Names of Countries in Their Own Languages

In some cases, a country can have more than one name if there is more than one national language.

Languages

Presently, there are more than 190 member states of the United Nations as well as Vatican City, which is also recognized as being sovereign. Aside from that, there are other countries that are not recognized or have limited recognition. Each of these countries has an English name as well as the native name depending on the national language. In some cases, a country can have more than one name if there is more than one national language or if there are multiple major groups with differing languages. For example, a country like Belgium has three names since it has three major languages namely Dutch, German, and French.

Select Country Names in the Their Only Languages

Bosnia and Herzegovina

This country has three official/native languages, which translates to three names for the nation. The three languages are Bosnian, Croatian (Cyrillic script), and Serbian. The three corresponding names for the country are Bosna i Hercegovina, Херцеговина, and Босна и. Aside from the common English variation, other names are Bosnia–Herzegovina or simply Bosnia (informal). At times, it can also be abbreviated to B&H. The nation is located in the southeastern region of Europe in the Balkan Peninsula.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo

This nation has four names based on the native languages, which are French, Kongo, Lingala, Swahili, and Luba-Katanga. Abbreviated as the DRC, its respective native names are République démocratique du Congo, Repubilika ya Kôngo ya Dimokalasi, Republíki ya Kongó Demokratíki, Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo, and Ditunga dia Kongu wa Mungalaata. Other names for it are DR Congo, the Congo, East Congo, DROC, and Congo-Kinshasa. The nation, which lies in Central Africa, may at times be referred to its former name of Zaire.

India

India is one of the largest countries in the world by population, which means it has several language groups spoken by the 1.3 billion people living there. Located in Asia, India has more than ten languages that use different scripts. Examples of these languages include Assamese, Tamil, Punjabi, Hindi, English, Gujarati, and others. This high number of languages also means an equally high number of names for the nation such as Bhārat, Bharôt, Bhāratadēsam, the Republic of India, Bhāratam, and others.

Saudi Arabia

Also located in Asia, Saudi Arabia (the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) only uses Arabic, which is part of the Arabic script. In Arabic, the name of the kingdom is Al-‘Arabiyyah as Sa‘ūdiyyah (المملكة العربية السعودية). In the Middle East region, this nation is the largest with an area of about 830,000 square miles.

The United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland also has a number of languages namely English, Welsh, Scots, Scots Gaelic, Irish, and Cornish. Aside from the English name, the others include Y Deyrnas Unedig and Rìoghachd Aonaichte. Common English variations are simply Britain or the UK.

Name Variations

For most of the names in native languages, there are relationships between the names. The most notable example is the case of India whose names look similar even to an individual who does not understand the languages.

Names of Countries in Their Own Languages

Rank	Country Name (English)	Language(s)	Country Name (Native Tongue)
1	Afghanistan	Dari, Pashto	افغانستانAfghanestan
2	Albania	Albanian	Shqipëria
3	Algeria	Arabic, Berber	Dzayer
4	Andorra	Catalan	Andorra
5	Angola	Kongo, Portuguese	Angola
6	Antigua and Barbuda	English	Antigua and Barbuda
7	Argentina	Spanish	Argentina
8	Armenia	Armenian	Hayastán
9	Australia	English	Australia
10	Austria	German	Österreich
11	Azerbaijan	Azerbaijani	Azərbaycan
12	The Bahamas	English	The Bahamas
13	Bahrain	Arabic, Berber	البحرينAl-Bahrayn
14	Bangladesh	Bengali	Bangladesh বাংলাদেশ
15	Barbados	English	Barbados
16	Belarus	Belarusian	Bielaruś, Беларусь
17	Belgium	Dutch, French, German	België, Belgique, Belgien
18	Belize	English	Belize
19	Benin	French	Bénin
20	Bhutan	Dzongkha	Druk Yul, འབྲུག་ཡུལ
21	Bolivia	Aymara, Guaraní, Quechua, Spanish	Wuliwya, Volívia, Buliwya, Bolivia
22	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian	Bosnia I Hercegovína, Босна и Херцеговина
23	Botswana	English, Tswana	Botswana
24	Brazil	Portuguese	Brasil
25	Brunei	Malay	Brunei بروني
26	Bulgaria	Bulgarian	Bulgariya, България
27	Burkina Faso	French	Burkina Faso
28	Burundi	French, Kirundi	Burundi, Uburundi
29	Cambodia	Khmer	Kampuchea កម្ពុជា
30	Cameroon	English, French	Cameroon, Cameroun
31	Canada	English, French	Canada
32	Cape Verde	Portuguese	Cabo Verde
33	Central African Republic	French, sango	République Centrafricaine, Ködörösêse tî Bêafrîka
34	Chad	Arabic, French	Tchad, تشاد
35	Chile	Spanish	Chile
36	China	Mandarin Chinese	Zhōngguó 中国
37	Colombia	Spanish	Colombia
38	Comoros	Arabic, French, Shikomor	جزر القمر Comores Koromi
39	Republic of the Congo	French, Lingala	République du Congo, Republíki ya Kongó
40	Democratic Republic of the Congo	French, Lingala, Swahili	République démocratique du Congo, Republíki ya Kongó, Demokratíki Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo
41	Costa Rica	Spanish	Costa Rica
42	Côte d'Ivoire	French	Côte d'Ivoire
43	Croatia	Croatian	Hrvatska
44	Cuba	Spanish	Cuba
45	Cyprus	Greek, Turkish	Κύπρος Kıbrıs
46	Czechia	Czech	Česko
47	Denmark	Danish	Danmark
48	Djibuti	Arabic, French	جيبوتي Djibouti
49	Dominica Republic	Spanish	República Dominicana
50	East Timor	Portuguese, Tetum	Timor-Lester, Timor Lorosa'e
51	Ecuador	Spanish	Ecuador
52	Egypt	Arabic	مصرMisr
53	El Salvador	Spanish	El Salvador
54	Equatorial Guinea	Spanish	Guinea Ecuatorial
55	Eritrea	Arabic, Tigrinya	Iritriya إرتريا Ertra
56	Estonia	Estonian	Eesti
57	Eswatini	English, Swazi	Eswatini, eSwatini
58	Ethiopia	Amharic	Ityop'ia ኢትዮጵያ
59	Fiji	English, Fijian, Fiji Hindi	Fiji, Viti, फ़िजी
60	Finland	Finnish, Swedish	Suomi, Finland
61	France	French	France
62	Gabon	French	République gabonaise
63	The Gambia	English	The Gambia
64	Georgia	Georgian	Sak'art'velo საქართველო
65	Germany	German	Deutschland
66	Ghana	Akan, English, Ewe, Twi	Gaana, Ghana, Gana, Gana
67	Greece	Greek	Hellas Ελλάς
68	Grenada	English	Grenada
69	Guatemala	Spanish	Guatemala
70	Guinea	French, Manika, Pular	Guinée, Gine, Gine
71	Guyana	English	Guyana
72	Haiti	French, Haitian Creole	Haïti, Ayiti
73	Honduras	Spanish	Honduras
74	Hong Kong	English, Cantonese	Hong Kong, Heung Gong, 香港
75	Hungary	Hungarian	Magyarország
76	Iceland	Icelandic	Ísland
77	India	Assamese, Bengali, English, Hindi, Kannada, Konkai, Malayalam, Marthi, Nepalese, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu	Bharôt ভাৰত, Bharôt ভারত, India, Bhārat ભારત, Bhārat भारत, Bhārata ಭಾರತ, Bhārat भारत, Bhāratam ഭാരതം, Bhārat भारत, Bhārat भारत, Bharôtô ଭାରତ, Bhārat ਭਾਰਤ, Bhāratam भारतम्, Bārata பாரதம், Bhāratadēsam భారత దేశం
78	Indonesia	Bahasa Indonesia	Indonesia
79	Iran	Persian	Īrān ایران
80	Iraq	Arabic, Kurdish	Al-'Iraq العراق
81	Ireland	English, Irish	Ireland, Éire
82	Israel	Arabic, Hebrew	Israʼiyl إسرائيل, Yisra'el ישראל
83	Italy	Italian	Italia
84	Jamaica	English	Jamaica
85	Japan	Japanese	Nippon 日本
86	Jordan	Arabic	Al-'Urdun الأردن
87	Kazakhstan	Kazakh, Russian	Qazaqstan Қазақстан, Kazakhstán Казахстан
88	Kenya	English, Swahili	Kenya
89	North Korea	Korean	Chosŏn 조선 Bukchosŏn 북조선
90	South Korea	Korean	Hanguk 한국 Namhan 남한
91	Kosovo	Albanian, Serbian	Kosova, Косово
92	Kuwait	Arabic	Dawlat ul-Kuwayt دولة الكويت
93	Kyrgyzstan	Kyrgyz, Russian	Kyrgyzstan Кыргызстан, Kirgizija Киргизия
94	Laos	Lao	Lao ປະເທດລາວ
95	Latvia	Latvia	Latvija
96	Lebanon	Arabic, French	Lubnān لبنان, Liban
97	Lesotho	English, Sesotho	Lesotho
98	Libya	Berber, Arabic	Libya, Lībiyā ليبيا
99	Liechtenstein	German	Liechtenstein
100	Lithuania	Lithuanian	Lietuva
101	Luxembourg	French, German, Luxembourgish	Luxembourg, Luxemburg, Lëtezebuerg
102	Madagascar	French, Malagasy	Madagascar, Madagasikara
103	Malawi	Chichewa, English	Malaŵi, Malawi
104	Malaysia	Mandarin Chinese, Malay, Tamil	Mǎláixīyà 马来西亚, Malaysia, மலேசியா
105	Maldives	Dhivehi	Dhivehi Raajje
106	Mali	Bambara, French	Mali, Mali
107	Malta	English, Maltese	Malta, Malta
108	Marshall Islands	English, Marshallese	Marshall Islands, Aorōkin M̧ajeļ
109	Mauritania	Arabic, Berer	Muritan / Agawec, Mūrītānyā موريتانيا
110	Mauritius	English, French, Mauritian Creole	Mauritius, Maurice, Moris
111	Mexico	Nahuatl, Spanish	Mēxihco, México
112	Federated States of Micronesia	English	Federated States of Micronesia
113	Moldova	Romanian	Moldova
114	Monaco	French, Monégasque	Monaca, Múnegu
115	Mongolia	Mongolia	Mongol Uls Монгол Улс
116	Montenegro	Montenegrin	Crna Gora Црна Гора
117	Morocco	Arabic, Berber	Al-maɣréb المغرب, Amerruk / Elmeɣrib
118	Mozambique	Portuguese	Moçambique
119	Myanmar	Burmese	Myanma မြန်မာ
120	Namibia	Afrikaans, Engish, Damara, German, Herero	Namibia, Namibia, Namibia, Namibia, Namibia
121	Nepal	Davanagari, Nepalese	Nepāl नेपाल
122	The Netherlands	Dutch, West Frisian	Nederland, Nederlân
123	New Zealand	English, Māori	New Zealand, Aotearoa
124	Nicaragua	Spanish	Nicaragua
125	Niger	French	Niger
126	Nigeria	English, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba	Nigeria, Nijeriya, Naigeria, Nàìjíríà
127	North Macedonia	Macedonian	Severna Makedonija Северна Македонија
128	Norway	Norwegian	Norge
129	Oman	Arabic	‘Umān عُمان
130	Pakistan	English, Urdu	Pākistān پاکستان
131	Palau	English, Palauan	Palau, Belau
132	Palestine	Arabic	Filasṭīn فلسطين
133	Panama	Spanish	Panamá
134	Papua New Guinea	English, Hiri Motu, Tok Pisin	Papua New Guinea, Papua Niugini, Papua Giugini
135	Paraguay	Guaraní, Spanish	Paraguái, Paraguay
136	Peru	Aymara, Spanish	Piruw, Perú
137	Philippines	English, Filipino	Philippines, Pilipinas
138	Poland	Polish	Polska
139	Portugual	Portuguese	Portugal
140	Qatar	Arabic	Qaṭar قطر
141	Romania	Romanian	România
142	Russia	Russian	Rossiâ Россия
143	Rwanda	English, French, Kinyarwanda, Swahili	Rwanda
144	Saint Kitts and Nevis	English	Saint Kitts and Nevis
145	Saint Lucia	English	Saint Lucia
146	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	English	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
147	Samoa	English, Samoan	Samoa, Sāmoa
148	San Marino	Italian	San Marino
149	São Tomé and Principe	Portuguese	São Tomé e Principe
150	Saudi Arabia	Arabic	Al-‘Arabiyyah as Sa‘ūdiyyah المملكة العربية السعودية
151	Senegal	French	Sénégal
152	Serbia	Serbian	Srbija Србија
153	Seychelles	English, French, Seychellois Creole	Seychelles, Seychelles, Sesel
154	Sierra Leone	English	Sierra Leone
155	Singapore	English, Malay, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil	Singapore, Singapura, 新加坡, சிங்கப்பூர்
156	Slovakia	Slovak	Slovensko
157	Slovenia	Slovene	Slovenija
158	Solomon Islands	Englih, Neo-Solomonic	Solomon Islands, Solomon Aelan
159	Somalia	Arabic, Somali	Soomaaliya aş-Şūmāl, الصومال
160	South Africa	Afrikaans, English, isiZulu, isiXhoas, Pedi, Sotho, Tswana, Venda, Tsonga, Swazi, Ndebele	Suid-Afrika, South Africa, iNingizimu Afrika, uMzantsi Afrika, Afrika-Borwa, Afrika Borwa, Aforika Borwa, Afurika Tshipembe, Afrika Dzonga, iNingizimu Afrika, iSewula Afrika
161	South Sudan	English, Dinka, Swahili	South Sudan, Paguot Thudän, Sudan Kusini
162	Spain	Spanish, Catalan, Basque	España, Espanya, Espainia
163	Sri Lanka	Sinhala, Tamil	Sri Lankā ශ්‍රී ලංකාව இலங்கை
164	Sudan	Arabic	As-Sudan السودان
165	Sweden	Swedish	Sverige
166	Switzerland	French, German, Italian, Romansh	Suisse, Schweiz, Svizzera, Svizra
167	Syria	Arabic	Suriyah سورية
168	Tajikistan	Tajiki-Persian	Tojikistan Тоҷикистон
169	Tanzania	English, Swahili	Tanzania
170	Thailand	Thai	Mueang Thai, Prathet Thai, Ratcha-anachak Thai เมืองไทย, ประเทศไทย, ราชอาณาจักรไทย
171	Togo	Ewe, French, Kabiye	Togo, Togo, Togo
172	Tonga	English, Tongan	Tonga
173	Trinidad and Tobago	English	Trinidad and Tobago
174	Tunisia	Arabic,Berber	Tunes, تونس
175	Turkmenistan	Turkmen	Türkiye
176	Tuvalu	English, Tuvaluan	Tuvalu
177	Uganda	Enlish, Swahili	Uganda
178	Ukraine	Ukrainian	Ukraїna Україна
179	United Arab Emirates	Arabic	Al-’Imārat Al-‘Arabiyyah Al-Muttaḥidah الإمارات العربيّة المتّحدة
180	United Kingdom	English, Welsh, Scots, Irish	United Kingdom, Y Deyrnas Unedig, Rìoghachd Aonaichte, Ríocht Aontaithe
181	United States	English, Spanish	United States, Estados Unidos
182	Uruguay	Spanish	Uruguay
183	Uzbekistan	Uzbek	O‘zbekiston Ўзбекистон
184	Vanuatu	French	Vanuatu
185	Vatican City	Italian, latin	Città del Vaticano, Civitas Vaticana
186	Venezuela	Spanish	Venezuela
187	Vietnam	Vietnamese	Việt Nam
188	Yemen	Arabic	Al-Yaman اليمن
189	Zambia	Bemba, Chewa, English	Zambia
190	Zimbabwe	English, Shona	Zimbabwe

About the Author

Ferdinand Bada
Writer

Ferdinand graduated in 2016 with a Bsc. Project Planning and Management. He enjoys writing about pretty much anything and has a soft spot for technology and advocating for world peace.