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Countries' Names and their Origins

Some countries' name have a somewhat ironic, weird or just funny meaning. Guess which country name has this possible meaning
Remember most are just conjectures, since the names are centuries or millenia old.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country-name_etymologies
Quiz by usrnm
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Last updated: January 4, 2022
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First submittedOctober 22, 2021
Times taken35
Average score55.2%
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Meaning
Country
Explanation
The Islands *hint: not an island
Algeria
From the Arabic "Al Jazain", referring to the islands off the coast of Algiers
Of Silver
Argentina
"argum" in Latin meaning silver. Named referring to a land rich in silver, in reality would be today's Bolivia
Land of Vexation *hint: Dahomey Amazons
Benin
From the Yoruba "Ile-Ibini". Possibly referring to the female warriors of the region, the Dahomey Amazons. *WPS index rank is 114/170
Honest fatherland
Burkina Faso
From the Moore "burkina", meaning "honest" and from the Dioula "faso" meaning "fatherland". *corruption index in 2020 is 40
Village
Canada
"kanata" from the Huron-Iroquois dialect. Spoken by locals, referring to the village of Stadacona, today's Quebec, and misunderstood by the French
Lake "Lake" *hint: Africa
Chad
The name Chad comes from the name of the lake. Which comes from the Kanuri "tsade", meaning "lake".
Island of the metal of cyprus
Cyprus
From the latin "aes cyprium", shortened to "cuprum", meaning "metal of cyprus". The island was known for its copper trade, so much so that it named the metal
East-East
East-Timor
Timor from "timur" in Malay meaning "east"
Land of Black People *hint: named by European explorers
Ethiopia
From the Greek "aethiopia" meaning "Land of the burnt faces"
Guinea
From the Berber "aguinaou", meaning "burnt one"
Sudan
From the Arabic "bilan al-sudan", meaning "land of the blacks"
Swamp Land
Finland
In Finnish, Finland is "Suomi", originating from "suo maa", meaning "swamp land"
Land of People
Germany
From the old German "Duits Disk" meaning "of the people". Became "Deutsch" and then "Deutschland"
Thailand
Meaning "Land of the Thai". In the old dialects "tai" meaning "people".
Greenland *what should have been
Iceland
Misnamed by the settlers to seem uninhabitable ice. Greenland just the opposite, to seem grassy and fertile
Island
In Icelandic, the word "iceland" meand "island"
Gilbert
Kiribati
First named Gilbert Island. "Kiribati" is an aproximation of the local pronunciation
Mogadishu *in Somalia
Madagascar
Rumor has it, Marco Polo mistook the island for the kingdom of Mogadishu. Madagascar stems from a mispronunciation
Land of the Moors
Mauritania
From the Latin "maurus". Originally referring to Mauretania, today's northern Morocco/Algeria
Single House
Monaco
The Phocaean Greeks who colonized the area, named it Monoikos, meaning "single house"
Area where there is nothing and without inhabitants
Namibia
From the Namib Desert. "Namib" in the Nama language means "area where there is nothing". To add to that "desert" in the Old French "dessert" meaning "without inhabitants"
New land of black men with Frizzy hair
Papua New Guinea
1. Explorer Yñigo Ortiz de Retez thought the locals resembled those on the Guinea coast. 2. "papuah", in Malay meaning "frizzy hair", describes the hair of the Papuan men
Portport
Portugal
Portus in Latin, meaning "port". And Cale in Celtic meaning "port"
Large *hint: no so much
Rwanda
From the Kinyarwanda kwanda "expand". Rwanda means a big country. *the country is approx. 0.1% of Africa
Our Canoe
Senegal
"sunu gaal" from the Wolof dialect. Misunderstood by Portuguese sailors talking to local fishermen
South
Tonga
"tonga" meaning south in Samoan, referring to the island's positioning in regards to Samoa
Country
Ukraine
From the Slavic "krajna"
Foreigners *hint: UK
Wales
Wales' name for the country is "cymru", meaning "fellow countrymen". However the Anglo-Saxon name stuck, "wales", meaning "foreigners"
Compatriots *hint: UK
2 Comments
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Geografen
+1
Level 67
Oct 23, 2021
Greenland is not the meaning of Iceland. The meaning of Iceland is land of ice.
usrnm
+1
Level 44
Oct 23, 2021
True, just wanted to include it.
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