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