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African Countries by Etymology

When given the name's meaning, guess the country.
Quiz by Scorebeater
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Last updated: January 25, 2023
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First submittedJanuary 25, 2023
Times taken976
Average score70.4%
Rating4.94
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Name Meaning
Country
"Soo" and "maal," or the name of the country's clans
Somalia
Portuguese for cloak, or "gabão"
Gabon
It could mean "plate," or "gabouti"
Djibouti
Named for the river going through it (bigger country of two)
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Jean Moreau de Séchelles, Louis XV's Minister of Finance
Seychelles
Possibly from Berber, meaning "Land of God"
Morocco
Name of a river in West Africa going through it (northern country of two)
Niger
One possible meaning is "person of mixed ancestry"
Guinea
"Green cape" in Portuguese
Cape Verde
Named for the river, "Kambaa," that shapes the country
Gambia
Literally "Saint Thomas and Prince" in Portuguese
Sao Tome and Principe
Means "white mountain" and namesake of Africa's second-highest peak
Kenya
"Aiguptos," ancient Greek name for Memphis
Egypt
Named for its location at the south of the continent
South Africa
Derives from the Zambezi River, which could mean "grand river"
Zambia
Ewe for "behind the river"
Togo
Prince Maurice Van Nassau of Holland
Mauritius
The oldest desert in the world, which is Nama for "vast place"
Namibia
"Red Sea" in Greek
Eritrea
"Land of the Tswana," the dominant ethnic group in the country
Botswana
Named for a medieval empire in West Africa
Ghana
Maybe Marco Polo confused the island with "Mogadishu"
Madagascar
"South" and "land of the blacks"
South Sudan
After an island named after Mussa Bin Bique, an Arab trader
Mozambique
Comes after the Buganda kingdom
Uganda
Its location near both the Equator and the Gulf of Guinea
Equatorial Guinea
Arabic for moon, "qamar"
Comoros
Name Meaning
Country
"Rio dos Camarões," Portuguese for "River of Prawns"
Cameroon
Historical trading of elephant tusks, or ivory, in the region
Cote d'Ivoire
Arabic expression for "land of the blacks"
Sudan
"Upright" in Mossi, and "fatherland" in Dioula
Burkina Faso
Derived from an Egyptian word for people living west of the Nile
Libya
The republic's location in the central part of the continent
Central African Republic
Its name could mean "houses of stones" in a Shona dialect
Zimbabwe
Literally means "the islands," which are off the coast of its capital
Algeria
"Serra Lyoa," the original Portuguese name for "Lion Mountains"
Sierra Leone
Named after its capital, and the Berber word for "encampment"
Tunisia
Combined Tanganyika and Zanzibar, the kingdoms that formed the country
Tanzania
Its name comes from a lake in the country that literally means "lake"
Chad
"Ngola," an iron object symbolizing kingship
Angola
"Land of the Basotho"
Lesotho
Name of a river in West Africa going through it (southern country of two)
Nigeria
"Land of the Swazis"
Eswatini
"Free" and "place" in Latin
Liberia
A former empire's name, which is Bambara for "hippopotamus"
Mali
The French term "Ruanda" was likely used for its indigenous people
Rwanda
Greek for "burnt face"
Ethiopia
It could be a Portuguese transliteration of "Zenaga"
Senegal
Possibly derives from the Ha people's origin, called "Buha"
Burundi
"Maravi," an old name for the country's inhabitants, or Chewa
Malawi
"The country of the Mauri"
Mauritania
"Person of mixed ancestry" + the name of its capital city
Guinea Bissau
Comes from the Bini people
Benin
Named for the river going through it (smaller country of two)
Republic of the Congo
PaterN
+2
Level 78
Jan 26, 2023
Very interesting, nominated!
nerdalert
+2
Level 85
Jan 26, 2023
Love this quiz! Nominated.
LAP3UNC
+2
Level 84
May 17, 2023
Nommed! This is really cool.
TheOrca
+2
Level 50
May 17, 2023
Really shows how seriously the Portuguese took the exploration of "their" hemisphere.
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