Every name of every country has a story behind it, but if you look closely, those stories begin to resemble each other. Most country names fall into one of four categories:
a directional description of the country
a feature of the land
a tribe name
an important person, most likely a man
There are plenty of examples from each category, some older than others, and some imposed by outsiders. Under the category of countries named after a feature of the land, you'll find these.
It’s not clear which explorer named Costa Rica (“the rich coast”), but one account suggests it was Christopher Columbus, who saw indigenous people wearing gold and didn’t realize it was imported. The Spanish gave Honduras its name, meaning “depth” or “deep water,” and they also named Barbados, or “bearded ones,” allegedly after the great banyan tree found there, ficus citrifolia, because of their long aerial roots.
Sierra Leone is thought to have been named “lion mountains” by the Portuguese, probably a reference to the roaring sound of thunder in the hills above Freetown, not actual lions. Singapore means “lion city,” and the lion head is a national symbol. But there aren’t any known lions in Singapore. According to legend the Sumatran prince Sang Nila Utama was hunting in Singapore and came across an animal he thought was a lion, “singa” in Malay, and gave the name Singa Pura to the island he was on.
There are plenty more stories of country names for each category, and a special category for those that don't fit into them, at Quartz. -via Nag on the Lake
(Image credit: Quartz/Thu-Huong Ha)
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