the country since 1935. Prior to that it was Persia, also named from an indigenous group Farsi who share their name with the Pharisees and which comes from the Sanskrit parasah ‘steed’ and describes them as ‘horsemen’.

Iraq – is simply Arabic iraq ‘the well-rooted country’. Known as Mesopotamia for millennia, this came from Greek mesos potamos ‘between the rivers’ (Tigris and Euphrates).

Israel – is the name of the Hebrew tribe, the Israelites. In turn this came from Israel or ‘god Isra’ and the second name of Jacob interpreted as ‘God’s warrior’ from Hebrew sara ‘to fight’ and El ‘God’.

Japan – is the Chinese name for the islands where Ji-pen-kue describes ‘the land of the rising sun’.

Jordan – is named after the River Jordan, itself from the Hebrew and either jarden ‘to drain’ or jarda ‘to rush’, both apt descriptions of rivers.

Kazakhstan – is named after the native peoples. The Kazakhs, with the addition of Iranian stan ‘country’, were of Turkish origin whose name is thought to mean ‘freemen’.

Korea (North and South) – etymologically, if not politically, North and South Korea are identical. Until the 14th century this was Koryo ‘the high place’, itself a dynastic name and hence the modern name. To North Koreans their homeland is Chosen from the name of the next dynasty of Choson, meanwhile South Koreans refer to their land as Taehan, itself from Han the earlier name of the states here.

Kuwait – is an Arabic name where Al-Kuwayt refers to ‘the enclosed’ and probably points to the 16th century Portuguese fort.

Kyrgyzstan – another Iranian stan or ‘country’ following a Turkic word for ‘forty’. This would refer to the forty clans led by the legendary hero Manas who led the fight against the dominant Uyghurs.

Laos – named after the Thai Lao people, with the Portuguese adding the plural ‘s’.

Lebanon – takes the name of the mountains, itself from the Aramaic laban ’white’, which may refer to the snow-capped peaks or the limestone rocks.

Part two will follow next time and, in coming weeks, a look at the origins of the capital cities.

Countries of the Americas – How They Were Named

When compiling a crossword recently I had to check the spelling of Guatemala more than once as it never looked right as the answer to seven down. Having got these letters in the right order I found myself thinking more about the origins of this particular name, when I should have been filling in the rest of the clues and answers.

Hence I made a note to investigate this and other names and the result is an examination of the origins of the names of the countries of the Americas. Quite recently, at least on an etymological timescale, this was known as the ‘New World’ and thus all these names would clearly be among the most recent, or so I thought.

Antigua and Barbuda – discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493, Antigua was named after the church of Santa Maria la Antigua in Seville, Spain. Ironically the newly-discovered island (to the Europeans) was named after St Mary the Ancient. Barbuda was also named by Columbus, this meaning ‘bearded’. The earliest known inhabitants were the Arawak peoples, who knew the islands as Wa'ladli and Wa’Omoni respectively. The meaning of both names is unclear and thus are probably derived from personal names.

Argentina – when Englishman Sebastian Cabot led a Spanish expedition, he traded with the local tribes for silver. He named the river Rio de la Plate (today known as River Plate in English) meaning ‘the river of silver’ in the mistaken belief the precious metal was found in these waters. The country’s name means ‘silvery’, derived from the Latin argentina but only used since 1826 when the nation gained its independence.

Bahamas – has two schools of thought. If this is from the Spanish then it is ‘shallow sea’ from baja mar. However if this was originally the name of a small stream on the island of Cuba, later applied to the strait between there and Florida and from there to the islands then this represents a local name Guanahani and the meaning unknown.

Barbados – named by Spanish explorers as Los Barbados meaning ‘the bearded’, a reference to the moss hanging from the fig trees growing here.

Belize – is named from the River Belize, itself a Maya name thought to come from belix meaning ‘muddy water’.

Bolivia – known by the Spanish colonial name of Upper Peru until independence in 1825, this nation was named by the man who led the liberation from Spain, Simon Bolivar.

Brazil – is named from a tree, not that which bears brazil nuts but from brazil-wood. The wood was a source of a red dye, known to the Portuguese as braza literally ‘heat’ or ‘coals’. This was used prior to the discovery of the Americas to refer to a red dye obtained from the Far East and known by the Latin brasilium. The earlier name for this region was also Portuguese, named by Cabral in 1500 Vera Cruz meant ‘true cross’.

Canada – is a vast country of 3.8 million square miles named for tiny area around the St Lawrence where the Iroquoi referred to their kanata meaning ‘settlement’ or ‘village’.

Chile – may sound like a Spanish name but comes from the local Araucanian chili which really does mean ‘cold’ or ‘winter’. This is purely coincidental and is in no way related to ‘chilly’ but named by the Incas who found the climate here distinctly cooler than their native lands.

Colombia – the idea that Christopher Columbus arrived here in 1502 led to this being adopted as the nation’s name when achieving independence in 1863. Sixteenth century Spanish settlers had known this as New Granada.

Costa Rica – is a Spanish name literally referring to the ‘rich coast’. This recalls the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1502 when he called this the Costa del Oro or ‘coast of gold’ as the natives wore a great deal of gold and presented some of these trinkets as gifts.

Cuba – is certainly from the Taino language but the meaning is not overly clear. It could be from a word cubao ‘abundant fertile land' or coabana ‘great place’.

Dominica – when Christopher Columbus arrived on November 3rd 1493 it was a Sunday, hence it named it from the Latin dominica meaning ‘Sunday’. Prior to this the native Carib people called it Wai’tu kubuli or ‘tall is her body’.

Dominican Republic – shares an origin with the previous name, it settled by the Spanish one Sunday in 1496.

Ecuador – features the Spanish word for ‘equator’ which crosses the map of Ecuador. Previously it shared the name of the capital city of Quito, a name which will be explained next time when I look at the origins of the capital cities of the countries of the Americas.

El Salvador – named by Spanish settlers, originally just for their fort but later spreading to the whole region, it means ‘the Saviour’ in Spanish.

Grenada – not another named by Christopher Columbus, although he was its discoverer in 1498, for he called it Conception as it was found on the religious feast day known as the Immaculate Conception. The present name is taken from Granada in Spain, itself meaning ‘pomegranate’ and a reference to the four hills on which Spanish Granada is situated, said to be reminiscent of the four divisions of this fruit.

Guatemala – the name which started it all off is a Spanish version of a native name. The Tuendal word was uhatzmalha describing ‘the mountain that gushes forth water’ and referring to the volcanic mountain Agua.

Guyana – was previously British Guiana, both traceable to the native peoples who lived here when the region was first explored at the end of the fifteenth century. They were the Guaizas, which translates as ‘we who must be respected’.

Haiti – is from a Carib word thought to mean ‘mountainous’ or perhaps ‘rocky’.

Honduras – a name from the Spanish for ‘depths’ and traditionally named by them as they were so thankful for being delivered safely to shore after the journey across the depths of the Atlantic. Such creative etymology would doubtless be accepted if it were not for the very deep coastal seas here, indeed so deep it was a number of years before technologies and manpower enabled a harbour to be constructed.

Jamaica – another dating back to the pre-European days, this from the Arawak Xaymaca or ‘island of springs’. This is certainly better than the offering of Santiago by Christopher Columbus, chosen because he landed here on July 25th 1494, St James’ Day. In defence of Columbus he did have more places to name (or should that be rename?) than just about anyone in recorded history and at least he did not resort to naming them after relations or pets.

Mexico – the capital, Mexico City, gave the nation its name, itself a reminder of the lake which once occupied the region where this vast city now stands. It was named by the Aztecs who knew it as Metzlianan from metz-tli or ‘moon’, as the lake was dedicated to such, and atl or ‘water’. When they established their city on the island in the middle of the lake they named it Metzxihco or, quite literally, ‘in the navel of the waters of the moon’.

Nicaragua – was named by the Spanish explorer Gil Gonzalez in 1522, taking the name of the native chief Nicarao whose name is of unknown derivation.

Panama – is probably best known for its canal, the Panama Canal being named after the country, itself taking the name of its capital, Panama City. There are a number of theories as to the origin of Panama, all agree it comes from a native language but the question of which language, and therefore which word, is disputed. Some point to the local trees growing in the forest, others suggest this came about when the first settlers arrived in August, a time when butterflies abound, and called it the place of ‘many butterflies’. Most often cited is the story of the fishing village known by this name which was supposed to mean ‘abundance of fish’. Panamanians, eager to produce something from this confusion, have officially adopted the meaning of ‘abundant with fish, trees, and butterflies’, a tourist winner if ever there was one. This does not take into consideration the native Kuna word bannaba meaning ‘distant’ or ‘afar’.

Paraguay – is another chain, the country taking the name of the River Paraguay, in turn coming from the local tribe known as the Paragua, whose name comes from para simply ‘water’.

Peru – will forever be associated with the Incas, who knew their homeland as Tahuuantin-syun or ‘four provinces’. The modern name was coined by Spanish settlers who arrived to find the River Biru, itself thought to be a local word meaning ‘river’ or maybe a celebrated chieftain.

Saint Kitts and Nevis – takes the first part of the name from St Christopher, the name given to the place by Christopher Columbus, referring to the patron saint of travellers. When English settlers arrived 130 years later, they used Kit as it was then the common pet form of Christopher. Nevis came from the original Spanish name of Nuestra Senora de las Nieves or ‘Our Lady of the snows’ – the white clouds covering the top of the mountain appearing as snow. This was later corrupted to Nevis, also the name of the island’s highest mountain. Note this has no etymological connection with Scotland’s Ben Nevis although, quite coincidentally, Ben Nevis similarly describes ‘the mountain with its peak in the clouds’.

Saint Lucia – one of the Windward Islands and named after the Sicilian martyr St Lucy as it was on her feast day, December 13th, that he landed here in 1502.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – as with the previous name the main island was named by Christopher Columbus, for he landed here in 1498 on the feast day of St Vincent. It was previously known as Youloumain by the native Caribs as it was ‘a land blessed with rainbows, mist, fertile valleys, and sun’. The Grenadines are a chain of smaller islands stretching southwards and share an origin with Grenada.

Suriname – was known as Dutch Guiana but changed to represent the former indigenous people, the Surinen.

Trinidad and Tobago – is the name of two islands, Trinidad named by Christopher Columbus in 1498. It is often said he named it because he arrived here on Trinity Sunday, the Spanish word for ‘trinity’ being trinidad, however it is more likely the ‘trinity’ was the three peaks seen as the island is approached. Columbus also discovered neighbouring Tobago, which he named from the native Haitian tambaku meaning ‘pipe’ as they were smoking tobacco, the English word having the same derivation.

United States of America – requires no explanation for the first two words, the first evidence of the name found in a letter dated January 2nd 1776, written by Stephen Moylan, George Washington’s aide-de-camp. This is not the case with the name of the continents of North America and South America. Traditionally they were named by the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, from Latin version of his first name. Usually it will have been his surname and this would have produced the United States of Vespuca, so perhaps this was discounted in favour of that now in use by Martin Waldseemuller. This German cartographer produced a world map in 1507 on which he named the ‘Americas’. He based the new lands on notes made by Vespucci published in 1502 and 1504 in which he never refers to the new lands as ‘America’. All Vespucci ever did was prove the discoveries of Columbus were not of a new and shorter route to the east but of a new and vast continent previously unknown to those on the Eurasian continent.

Uruguay – is named after the River Uruguay, itself thought to be from the native term uru ‘bird’ and guay ‘river’ and officially said to represent ‘the river of the painted birds’.

Venezuela – was first seen by European eyes in 1499 on the voyage of Alonso de Ojeda. The navigator on this voyage was the aforementioned Amerigo Vespucci who, on seeing the villages built on piles to keep the buildings clear of the waters of Lake Maracaibo, was reminded of Venice and thus called it Veneziola or ‘Little Venice’ (Spanish influence altering the spelling to the modern form). However this is disputed by some who point to the account by one Martin Fernandez de Enciso, another member of the same crew, speaks of the local people referring to themselves as Veneciuela.

As mentioned earlier the origins of the capital cities of these countries will be discussed next time.

Etymology of African Nations (M - Z)

Folowing on from last week's post, the origin and meaning of the remaining nations of the continent of Africa.

Madagascar is an old name and one not easily explained. The name is recorded by Marco Polo in the 13th century as Madeigascar. All we can say for certain about this name is it is not African for the native peoples originate from Indonesia to the east.

Malawi is a Chichewa word meaning 'flames', which is said to describe the reflection of the rising sun on any of the three large lakes.

Mali was the original name of the country from the 11th century, it comes from the native Malinke people.

Mauritania is an Arabic name which evolved through Greek translation to describe 'the land of the blacks'.

Mauritius was named by Admiral Van Neek in 1598, the Dutch admiral honouring Prince Maurice of Orange, the rule of what is now the Netherlands.

Morocco is a Spanish corruption of the former capital city of Marrakesh, itself from the Berber and meaning 'fortified'.

Mozanbique is said to be another African name of Portuguese origins. They settled on a coral island off the coast in 1508 and the local people spotted them and, according to Vasco da Gama, described the mosambuco or 'gathering of boats'. It must be said this does sound highly suspect etymology.

Namibia takes the name of the Namib desert, itself named from the Nama or Khoekhoe language to describe the 'vast place'.

Niger takes the name of the river, which in turn comes from Tamashek gher ngheren 'the river among rivers'.

Nigeria as above, this is 'the river among rivers'.

Rwanda is named from its inhabitants although the meaning of the word is uncertain.

Sao Tome and Principe was named by Portuguese sailors after St Thomas who landed here on his feast day.

Senegal is another taking the name of the river, which is yet another African name influenced by the Portuguese. The Berber name is Zenaga, thought to refer to the river as 'navigable'.

Seychelles was ceded top the French by the Portuguese, who knew them as the Seven Sisters, and promptly renamed after the French finance minister Vicomte de Sechelles.

Sierra Leone is the Spanish version of the Portuguese name coined by explorer Pedro de Cintra, who saw the land and called it Serra de Leao 'the lion ridge'.

Somalia is from a Cuchite word meaning 'dark, black'.

South Africa is indeed exactly where it says, the southernmost part of the African continent.

South Sudan shares its origin with the following.

Sudan is from Arabic biladas-sudan describing 'the country of the blacks'.

Swaziland is a corruption of the tribal name, which came from their warrior king of the 19th century MsWati III.

Tanzania is a combination of the two countries which united in 1964. Tanganyika is explained as kou tanganyika 'the meeting place (of the waters)' and refers to the lake, while Zanzibar is thought to represent a combination of Arabic zang and Iranian bar 'the country of the black skinned people'.

Togo is named after Lake Togo, a name of unknown origins.

Tunisia is named after its cpital, with Tunis of unknown origin. Often said to represent the Phoenician goddess Tanith, the name is known to pre-date the ariival of the Phoenicians.

Uganda is named from the Swahili name for the inhabitants, the Ganda.

Zambia is derived from the River Zambezi, itself meaning 'big river'.

The Etymology of the Names of African Nations (A to L)

Having thought about my last post and the first words spoken as our earliest ancestors embarked on the long trek out of Africa, I began to wonder about the names of the nations as they appear in the 21st century.

Africa is the obvious starting point as it also happens to come first alphabetically. A name which may come from that of the ancient Berber tribes of the north of the continent as 'cave dwellers' and named by the Romans around the time they captured Carthage. As a name it is unrecorded before the 2nd century BC and originally only applied to a small province of what is now Tunisia before slowly spreading to the rest of the continent.

Algeria is named after its capital, Algiers coming from the Arabic al-Jaza'ir which means 'the islands' and reminds us this city was built on four islands which were joined to the mainland in 1525.

Angola is from the Bantu of Ngola, a name of uncertain meaning but thought likely to be a royal title.

Benin taken from the Edo-Bini kingdom and thus the Bini people. Prior to 1975 this was Dahomey, thought to be a combination of the personal name Dag and a Sudanese word meaning 'intestines'. In the 17th century poor Dag was slit open by a member of his own palace staff, giving the capital the name of 'Dag's belly' and continued to be used in the metaphorical sense of 'a part of Dag'.

Botswana is named after the people native to these lands, the Tswana tribes also giving their name to the former name of the country, before 1966 this was Bechuanaland.

Burkina Faso literally translates as 'honest men country', the nation known as Upper Volta until 1984, named after the River Volta, itself meaning 'the river of return'. The river was named by an early expeditionary group, although whether they were referring to its turning or winding course or their means of returning from their destination was not recorded.

Burundi is ultimately named from its population, the Barundi. Before independence in 1962 this was united with neighbouring Rwanda as Ruanda-Urundi.

Cameroon is named after the river, which comes from Portuguese camaroes telling of the 'prawns' the sailors found in its waters.

Cape Verde is situated on a group of islands in the Atlantic, named from the Portuguese name for the 'green cape' or Cabo Verde in Senegal, these found off the coast of this mainland country.

Central African Republic is exactly what it says it is.

Chad is named after the lake, itself from a Bornuan word with an overly simplistic meaning of 'large expanse of water'.

Comoros is an island group in the Indian Ocean, north of Madagascar. The original Greek name, as recorded by Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD, was Ore Selenaie 'the moon mountains' and translated to Arabic for the modern name from kamar 'moon'.

Cote d'Ivoire is a translation of the original Portuguese name who referred to this place on the coast where they traded ivory by 1447.

Democratic Republic of the Congo named after the one of the world's great rivers which, rather ironically, means 'mountains' and is derived from the Bantu kong.

Republic of the Congo as with the above, named after the river Congo.

Djibouti was originally known as French Somaliland and now takes the name of the capital city, itself from an Afar word gabouri meaning 'plate'. This is a ceremonial plate, woven from palm fibres and placed on a pedestal.

Egypt is an ancient name and it comes as no surprise to find at least four possible meanings. The ancient capital was Memphis, the city of Pta, and maybe this represents Ga-Ka-Pta 'the house of the god Pta'. This could be Greek aia koptos 'the land of the Copts'. Alternatively we have the Phoenician kap-thor meaning 'island', the early settlements supposedly within the delta of the Nile. While another reference to the river may be in the Arabic kemi as the 'black land' in the colour of the waters or possibly the colour of inhabitants' skin.

Equatorial Guinea the first element is self-explanatory, this necessary as their are three 'Guineas' in Africa. All share an origin in Berber aguinau or 'black', the skin colour of the indigenous peoples.

Eritrea is certainly from the Greek erythros meaning 'red', although it is debatable whether this refers to the red soil or the Red Sea.

Ethiopia is popualrly from the Greek aithos ops and referring to 'the people with sunburnt faces'.

Gabon is another named after the river, itself named by the Portuguese from its estuary seen in 1485 as gabao 'the cape' and presumably referring to the clothing worn by the local people.

Gambia is, once again, a river named by the Portuguese who 'discovered' this in the 15th century. They can hardly have 'discovered' it in the true sense as their corruption of the name given by the indigenous people of Ba-Dimma which means simply 'river'.

Ghana took the name of the tribal leader, their version of 'king' being ghana.

Guinea as with Equatorial Guinea from Berber aguinau or 'black'.

Guinea Bissau and again from Berber for 'black'.

Kenya is thought to be named after Mount Kenya, which maybe Swahili for 'mountain' or perhaps a Kikuyu word kerenyaga describing 'the mountain of whiteness' for it is permanently snow-capped.

Lesotho is named after its people, the Sotho, whose named is derived from the river name meaning 'brown' and coloured by the sediment.

Liberia is from the Latin liber 'free' for this was where American slaves were allowed to return to their homeland and freedom from 1822.

Libya is the oldest name on the continent and is recorded on Egyptian hieroglyphics over 4,000 years ago. Unfortunately the origin is completely obscure.