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List of etymologies of administrative divisions

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This article provides a collection of the etymology of the names of administrative divisions. This page generally only deals with regions and provinces; cities and other localities and features may appear listed under the individual country, with a link below.

Australia

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States

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Territories

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Mainland

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External

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Austria

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States

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  • Burgenland (German; Hungarian: Várvidék; Croatian: Gradišće): originally called Vierburgenland, "Land of four Burgs (castles)", a name suggested in 1919 from the endings of the four former counties forming the state: Preßburg, Wieselburg, Ödenburg and Eisenburg. In 1922 Austria ceded Ödenburg to Hungary and dropped the numeric prefix Vier- ("four"); the remaining three counties became Burgenland.[13]
  • Carinthia, German Kärnten: etymologically related to the early Slavic medieval principality Carantania (Slovenian Karantanija, German Karantanien); a suggested etymology references a Celtic term for "stone" or "crag", while a popular etymology holds that the name means "land of friends"
  • Lower Austria, German Nieder-Österreich: the lower part (lower in height) of the original territory of Austria ('the eastern country'), as opposed to Upper Austria; also called Österreich unter der Enns "Austria below the (river) Enns"
  • Salzburg: after the city of Salzburg (literally "salt castle"), which takes its name from the salt mines that existed there during the Middle Ages
  • Styria, German Steiermark: after the castle of Steyr; in the high Middle Ages, it formed a march of the Holy Roman Empire, hence -mark
  • Tirol: after the Tirol Castle near Meran
  • Upper Austria, German Ober-Österreich: the upper (physically higher) part of the original territory of Austria, as opposed to Lower Austria; also called Österreich ob der Enns "Austria above the (river) Enns"
  • Vienna, German Wien: from Celtic Vindobona (vindo "white" + bona "foundation, fort")
  • Vorarlberg, literally "in front of the Arlberg", takes its name from the Arlberg, a mountain (German: Berg) with a high mountain pass, characterised by Arle, a local German term for "mountain pine".

Belgium

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Regions

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  • Brussels, Dutch Brussel, French Bruxelles (the capital city, outside any province; also Belgium's third region): medieval Dutch broek 'bog' + zele (in many place names in the Low Countries="habitation using thatching")
  • Flanders, Dutch Vlaanderen, French Flandre(s): plural of a terrain type; or "flooded land"; or a compound Flemish vlakte "plain" and wanderen "to wander".[14] The name extended from the historical county (about half lost to French and Dutch neighbours; the rest roughly made up two administrative provinces, East Flanders and West Flanders; in French les Flandres, plural) to the whole Dutch-speaking, majority part of Belgium (French la Flandre, singular)
  • Wallonia, French Wallonie: from the (Romanized (Germano-) Celtic, now Francophone) Walloon people: as in many European countries, so named by Germanic neighbours; meaning: "strangers". Compare "Wales" below.

Provinces

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  • Antwerp: from the city of Antwerp, the province's capital, which may derive from the Frankish anda ("against") and a noun derived from the verb werpen ("to throw").
  • Brabant (now divided for administrative purposes into Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant): The name in Carolingian times appeared in Latinised form as pagus Bracbatensis, from bracha "new" and bant "region". See also under the Netherlands.
  • East and West Flanders; see Flanders, above.
  • Hainaut: after the river Haine.
  • Liège: of disputed etymology. The name Liège (also used by the city of Liège, the province's capital) may have the same origin as the ancient name of Paris, i.e. Lutetia; the German form, Lüttich, suggests this. Liège and Lutetia would both derive from Latin lucotætia, "marsh" or "mud". Another suggestion derives the names from Latin Lætica, "colony", or Leudica, "free". Alternatively, the Latin Leudica meaning "public place" may have given rise to the Walloon Lîdje and thence to Liège. Note that the name appeared in written form as Liége (with an acute accent) until the 1950s.
  • Limburg: Derived from the castle-fortified town of Limbourg, which in turn was derived from "lint" "dragon" and burg "fortress". See also under the Netherlands.
  • Luxembourg: identical with the independent country of the same name to the east. See List of country name etymologies#Luxembourg for the etymology of "Luxembourg".
  • Namur: after the city of Namur, the province's capital, of uncertain etymology.

Brazil

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Main article: List of Brazil state name etymologies

Bulgaria

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Main article: List of Bulgaria province name etymologies

Cambodia

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Cameroon

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Regions

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Canada

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Provinces and territories

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Main article: Canadian provincial and territorial name etymologies

Historical regions

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  • Acadia (French Acadie): origin disputed:
      1. Credited to Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano, who first named a region around Chesapeake Bay Archadia (Arcadia) in 1524 because of "the beauty of its trees", according to his diary. Cartographers began using the name Arcadia to refer to areas progressively farther north until it referred to the French holdings in maritime Canada (particularly Nova Scotia). The -r- also began to disappear from the name on early maps, resulting in the current Acadia.[16]
      2. Possibly derived from the Míkmaq word akatik, pronounced roughly "agadik", meaning "place", which French-speakers spelled as -cadie in place names such as Shubenacadie and Tracadie, possibly coincidentally.[17]
  • Nunatsiavut: Inuktitut, meaning "our beautiful land".[18]

Chile

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Regions

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Roman numerals originally identified the regions in order from north to south (except Santiago). With the establishment of Arica-Parinacota and Los Ríos Region in 2007 the numbers no longer reflect the regions' positions.

China

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For other, historical divisions of China, see History of the administrative divisions of China.

Provinces

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Special administrative regions

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Czech Republic

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Map of the Czech Republic with traditional regions and current administrative regions

Historical regions

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  • Czech Republic/Czechia (Česko in Czech). From old Czech Czech (nationality), later written Čech. Until 19th century referred predominantly to Bohemia only, later the meaning has been extended to all Czech lands (Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia). Traditionally traced to a Forefather Čech, who brought the Czechs into Bohemia.
  • Bohemia: "Land of the Boii", a Celtic tribe of the region. The ultimate etymology of Boii is uncertain, but has been connected to Proto-Indo-European roots meaning "cow" and "warrior"
  • Moravia: "Land of the Morava"
  • Silesia – from the holy Silesian mountain of Ślęża
  • Sudetenland – from the Sudeten mountains

Denmark

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Autonomous territories and geographic regions are
  • Bornholm: The Old Danish form, Burghændeholm shows derivation with the suffix -und from burgh "fortress": "provided with a fortress", later combined with holm, "island".[23] The similarity with the Germanic Burgundian tribe whose name has the same etymology and which may or may not have originated in Scandinavia, can be purely coincidental since the derivation is quite basic in meaning.
  • Copenhagen (Danish: København): The Old Danish form, Køpmannæhafn[24] shows the older genitive plural køpmannæ of køpman, "merchant", coupled with hafn, "harbor", producing the meaning "merchants' harbour".[24] It has entered English via the (Low) German Kopenhagen.
  • Danish Virgin Islands, a former territory: See British Virgin Islands below.
  • Faroe Islands (Danish: Færøerne, Faroese: Føroyar): From Old Norse Færeyjar – literally, "Sheep Islands", from their dense population of sheep. Another theory suggests that the lexeme fær instead derives from Celtic and means "distant".[citation needed]
  • Greenland (Danish: Grønland): From Old Norse Grœnland, literally, "green land"; so named by Erik the Red to induce settlement there. Greenlandic-speakers use the name Kalaallit Nunaat, meaning "Land of the Greenlanders"
  • Jutland (Danish: Jylland; German: Jütland): From Old Danish Jutland,[25] derived from the tribal name of the Jutes, combined with land "land".[25]
  • Zealand (Danish: Sjælland): Old Icelandic Selund, Latin rendering Selon, Old Danish Sialand.[26] A somewhat later form, now poetic, is Sjølund. The oldest forms with the single l and the original vowel reveal that the name is derived with the suffix -und (cf. Bornholm above) from Old Danish *sial meaning either "seal" or "furrow": "provided with seals" or "provided with furrows", referring either to populations of seals or inlets from the sea.[26] The suffix has later been reinterpreted as the lexeme land "land.[26]
Present administrative regions of Denmark are

Dominican Republic

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Main article: List of Dominican Republic Provinces by etymology

Estonia

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Note: Estonian maakond means "county" and maa means "land". Counties given here without the suffix -maa take their names (and etymologies as given here) from their capitals.

  • Hiiumaa: from Estonian hiis – "holy grove", or hiid – "giant", meaning "land of holy groves" or "land of giants".
  • Ida-Virumaa: "Eastern Virumaa" – see Virumaa below
  • Jõgeva: from Estonian jõgi – "river" (Pedja river) and possibly vahe – "between" (since the old estate stood on an island in the river), meaning "between rivers".
  • Järvamaa: from Estonian järv – "lake", meaning "land of lakes".
  • Läänemaa: from Estonian lääne – "western", meaning "western land".
  • Lääne-Virumaa: "Western Virumaa" – see Virumaa below
  • Petseri: from Russian peshchera – "caves".
  • Põlva: from Estonian põlv – "knee". According to a legend, a virgin was once bricked in a church wall on her knees. According to another version, the Tartu-Võru and Kanepi-Räpina roads form a curve, shaped like a knee.
  • Pärnu: named after Pärnu river, that drains into the sea at Pärnu
  • Saaremaa: from Estonian saar – "island", meaning "island-land".
  • Valga: from German family names de Walco and de Walko. According to another version, from Old Estonian valketa – "white".
  • Virumaa: from several Finnic languages virukas – "big" or "strong", or vire "sharp" or "penetrating" (for wind), meaning "land of the strong / big" or "land of the sharp / penetrating winds". (In Finnish, the words for Estonia and Estonians derive from Virumaa – Viro and virolaiset.)

Finland

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  • Helsinki: The Swedish name Helsingfors (IPA: [helsiŋˈforsː] ⓘ or [hɛlsɪŋˈfɔʂː] ⓘ) represents the original official name of the city of Helsinki (in the very beginning, in the form 'Hellssingeforss'). The Finnish language form of the city's name probably originates from 'Helsinga' and similar names used for the river currently known as Vantaanjoki, as documented as early as the 14th century. Helsinki (pronounced with the stress on the first syllable: [ˈhelsiŋki] ⓘ), refers to the city in all languages except Swedish and Norwegian. Helsingfors comes from the name of the surrounding parish, Helsinge (source for Finnish Helsinki) and the rapids (in Swedish: fors), which flowed through the original village. The name Helsinge possibly originated with medieval Swedish settlers who came from Hälsingland in Sweden. Another possible derivation looks to the Swedish word hals (neck), referring to the narrowest part of the river, i.e. the rapids.[27]
  • Ostrobothnia (or in Swedish: Österbotten) – "Eastern Bothnia". Bothnia is a Latinization of Old Norse botn,[28] meaning "bottom". The name botn was applied to the Gulf of Bothnia as Helsingjabotn in Old Norse, after Hälsingland, which at the time referred to the coastland west of the gulf. Later, botten was applied to the regions Västerbotten on the western side and Österbotten the eastern side ("East Bottom" and "West Bottom"). The Finnish name of Österbotten, Pohjanmaa, or "Pohja"-land, gives a hint as to the meaning in both languages: pohja means both "bottom" and "north".
  • Åland – "Waterland", from the proposed Germanic root *ahw-, cognate with Latin aqua and meaning "water".[citation needed] Ahvenanmaa, its Finnish name means "Land of Perch" and is partially borrowed, partially folk-etymologized from Germanic.[citation needed]
  • Finland Proper: The first part of Finland to be colonised by Swedes, therefore called Finland, later the name Finland was extended to all the country.
  • Uusimaa (Swedish: Nyland): means New Land, reflects the colonisation around the 13th-14th century.
  • Lapland: land of the Lappi (the Sami people), same word as Lapland (Sweden)

France

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Historic regions

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Most modern French départements take their names from local geographical features: usually rivers, occasionally mountain ranges or coasts. Thus most such names have a self-evident immediate origin. The traditional provinces and regions (of any period) often bear names with richer but more obscure histories.

  • Alsace – from Latin Alsatia, a Latinised form of the Germanic name that also yields Old High German El-sasz (modern German Elsass), allegedly meaning "foreign settlement" (according to the OED article on "Alsatia"[29]); or "settlement on the Ill River"[citation needed]
  • Artois – from Latin Atrebatensis, adjectival form derived the Belgic tribe Atrebates, whose name comes from *ad-treb-ates, meaning 'inhabitants', based on the Celtic root treb- 'building', 'home' (cf. Old Irish treb 'building', 'farm', Welsh tref 'building', Middle Breton treff 'city', toponyms in Tre-, Provençal trevar 'to live in a house or in a village').[30] According to Alexander MacBain (d. 1907),[31] the name Atrebates parallels the Irish aitreibh, 'building,' Early Irish aittreb, 'building,' and Welsh adref, 'homeward'. McBain states that the Celtic root treb corresponds to Latin tribus, 'tribe', and to English thorpe, 'village'.[31] MacBain reconstructs *ad-treb- as the Proto-Celtic form of Early Irish aittreb.[31] The name of the main city of Artois, Arras (Atrecht in Dutch) derives directly from the tribe's name Atrebates, so Artois properly means "territory of Arras".
  • Basque Country (French: Pays Basque, Basque: Euskal Herria) – derived from the ancient tribe of the Vascones via the medieval Duchy of Vasconia and a County of Vasconia, split from it. The Basque name derives from Euskara (the autochthonous name of the Basque language).
    • Labourd (Lapurdi): from the Roman city of Lapurdum (modern Bayonne).
    • Lower Navarre (French: Basse Navarre, Basque: Nafarroa Behera, Benafarroa). From the medieval Kingdom of Navarre, itself of disputed etymology (either Basque nabar: "brownish, multicolor", also "ploughshare"; or Romance nava: "river bank"; or Basque naba (valley, plain) + herri (people, land)). Compare Kingdom of Navarre#Etymology
    • Soule: deformation of the original Basque name Zuberoa or Xiberue
  • Brittany (Bretagne) – area occupied by refugee Britons from Roman Britain (Britannia) circa 500 AD
  • Burgundy (Bourgogne) – part of the land settled by the East Germanic Burgundians, who possibly originated on the island now known as Bornholm. Speakers of Old Norse knew the island as Borgundarholm, and in ancient Danish especially the island's name appears as Borghand or Borghund; these names relate to Old Norse borg "height" and bjarg/berg "mountain, rock", as the island rises high from the sea.[32] Other names known for the island include Burgendaland (9th century), Hulmo / Holmus (Adam of Bremen), Burgundehulm (1145), and Borghandæholm (14th century).[33] Alfred the Great uses the form Burgenda land.[34] Some scholars[35] believe that the Burgundians take their name from the island of Bornholm; they comprised a Germanic tribe which moved west when the western Roman Empire collapsed, and occupied and named Burgundy in France in the 5th century CE.
  • Champagne – from the Latin campania (plain, open country, battlefield). Compare "Campania", below.
  • Corsica (Corse) – possibly from the Phoenician Korsai, which means something like "forest-covered"
  • Dauphiné – from the nickname and coat of arms of former ruler Guy VIII of Vienne: "dolphin"
  • Franche-Comté – in French, literally the "Free County" of Burgundy (as opposed to the Duchy of Burgundy)
  • Gascony (Gascogne) – from the Duchy of Vasconia (also Wasconia), itself derived from the ancient tribe of the Vascones. In Latin and Romance languages in medieval times, Vascones came to apply to all the Basque-speaking peoples.
  • Languedoc – the region speaking the langue d'oc (as opposed to the regions whose language (langue d'oïl) developed into modern French)
  • Limousin – from an adjective referring to the local centre, Limoges
  • Lorraine – from the Mediaeval Latin coining Lotharingia, meaning the lands granted as a kingdom in 855 AD to Lothair, son of the Holy Roman Emperor Lothair I
  • Maine (province/county), from the Maine River, considered a variant/continuation of the Mayenne River, whose early French name suggests "middle river"
  • Normandy (Normandie) – land settled by Viking Northmen in the early 10th century
  • Occitania, from Occitània in Occitan. From medieval Latin Occitania (approximately since 1290). The first part of the name, Occ-, is from Occitan [lenga d']òc or Italian [lingua d']oc (i.e. "Language of Òc"), a name given to the Occitan language by Dante according to its way of saying "yes" (òc). The ending -itania is probably an imitation of the old Latin name [Aqu]itania.
  • Provence – from Latin provincia (province), short for Provincia Narbonensis, the Roman province located in present-day southern France.
  • Savoy – of unknown origin, but dating to the days of the Kingdom of Burgundy

Territories

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Germany

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States

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  • Baden-Württemberg: formed by combining the names of the former states of Baden and of Württemberg.
    • Baden: after the city of Baden-Baden, formerly Baden, the name became reduplicated to distinguish it from the state (as in "Baden in Baden"). The name means "baths", after the springs in the city.
    • Württemberg: after Württemberg Castle, which stood on the Württemberg, a hill in Stuttgart, formerly Wirtemberg, further origin uncertain (-berg means "mountain")
  • Bavaria (German Bayern): the state of Bavaria developed out of the tribe of the Baiuvarii, who probably gained their name from the land of Bohemia
  • Brandenburg: after the city of Brandenburg. The earlier Slavic name of the castle (Burg) of Brandenburg appears as Branibor (Slavic for "Branim's forest", where bor means "a dense forest").
  • Hamburg: from the 9th-century name Hammaburg, where Hamma has multiple conflicting interpretations, but burg means "castle".
  • Hesse: after the tribe of the Chatti
  • Lower Saxony (German Niedersachsen): after the tribe of the Saxons. "Lower Saxony" became differentiated in modern times from the state of Saxony to its southeast. The word "lower" reflects Lower Saxony's location in the lowlands of the North German Plain, as opposed to Saxony, which has a higher elevation. See below for etymology of "Saxony".
  • Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (German) Mecklenburg-Vorpommern): formed geographically by joining Mecklenburg with the western part of Pomerania, also called Hither Pomerania.
    • Mecklenburg takes its name from Mecklenburg Castle in Dorf Mecklenburg (Burg means "castle" in German, the first part means "big": compare Middle Low German mekel, cognate with English mickle—"big castle").
    • Pomerania (German Pommern) comes from Slavic roots meaning "near the sea" (in Slavic languages more means "sea"): the standard modern Polish name for the region, Pomorze, demonstrates this well.
  • North Rhine-Westphalia (German Nordrhein-Westfalen)—geographically formed by joining the northern part of the Rhineland (after the River Rhine) with Westphalia.
    • The name of the Rhine derives from Gaulish Renos, and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *reie- ("to move, flow, run"); words like river and run share the same root.[39] The Reno River in Italy shares the same etymology. The spelling with -h- suggests a borrowing from the Greek form of the name, Rhenos,[39] seen also in rheos, "stream", and rhein, "to flow".
    • Westphalia formed the westernmost subdivision of the Saxon tribe; the origin of the second part (-falen in German) remains unknown
  • Rhineland-Palatinate (German Rheinland-Pfalz): formed geographically by joining parts of the Rhineland (see above under North Rhine-Westphalia) with the Rhenish Palatinate, formerly a palatine county located near the Rhine, meaning that its count administered a palace of the Holy Roman Emperor.
    • The word Palatinate derives from Latin palatinus "imperial", from palatium "palace", after the location of the palace of the Roman Emperor Augustus on the Palatine Hill in Rome
  • Saarland: after the Saar River
  • Saxony (German Sachsen): land of the Saxons (possibly the "sword-folk"). The state of Saxony developed out of the Saxon tribe, which principally inhabited present-day Lower Saxony; during the Middle Ages and early modern times, the name migrated to the current location of the state of Saxony
  • Saxony-Anhalt (German, Sachsen-Anhalt): formed geographically by joining the Prussian Province of Saxony (see above under Saxony) with Anhalt
    • Anhalt takes its name from Anhalt Castle near Harzgerode; the origin of the name of the castle remains unknown
  • Schleswig-Holstein: created by joining Schleswig and Holstein.
    • Schleswig takes its name from the City of Schleswig, which in turn derives its name from the Schlei bay and the Low German word wig for "trading place".
    • "Holstein" comes from a Saxon subtribe named, in Latin, Holcetae, whose means "dwellers in the wood" (Northern Low Saxon: Hol(t)saten; German: Holzsassen).
  • Thuringia (German Thüringen) – after the tribe of the Thuringii.

Historic regions

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  • Brunswick (German: Braunschweig): from the town of Brunswick, possibly originating as "Bruno's wik" (Bruno's marketplace) (with reference to the legendary founder Bruno, Duke of Saxony, died 880, or another Bruno) or as "burnt wik"); the High German form Braunschweig is an erroneous translation of the original Low German Brunswick
  • Franconia (German: Franken): from the traditional designation "Franks", referring especially to the Kingdom of the East Franks. The name refers to those areas east of the Rhine that were first occupied by the Franks, as opposed to areas that were held by the Swabians, Bavarians or Saxons.
  • Hohenzollern: ultimately from the names of Hohenzollern Castle and its location, Mount Hohenzollern (known locally as Zoller or Zollern). The lexeme hoh/hohen in German means "high/height".
  • Oldenburg, after the city of Oldenburg, first recorded in 1108 as the town of Aldenburg, subsequently also a county, duchy, grand duchy and republic, meaning "old castle"
  • Prussia (German: Preußen) – (at times historically connected with Germany or with parts thereof): from the people known as the Prussians, a grouping of western Balt peoples whose collective name (German: Prussen or anciently Pruzzen) may possibly derive from an Indo-European root meaning "swamp": see Old Prussians; for political reasons, the electors of Brandenburg decided to name themselves kings of Prussia in the 18th century; in this way, they transferred the name of the remote eastern region to a major German state
  • Swabia (German: Schwaben or Schwabenland): after the tribe of the Suebi whose name may come from Proto-Germanic *swēbaz based on the Proto-Germanic root *swē- meaning "one's own" [people],[40] from an Indo-European root *swe-,[41] the third-person reflexive pronoun.

Greece

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  • Arcadia: from Arcas, the legendary eponymous leader of early Hellenic settlers
  • Sparta: from Greek Σπάρτη spartē, a cord or rope made from the shrub spartos, a type of broom
  • Macedonia, from Greek mak- (long, tall)—'highland'.

India (Republic of India)

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See List of Indian state and union territory name etymologies.

Indonesia

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  • Aceh: name of the coastal people of the area (the main group inhabiting the inland area are the Gayo people).
  • Banten: named in the honor of the former Banten Sultanate, which ruled over the region from 16th to the 18th centuries and became one of the main fronts of opposition against the colonial might of the Dutch East India Company (VOC).
  • Bengkulu: named after the Bengkulu river, which passes through the area of the province. The name of Bengkulu itself comes from the Malay word bangkai meaning "corpse", and hulu meaning "river-source"—it refers to the story that in the past the area near the source of the river Bengkulu had often served as a battlefield—tribes and clans battled each other on the river banks leaving them full of corpses and blood.
  • Gorontalo: from the Dutch version of the local phrase hulontalo, meaning "lands surrounded by water" due to the many lakes and rivers formerly in the area
  • Irian Jaya: The name Irian is said to come from the Biak language.[citation needed] An alternative etymology for Irian stems from the acronym Ikut Republik Indonesia, Anti Nederland ("Join/Follow the Republic of Indonesia, rejecting The Netherlands) (see the article on the Province of Papua—as of 2009 the official Indonesian and internationally recognized name for Irian Jaya).[citation needed] The word jaya means "victory" or "glorious" in Indonesian, referring to the Indonesian victory over the colonisers who controlled the area both militarily and diplomatically, a sign of pride as the Indonesians showed themselves capable not only of defending their lands from the Dutch attempt to reestablish colonial rule after World War II, but also of taking over lands not included in the 1945 proclamation or the 1950 reunification, specifically Irian Jaya or the province of Papua.
  • Jakarta: from the Javanese words jaya (meaning "victory") and karta (meaning "glory"), which make up the phrase "victorious & glorious; this refers to the victory of Prince Pati Unus (also known as Fatahillah) of the Demak Sultanate in his campaign to defeat the rival Malacca Sultanate of the Malay Peninsula and Samudera Pasai Sultanate of Aceh region in the mid-16th century. The "glorious victory" also refers to the event of Indonesian Proclamation of Independence on 17 August 1945 which took place in the city.
  • Jambi: the province takes its name from the historical Jambi Sultanate which ruled over the area from the 17th to the 19th centuries
  • Lampung: From the word "Lambung" in the Old Malay phrase anjak Lambung, which means "descended from the heights". This refers to the ancestral riddle of the Lampung people, who allegedly had ancestors "descended from the heights". The "heights" reference the southernmost part of the Barisan mountain range that runs through all the western part of the Lampung province.
  • Nusa Tenggara: from Nusa meaning "islands" (referring to the Lesser Sunda Islands that make up the area) and tenggara meaning "south-east" (referring to the position of the area within the country).
  • Sumatra: from Ibn Battuta's 14th-century pronunciation of the name of the Samudra Kingdom (13th to 15th centuries CE)
  • Yogyakarta: From 'Jogja' and 'Karta'. Jogja is a Javanised version of a Sanskrit word, 'Ayodhya', the prefix A- meaning 'not' and 'Yodhya' is synonymous to Hindi 'Yuddha', meaning battle, combat, fight, or war. Thus Ayodhya, which later Javanised into Jogja, meant 'The place of no fight' or in simpler interpretation, peaceful. This may refer to the geographic location of Jogjakarta, being fortified naturally by the Java Sea to the South, the Merapi Mountain to the north, the Gunung Sewu Karst Mountains to the east and Progo River to the west where it would be the perfect fortress of peace, and even more supported as a breeding place of peaceful life with its rich and fertile volcanic land and rivers, sourcing up to the majestic Merapi. The word 'Karta' means glory, referring to a hope that this city would bring glory to its people.

Iran (Persia)

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  • Lorestan: land of the Lurs
  • Mazendran: its combination of 3 words: Mad (female, mother, mater) and Zainthi (wisdom, knowledge, science) Eran (aryans), Both MAD and Eran is either suffix or prefix of many places in greater Iran or Persia Europeans called + upper India

Iraq

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  • Iraqi Kurdistan: The name Kurdistan literally means Land of the Kurds, believed to mean nomad in the Proto-Iranian language. In the Iraqi Constitution, it is referred to as Kurdistan Region.[5] The full name of the government is "Kurdistan Regional Government" (abbrev: KRG).

Ireland (Éire)

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  • Connacht: Connachta in Irish. "Descendants of Conn". From the Irish Connachta people, who all claimed descent from the High King Conn Cétchathach, Conn of the Hundred Battles.
  • Leinster: Laighin in Irish. From the Irish Laigin people, named after láigne, the broad blue-grey iron spearheads they carried, and Old Norse staðr, meaning place or territory.
  • Munster: Mhumhain in Irish. From the Gaelic goddess Muman and the old Norse staðr, meaning place or territory.
  • Ulster: Ulaidh in Irish. From the Irish Ulaid people, whose name probably comes from Old Irish ul, "beard", and old Norse staðr, meaning place or territory.
  • Meath: Mide in Irish. "Middle" in Old Irish. No longer a province of Ireland.
See also: Etymological list of counties of Ireland

Italy

[edit]
  • Abruzzo: Aprutium in medieval Latin (6th century), a name by which the "County of Teramo" was known; in turn, Aprutium perhaps derives from the ancient people of Praetutii, who inhabited the territory in pre-Roman times.
  • Aosta Valley (Valle d'Aosta): From the valley where Aosta rises, which owes its name to its ancient Latin name of Augusta Pretoria.
  • Apulia (Puglia): From Apulia, a toponym used in pre-Roman times to indicate a territory corresponding to the current north-central Apulia. In turn, Apulia derived from the indigenous toponym "Japudia" (parallel to the Greek term Ἰαπυγία, then Latinized to lapygia), with a passing from D to L, typical of italic languages or, more precisely, Osco-Sabellic.
  • Basilicata: From the Greek basilikos (royal, imperial), appeared during the 7th century and used to designate Bizantine Themi governors. Basilikos means "King official", being adjective of basileus, "king"; Basilicata is a term referred to the period when the region belonged to the Eastern Roman Empire. In ancient times it was also known as "Lucania", a term that either originated from the pre-Romani people named Lucani (who took their name from the eponymous hero Lucus or by the Latin term "lucus", meaning sacred wood) or by the Greek for wolf: lykos. Another supported theory indicates that the term may have originated from the ancient Anatolian people of Lici, which would be established in the area of their original land: Licia.
  • Calabria: a Roman times toponym at the time referred to the Salentine Peninsula, now part of Apulia, that may be originated from a pre-Indo-European mediterranean root cal-/cala- or calabra/galabra-, meaning "rock", "calcareous concretion".
  • Campania: From the homonymous Latin name, coming from the Campanians people, the ethnonym would come from campus, "open field, countryside", since this people was completely dedicated to agriculture; the first meaning of the Region name was the equivalent of "Land of Work", a name that was given to it for the same reason. Compare "Champagne", above.
  • Emilia-Romagna: Emilia derives from the Via Aemilia, a main trading route, that takes its name from its builder, Marco Emilio Lepido, from the Aemilia gens. Romagna derives from Romania (Roman territory).
  • Friuli-Venezia Giulia; Friuli derives from Latin Forum Iulii "Forums of Giulio", name of Cividale del Friuli, in honour of Julius Caesar; Venezia Giulia was instead proposed by Graziadio Isaia Ascoli, to identify all the areas inhabited by Italian people but still in the hands of the Austro-hungarian empire after 1866.
  • Lazio: From Latin "Latium", given to the Region by the Latins (Italic tribe); in turn the toponym may be deriving from the size of their territory, being it wide, flat or large (latus in Latin). Ovid hints at perhaps a slightly more sophisticated folk etymology, with a legend of the naming of Latium after Saturn latente deo (as a god in hiding) after he allegedly fled to Italy following his expulsion by Jupiter. Modern linguists postulate origins in a Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) root *stela- (to spread, extend), expressing the idea of "flat land" (in contrast to the local Sabine high country). But the name may originate from an earlier, non-Indo-European one. See the Online Etymological Dictionary.
  • Liguria: From the homonymous Latin toponym, the ancient pre-Romani people of Ligures, in greek Λιγυες, Ligues and in Latin Ligures, of uncertain origin, mentioned from the 7th century BC to the 5th century BC.
  • Lombardy: from the medieval Latin "Langobardia", Land of the Lombards, a germanic population that invaded the Italian peninsula in 568, making Pavia its own reign capital.
  • Marche: from the plural of Marca, identifying a frontier territory, developed to designate the territory on a political and administrative level during the early Middle Ages, referring to the period in which the Region was at the border of Charlemagne Empire during the 8th century.
  • Molise: Derives from a toponym registered for the first time during the early Middle Ages, indicating a Normans' county, like "Castello di Molise" (Molise Castle), which name may be originated from the Latin "Molensis".
  • Piedmont: From the expression that alludes to the Region morphology, at the foot of the mountains, particularly at the foot of the Western Alps.
  • Sardinia: From the Latin Sardinia and the name of its ancient inhabitants, Sardi. It is unclear how those populations did define themselves, while it is possible that the etnonym derived from Sherden people.
  • Sicily: From the Latin Sicilia and the Greek Sikelia, by the name of the people who inhabited the island, Sicels, who may had originated from the centre of Italy but moved then to the eastern side of Trinacria. Yet since the 2nd century BC, the Latin term Siculus has lost every ethnolinguistic connotation, indicating who is born or lives on the island.
  • Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol: Trentino derived from the Latin Tridentinus, adjective of Tridentum, Trento, identifying the area of its Autonomous province. Alto Adige alludes to the upper course of the river Adige and identifies the area of Bolzano's Autonomous province.
  • Tuscany: From the medieval Latin "Tuscania", having as an adjective Tuscanus, from the late Latin Tuscia, from the adjective Tuscus, plural Tusci, in turn from a previous Truscus, shortening of Etruscus, plural Etrusci, Etruscan civilization, the inhabitants of the Region during the pre-Roman times.
  • Umbria: From the Latin Umbria, from the ancient Umbri people; it's unclear the provenance of their etnonym. An hypothesis was proposed by Pliny the Elder in the "Natural History (Pliny)": "The umbrian population is estimated to be the most ancient of Italy; in facts, we believe that Umbri have been called Ombrii by the Greeks, since they may be survived to the rains when their land was flooded by the Flood". "Ombros" in Greek and "Imbris" in Latin means "rain, downpour".
  • Veneto; From the ancient pre-Roman Adriatic Veneti, also known as Paleoveneti, mentioned by some main historical figures like: Julius Caesar, Tacitus and Pliny the Elder; the Indo-European root detected at the origin of this name is wen, to love, so Veneti may be the "lovely and friendly ones".

Japan

[edit]
See also: List of Japanese prefectural name etymologies

Main Islands

[edit]

Korea

[edit]

Laos

[edit]
  • Attapeu (ອັດຕະປື) – from "Idkabue" (meaning, 'buffalo dropping').
  • Bokeo (ບໍ່ແກ້ວ) – Bo (ບໍ່) in Lao can mean "source", and keo or kaew (ແກ້ວ) in Lao means "Gem".
  • Bolikhamxai (ບໍລິຄໍາໄຊ) –
  • Champasak (ຈຳປາສັກ) –
  • Huaphanh (ຫົວພັນ) –
  • Khammuan (ຄໍາມ່ວນ) – Kham (ຄໍາ) in Lao means "gold", and Muan (ມ່ວນ) in Lao means "Joyous"
  • Luang Namtha (ຫລວງນໍ້າທາ) – means "royal sugar palm" or "royal green river"
  • Luang Prabang/Luang Phabang (ຫລວງພະບາງ) – Luang (ຫລວງ) in Lao means "Large" or "Grand", and Phabang (ພະບາງ) is the name of the buddha image which the city is named after.
  • Udomxai (ອຸດົມໄຊ) –
  • Phongsali (ຜົ້ງສາລີ) –
  • Salavan – one million days
  • Savannakhet (ສະຫວັນນະເຂດ) – derives from Savanh Nakhone ('heavenly district' or 'land of fertility suitable for agriculture'). Savanh (ສະຫວັນ) in Lao means "Heaven" and Nakhet (ນະເຂດ) in Lao means "District"
  • Vientiane/Vieng Chan (ວຽງຈັນ) – city of sandalwood. Vieng (ວຽງ) in Lao means "city" and Chan (ຈັນ) in Lao means "Moon" or "Sandalwood"
  • Sainyabuli (ໄຊຍະບູລີ) – The name is derived from the Sanskrit words sena ('army') and puri ('city').
  • Xekong (ເຊກອງ) –
  • Xaisomboun (ໄຊສົມບູນ) –
  • Xieng Khwang (ຊຽງຂວາງ) – Xieng or Xiang (ຊຽງ) in Lao means "City" and Khwang (ຂວາງ) in Lao means "Horizontal"

Malaysia

[edit]
  • Alor Star – alor in Malay means "furrow", while star refers to a kind of tree (Bouea macrophylla) that bears small, sour fruit known as kundang or remia in Malay
  • Cyberjaya – Malay: "cyber excellence", a reference to the city's designation as the "Silicon Valley of Malaysia"
  • Ipoh – named after the ipoh tree whose poisonous sap the Orang Asli used to coat their blowpipe darts with
  • Johor – from Arabic jauhar, or "precious stones"
  • Kangar – named for the Malay 'kangkok', a kind of hawk (Spizaetus Limnaetu)
  • Kelantan – said to be a corruption of gelam hutan, the Malay name for the Melaleuca leucadendron tree, also possibly derived from kilatan ("lightning")
  • Klang – possibly from Mon-Khmer klong or Malay kilang ("warehouse")
  • Kota Bharu – Malay: "new town/fort"
  • Kota Kinabalu - The word of "kota" means city in Malay while the word of "kinabalu" derived from the Kadazandusun aki nabalu ("grandfather" for aki, and "mountain" for nabalu)
  • Kuala Lumpur – Malay: "muddy confluence", a reference to the founding of the city at the confluence of Gombak River and Klang River
  • Kuching - Malay: "cat", but probably a corruption of the Indian cochin ("port") or a reference to the mata kucing trees that used to proliferate where the city grew subsequently
  • Labuan – derived from the Malay labuhan ("anchorage")
  • Langkawi – Malay for "eagle island", but possibly related to Langkasuka, an ancient Hindu kingdom founded in Kedah in the 1st century CE
  • Malacca – named by the founder of Malacca, Parameswara, after the Melaka tree under which he sheltered
  • Negeri Sembilan – Malay: "nine states", a reference to the nine original districts (or nagari) settled by the Minangkabau
  • Penang – named after the Pinang tree
  • Perak – Malay: "silver", from the silvery colour of tin for which the area is known or possibly from the "glimmer of fish in the water"
  • Putrajaya – Malay: literally: "the son's victory"; but taken to mean "princely excellence". Named after the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, possibly with reference to the planned city's status as the new administration centre for the Federal Government
  • Selangor – possibly from the Malay selangau ("fly") due to the abundance of flies along the Selangor River
  • Sungai Petani – literally "farmer river" in Malay, said to originate from the concentration of paddy-fields and farmers in the state
  • Taiping – Chinese: "great peace"

Mexico

[edit]
See also: Mexican state name etymologies

Mongolia

[edit]

Morocco

[edit]
  • Western Sahara, claimed territory: After its geographic position. "Sahara" derives from the Arabic aṣ-Ṣaḥrā' (الصحراء), meaning "desert". The area is also claimed by the Sahrawis.

Kingdom of the Netherlands

[edit]

Constituent countries

[edit]

Provinces

[edit]
  • Drenthe (Dutch Low Saxon: Drentie): first mentioned in a Latin document of 820 as pago Treanth. Treanth probably finds its origin in the number three, as the area was then divided in three jurisdictions.
  • Flevoland: from Latin Lacus Flevo (Lake Flevo), a name used in Roman sources to refer to a body of water at what would later become known as the Zuiderzee. The Netherlands government established the province in 1986 on lands reclaimed from the Zuiderzee in the 1950s and 1960s.
  • Friesland (West Frisian: Fryslân): land of the Frisians.
  • Gelderland (also English: Guelders): Named after the modern city of Geldern, Germany.
  • Groningen (Gronings: Grönnen or Grunnen). Named after its capital city. The origin of the city name is uncertain; theories include an original meaning of "people of Groni" (a man's name) or "green fields".
  • Limburg: Derived from the castle-fortified town of Limbourg which in turn was derived from "lint" "dragon" and burg "fortress". See also under Belgium.
  • North Brabant (Dutch: Noord-Brabant). The name in Carolingian times appeared in Latinised form as pagus Bracbatensis, from bracha "new" and bant "region". See also under Belgium.
  • North Holland (Dutch: Noord-Holland): Northern part of the region of Holland. See List of country name etymologies#Netherlands for the etymology of "Holland".
  • Overijssel: Dutch for "[Lands] across the IJssel river" (also Latin: "Transiselania")
  • South Holland (Dutch: Zuid-Holland): Southern part of the region of Holland. See List of country name etymologies#Netherlands for the etymology of "Holland".
  • Utrecht: named after the city of Utrecht, the name of which derives from Latin Ultraiectum ad Rhenum, meaning "place to cross the Rhine river".
  • Zeeland (also English: Zealand): Dutch for "sea land".

Other names

[edit]
  • Alkmaar: from Aelcemaer, meaning 'lake of auks', due to the fact that lakes formerly surrounded the core of Alkmaar—all of them now drained and thus turned into dry land
  • Amsterdam: from Amstelredam, which means "dam over the Amstel" (the river Amstel flows through present-day Amsterdam)
  • Batavia (Germanic): "arable land" (derived from the regional name "Betuwe", as opposed to the other regional name "Veluwe" meaning "fallow" or "waste" land). Alternatively: the people known as the Batavians (Latin: Batavi) inhabited the island of Betawe between the Waal and the Rhine. The name of the island probably derives from batawjō ("good island", from Germanic bat—"good, excellent" and awjō—"island, land near water"), referring to the region's fertility.
  • Bonaire: Uncertain, but thought to have been originally derived from the Caquetio word bonay. Later Dutch and Spanish colonists modified it, first to Bojnaj and finally to its current name of Bonaire (French: "good air").
  • Holland (part of the Netherlands; but the term often refers to the country as a whole): Germanic "holt (i.e. wooded) land" (often incorrectly regarded as meaning "hollow [i.e. marsh] land")
  • Netherlands Antilles, a territory: From their Dutch owners and from a mythical land or island (Antillia), west of Europe, or a combination of two Portuguese words ante or anti (possibly meaning "opposite" in the sense of "on the opposite side of the world") and ilha ("island"), currently the name for these Caribbean Islands.
  • Rotterdam: meaning 'dam over the Rotte' (the river Rotte flows through present-day Rotterdam)
  • Stad en Ommelanden for the province of Groningen, meaning "city and surrounding lands" and referring to the city of Groningen and the medieval Frisian lordships west, north and east of the city.
  • Twente (region in the east of the province of Overijssel): from Latin tvihanti;[citation needed] or after the Germanic tribe the Tubantii as described by Tacitus; or an early form of the current Twents-language word for a 2-year-old horse: Tweanter.

New Zealand

[edit]
See also: List of New Zealand place names and their meanings

Provinces

[edit]

Other categories

[edit]
  • Cook Islands, a territory: In honor of British captain James Cook, who discovered the islands in 1770.
  • Levin: from a director of the railway company that established the town to help boost its railway
  • Niue, a territory: Niu probably means "coconut", and é means "behold". According to legend, the Polynesian explorers who first settled the island knew that they had come close to land when they saw a coconut floating in the water.
  • Plimmerton: from John Plimmer, Wellington pioneer, director of the railway company that created the seaside resort to help boost its railway; central Wellington has Plimmer's Steps.
  • Tasman: district named from the bay name, in honour of Dutchman Abel Tasman, commander of first European expedition to sight the country; also a mountain and glacier name. Abel Tasman National Park bears a fuller version of his name.
  • Tokelau, a territory: From the Tokelauan "North" or "Northern", in reference to their position relative to Samoa. The Tokelauan people traditionally suppose themselves to have originated from settlers from Samoa.
  • Waikato: Named after the Waikato River. The hydronym is a Māori-language word meaning "flowing water".

Nigeria

[edit]

States

[edit]

Norway

[edit]

Counties

[edit]
  • Akershus – Fortress of (the district) Aker (named after the farm Aker, meaning agriculture field)
  • Aust-Agder – East Agder. Agder has a pre-Viking Age unknown meaning. Maybe meaning coast, related to English edge.
  • Buskerud – after a farm Buskerud, meaning the Bishops farm (rud more specifically means clearing the wood for farming)
  • Finnmark – Land of the Sami people.
  • Hedmark – Hed comes from the name of an old tribe. Mark means border land or wood land.
  • Hordaland – land of the Charudes, an old tribe.
  • Innlandet – Inner land, the land away from the coast.
  • Møre og Romsdal – Møre, and Rom valley. Møre probably means sea (land at the sea) and Roms comes from the river Rauma, unknown meaning.
  • Nordland – Northern land
  • Nord-Trøndelag – (Self-ruling) country of the Trønder people, northern part.
  • Oppland – the Upper lands
  • Oslo – disputed, maybe "the meadow beneath the ridge", see History of Oslo's name
  • Rogaland – Land of the Rugii, an old tribe.
  • Sogn og Fjordane – Sogn refers to Sognefjord, "the fjord with tidal stream". Og Fjordane means "and the (other) fjords".
  • Sør-Trøndelag – (Self-ruling) country of the Trønder people, southern part.
  • Telemark – Tele comes from an old tribe. Mark means border land or wood land.
  • Troms – Unknown
  • Vest-Agder – West Agder. Agder has a pre-Viking Age unknown meaning. Maybe meaning coast, related to English edge.
  • Vestfold – West (side of) Fold, where Fold means fjord, here the Oslo Fjord.
  • Vestland – Western land, traditional name of the west coast of Southern Norway
  • Viken – the inlet; old name of the area (Viken) around the Oslo Fjord.
  • Østfold – East (side of) Fold, where Fold means fjord, here the Oslo Fjord.

Territories

[edit]

Pakistan

[edit]

Papua New Guinea

[edit]

Peru

[edit]
See also: Peruvian region name etymologies

Philippines

[edit]
See also: List of Philippine provincial name etymologies

Poland

[edit]

Portugal

[edit]
  • Alentejo: meaning "beyond the Tejo (the Tagus river)"
  • Algarve: meaning "the west" (of the Guadiana River), from the Arab "Al-Gharb"
  • Azores: from Açores (pl.), after the "açor", the Portuguese word for the northern goshawk
  • Beira: quite literally, the "edge" (during the early phase of Portugal's history, Beira formed a borderland)
  • Estremadura: from Medieval Latin Extrema Dorii (literally, "extremes of the Douro river"), referring to the territories south of the Douro basin (see also: Spanish Extremadura)
  • Madeira: "wood"
  • Minho: after the river Minho, that passes north of the region
  • Ribatejo: meaning "above the Tejo (the Tagus river)"
  • Trás-os-Montes: literally, "behind the mountains", its territory is behind the mountains of Serra do Marão

Romania

[edit]
For etymologies of Romanian counties, see Etymological list of counties of Romania
  • Bessarabia – from Basarab I, Wallachian prince who led some expeditions in this land
  • Bukovina – (from Serbian Bukovina in German: "Buchenland") = "beech land"
  • Dobruja – from Dobrotitsa, ruler of the region in the 14th century[45]
  • Hațeg – "Terra Herzog"=Duke's land
  • Muntenia – from muntean=man of the mountains, from Romanian munte=mountain
  • Oltenia – from the river Olt, called Alutus by the Romans, possibly from Latin lutum, meaning "mud" or "clay".
  • Transylvania – "beyond the woods"—i.e., from Hungary
    • Ardeal – possibly a borrowing of the Hungarian name Erdély, like the Romani name Ardyalo—speakers of old Hungarian pronounced Erdély as Erdél. The initial Hungarian "e-" occasionally changes to "a-" in Romanian (compare Hungarian egres "gooseberry" and Egyed, which became agriş and Adjud in Romanian). The ending '-eal' in Romanian does not suggest a Romanian borrowing from Hungarian. In parallel examples, Hungarian -ely becomes -ei in Romanian. But when Hungarian adopts a word from Romanian, "a" usually becomes "e": Andreas becomes Endre, the Latin ager becomes eger, etc. Thus the word Ardeal could become Erdély. The linguist Josep Lad Pic determined[citation needed] that the word "Ardeal" has an Indo-European origin, while the words Erdely and Erdo do not. The Proto-Indo-European root *arde ("to grow", "high") manifests itself in the Old Indian árdhuka ("prospering"), and in Latin arduus ("high"). In Celtic Gaul, Arduenna silva parallels the English "Forest of Arden" and the Ardennes Woods in Belgium. In Romanian, deal means "hill" and ardica "to grow, high, prosperous".
  • Wallachia – "land of the Romance-speaking people"

Russia

[edit]
Main article: List of Russian federal subject name etymologies

Slovakia

[edit]
  • Banská Bystrica: The name includes two distinct roots: the adjective Banská (from Slovak baňa—"mine") and the name of the local river Bystrica (from Slavic bystrica—"a swift stream").[48] Its name in Hungarian: Besztercebánya has the same semantic origin. The name literally means "mining creek".
  • Bratislava: The first written reference comes from the Annales Iuvavenses, which calls the locality Brezalauspurc (literally: Braslav's castle), in relation to the battles between the Bavaria and Hungary, which took place before the walls of Bratislava Castle in 907.[49] The castle got its name either from Predslav, third son of King Svatopluk I or from the local noble Braslav.[50] This former variant reappears as "Braslav" or "Preslava" on coins minted by King István I of Hungary, dating to about the year 1000 and in which appeared the motto "Preslavva Civitas".[51] At the end of the Middle Ages, the name took its final German form Pressburg: Slovak of Prešporok derived from this.[51] Although Pressburg remained the official name until 1919, the Hungarians use and used the name Pozsony (attested by the 12th century).[51][52] Bozan could result from a ruling of the Bratislava Castle from the eleventh century. The name Posonium Latin derives from Hungarian.[53] In addition to these names, documents of the Renaissance call the city 'Ιστροπόλις' Istropolis which means "City of the Danube" in Ancient Greek. The current name, Bratislava, dates from 1837 when the Slavist scholar Pavel Jozef Šafárik reconstructed a variant of the name, Břetislaw[54] a from old names, believing that these derived from the name of the ruler Bretislaus I of Bohemia.
  • Košice: The first written mention of the city as "villa Cassa" dates from 1230.[55] The Slovak name of the city comes from the Slavic personal name "Koša" with the patronymic slavic suffix "-ice".[56] According to other sources the city name probably stems from an ancient Hungarian first name which begins with "Ko" such as Kokos-Kakas, Kolumbán-Kálmán, or Kopov-Kopó.[57] Historically, the city has been known as Kaschau in German, Kassa in Hungarian, Cassovia or Caschovia in Latin, Cassovie in French, Caşovia in Romanian, Кошицы (Koshitsy) in Russian and Koszyce in Polish (see here for more names).
  • Nitra: The first mention of Nitra dates back to 880 (other variations: 826 as Nitrawa, 880 as Nitra, and in 1111/1113 as Nitra, Nitria). The name of the city derives from the river Nitra. The name originates in the Germanic word Nitrahwa: in the Indo-European languages nid means "flow" while ahwa means "water".
  • Prešov: The city name originates in the Hungarian word eper which means "strawberry".[58] The city's historic coat of arms contains strawberries.[58] Historically, the city has been known as Eperjes in Hungarian, Eperies or Preschau in German, Fragopolis in Greco-Latin, Preszów in Polish, Peryeshis in Romany, Пряшев (Pryashev) in Russian and Пряшів (Priashiv) in Rusyn and Ukrainian.
  • Trenčín: Trenčín first appeared under Greek name Leukaristos (Λευκαριστος), depicted on the Ptolemy world map around 150 CE. In 179 CE, during the Marcomannic Wars between the Roman Empire and Germanic Quadi, the Romans carved an inscription on the rock under the present-day castle, mentioning the place as Laugaricio. (The inscription marks the northernmost known presence of the Romans in Central Europe.) The first written mentions in the Middle Ages date from 1111 (as Treinchen) and from 1113 (adjective: Trenciniensis). The name became Trentschin in later German and Trencsén in Hungarian.
  • Trnava: The name of the city derives from the Slovak word tŕnie ("thornbush") which characterized the river banks in the region. The Hungarian name Nagyszombat (first mentioned in 1238 in the form of Zumbotel) originates from the Hungarian word szombat ("Saturday"), referring to the weekly market fairs held on Saturdays.
  • Žilina

South Africa

[edit]

Before 1994

[edit]
Map of the provinces of South Africa before 1994

After 1994

[edit]
Current map of South African provinces

Spain

[edit]
  • Andalusia: from the Arabic name (Al-Andalus, with several suggested etymologies) formerly applied to the whole Iberian Peninsula
  • Aragon: from the Aragon River, that gave its name to the county of Aragon, one of the little Christian polities that resisted Islamic rule in Spain during its greatest extent (see Reconquista)
  • Asturias: the land of the Astures, an early people of north-west Spain
  • Basque Country (Basque: Euskal Herria): from the ancient tribe of the Vascones, whose name became an ethnonym in the Middle Ages. The Basque name derives from Euskara (the autochthonous name for the Basque language).
    • Álava (Basque: Araba): of uncertain etymology. Various theories see it deriving from a Roman town called Alba, from several prossible Basque etymologies or from Arabs (who only briefly held the province). A chronicle of 905 uses the form Arba, but later the word commonly appears as Alaba or Alava.
    • Biscay (Basque: Bizkaia, Spanish: Vizcaya): variant of bizkarra ("shoulder", "back" or, in this case, "mountain range" in Basque)
    • Gipuzkoa (Spanish: Guipúzcoa): of unknown etymology. Old documents sometimes use the variant Ipuscoa.
  • Cantabria: from the Cantabri, a mountain people defeated by the Romans only after a great military effort (Cantabrian Wars, 29 – 19 BC). Celtologists have suggested a derivation from the Celtic root cant-, meaning "rock" or "stone", and from the suffix -abr, used frequently in Celtic regions. From this we can deduce that the word "cantabrus" means "dwelling in the mountains", referring to the rugged terrain of Cantabria. Another suggestion derives Cantabria from the Celtic Kant ("mountain" or "rock") and Iber (the river Ebro), thus "The Mountains of the Ebro". Spaniards also call this region La Montaña ("The Mountain"), but usually call the Bay of Biscay the Cantabrian Sea.
  • Castile: the Spanish/Castilian name Castilla reflects the Spanish castillo ("castle") and the Latin castellum ("fort" or "fortress") with reference to numerous forts or castles erected by King Alfonso I for the defence of the area
  • Catalonia: from the castlà ("castellan") class who governed the nascent feudal Catalonia from their castles in the 11th and 12th centuries. (Compare the etymology of "Castile".) Other parallel theories exist: Lafont (1986) says Catalunya could come from Arabic Qalat-uniyya (Qalat means "castle" and -uniyya operates as a collective suffix) because medieval Catalonia formed a border country with a lot of castles in front of the Muslim and Arabized zone of the Iberic peninsula. Some texts suggest that the name Catalunya derives from "Gauta-landia": land of the Goths, or "Goth-Alania" meaning "Land of the Goths and Alans"[60] through Arabian *Cotelanuyya [cf. Andalusia, land of the Vandals], as the Visigoths and Alans invaded and divided Iberia between themselves, agreeing to rule some parts together, with the region of Catalunya going to the Visigoths. Additionally, the Visigothic kingdom of Catalonia may have taken its name from that of the original homeland of the Visigoths, "Gotland". Coromines suggests an Iberian origin: Laietani (latinization of Iberian laiezken) > *laketani > laketans > metathesized as catelans > catalans, re-inforced by castellani (with an epenthetic s according to Coromines). Another theory suggests *kaste-lan as the Iberian name, later Latinized as castellani (an Iberian tribe in northern Catalonia according to Ptolemy); then the name would have evolved into *catellani > *catelans > *Catalans.
  • Extremadura: from Medieval Latin Extrema Dorii (literally, "extremes of the Douro river"), referring to the territories south of the Douro basin; or from an Old Castilian word used to designate the further territories controlled by the Christians (see Reconquista)
  • Galicia: from Latin Gallaecia, the name of the province created in Roman Hispania by Diocletian in 298 CE. It derives from gallicoi or callicoi, (Galli or Celts).
  • León: the ancient kingdom and subsequent province of León take their name from the city of León, whose name derives from its position as the base of a Roman legion (Latin legio)
  • Navarre (Spanish: Navarra, Basque: Nafarroa): from the Kingdom of Navarre. Navarra has been argued to have either a Basque or Romance etymology. In the first case it would come from nabar ("brownish, multicolor", also "plowshare"), in the second from nava ("river bank").
  • Rioja: speculatively interpreted as "red" from the redness of a prominent soil type in the area.[61]

Sweden

[edit]

Historical Provinces

[edit]
Provinces of Sweden
Provinces of Sweden

Sweden formerly consisted of historical provinces (Swedish: landskap), and the province-names still often serve to describe locations in Sweden. Their names often date from before the year 1000. Officially Sweden now subdivides into counties (Swedish: län), introduced in 1634.

Historical provinces:

Present counties

[edit]

Switzerland

[edit]
  • Aargau: German name labelling the district (Gau) of the River Aar.
  • Appenzell: from Latin abbatis cella, meaning "land of the abbot", referring to the fact that Appenzell originally belonged to the Abbey of St. Gall.
  • Basel: traditionally associated with the Greek basileus ("king") or basileos ("of the king"): the city saw itself as preserving the Imperial Roman heritage of its parent settlement, the Roman town of Augusta Raurica. Note the use of the basilisk as a Basler icon.
  • Bern: German Bär[e]n (bears): reflected in the capital city's bear-pits, foundation-legend and coat-of-arms
  • Graubünden: (the German name literally means "grey leagues")—from the Grey League, a grey-clad organisation started in 1395.
  • Jura: after the Jura Mountains.
  • Neuchâtel: French for "new castle"; Neuenburg (with the same semantic meaning) in German
  • Schwyz: named after the town of Schwyz; the origin of the town name is unknown.
  • St Gallen: from Saint Gall (c. 550 – c. 646), traditionally the Irish founder/namesake of the Abbey of St. Gall which came to dominate the area.
  • Solothurn: the city of Solothurn, capital of the Canton of the same name, first appears under the Celtic name Salodurum.
  • Thurgau: an early medieval Gau county named after the River Thur.
  • Ticino: from the principal river of the canton, the Ticino, a tributary of the Po River.
  • Uri: (speculatively) from the older German Aurochs, a wild ox (see aurochs); or from the Celtic word ure, a bull. (Note the head of the bull on the cantonal coat of arms.)
  • Valais (French), Wallis (German): from the Latin word vallis, meaning "valley"; the canton consists mainly of the Rhone valley.
  • Zürich: after the city of Zürich, called Turicum in 2nd-century Latin; the origin of the Latin name is unknown.

Syria

[edit]

Taiwan

[edit]
  • Changhua (彰化): "Manifest [Imperial] Influence" in Chinese (顯彰皇化) in 1723
  • Chiayi (嘉義): "Commend Righteousness" in 1787
  • Hsinchu (新竹): Literally "New Bamboo", renamed from "Bamboo Fortress" (Chinese: 竹塹, Mandarin: Zhuqian) in 1878
  • Hualien (花蓮): Literally "Lotus Flower" in Chinese, shortened from Karenkō (Japanese: 花蓮港), renamed by 1920 from Kiray (奇萊), previously "Whirling Waves" (洄瀾; Huilan)
  • Kaohsiung (高雄): literally "High Grandeur", from Japanese Takao, renamed in 1920 from Takau (Chinese: 打狗; pinyin: Dagou; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Táⁿ-káu), "Bamboo Forest" in a Formosan language
  • Keelung (基隆): Literally "Prosperous Base" in Chinese, renamed in 1875 from "Chicken Cage" (Chinese: 雞籠; Mandarin: Jilong; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ke-lâng), possibly derived from the Ketagalan people
  • Kinmen (金門): "Golden Gate", 1387. When a fortress was built to defend the coast of Fujian, Kinmen was described as being "as secure as a metal moat, proudly safeguarding the gate of the sea" (固若金湯, 雄鎮海門)
  • Miaoli (苗栗): Renamed in 1889 from 貓狸/貓里 (Mandarin: Maoli), from the Bari Settlement of the Taokas Tribe, meaning "Plains"
  • Nantou (南投): 1695, after the Ramtau settlement of the Arikun Tribe
  • Penghu (澎湖): "Splashing Lake" in Chinese, (formerly Chinese: 平湖; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Pîⁿ-ô͘)[62]
  • Pingtung (屏東): East of Banpingshan (literally "Half-Screen Mountain"), from Japanese Heitō (屏東) in 1920
  • Tainan (臺南): 1887 creation of Tainan Prefecture, "Southern Taiwan [City]" in Chinese
  • Taipei (臺北): "Northern Taiwan [City]" in Chinese, 1875 creation of Taipeh Prefecture
  • Taichung (臺中): "Central Taiwan [City]" in Chinese, from Japanese Taichū-ken (臺中縣) created 1896
  • Taitung (臺東): "Eastern Taiwan [City]" in Chinese. Creation of Taitung Prefecture in 1888
  • Taoyuan (桃園): "Peach Orchard" in Chinese, officially Tōen Chō (桃園廳), 1909
  • Yilan (宜蘭): Literally "Suitable Orchid" in Chinese, 1878 creation of Gilan Hsien, derived from the Kavalan people
  • Yunlin (雲林): Literally "Clouded Woods" in Chinese, created in 1887

Thailand

[edit]

Turkey

[edit]

Main article : Toponyms of Turkey

Ukraine

[edit]
Traditional regions

Most of Ukraine's oblasts take their names from their principal city; but Volyn Oblast, Zakarpattia Oblast, and the Crimean Autonomous Republic offer exceptions to this rule. See also subdivisions of Ukraine.

United Kingdom

[edit]
See also: Etymological list of counties of the United Kingdom

Constituent countries

[edit]

British Crown Dependencies

[edit]
  • Jersey: The Norse suffix -ey means "island" and is commonly found in the parts of Northern Europe where Norsemen established settlements. (Compare modern Nordic languages: øy in Norwegian, ø/ö in Danish and Swedish.) The meaning of the first part of the island's name is unclear. Among theories are that it derives from Norse jarth ("earth") or jarl ("earl"), or perhaps a personal name, Geirr, to give "Geirr's Island". American writer William Safire suggested that the "Jers" in Jersey could be a corruption of "Caesar".[76]
  • Isle of Man: The island's name in both English and Manx (Mannin) derives from Manannán mac Lir, the Brythonic and Gaelic, equivalent to the god Poseidon.

British Overseas Territories

[edit]

United States

[edit]

States

[edit]
Main article: List of U.S. state name etymologies

Counties

[edit]
Main article: Lists of U.S. county name etymologies

Territories

[edit]

Venezuela

[edit]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ "About New South Wales". Archived from the original on 20 January 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
  2. ^ "How Queensland Got Its Name". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  3. ^ "Australian Constitutions Act 1850" (PDF). foundingdocs.gov.au. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  4. ^ "Jervis Bay History". Territories Division, Attorney-General's Department, Australian Government. 19 February 2008. Archived from the original on 23 September 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2008. 1791 The bay was named 'Jervis Bay' by Lieutenant Bowen of the Atlantic in honour of Admiral Sir John Jervis under whom he had served
  5. ^ "Search Results". DCCEEW. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Australia". worldstatesmen.org.
  7. ^ "Christmas Island | Geography & History". Encyclopedia Britannica. 22 June 2023.
  8. ^ Cocos Tourism – Discovery
  9. ^ a b "Britannica Academic". academic.eb.com.
  10. ^ a b "Heard island: History: Discovery". Australian Antarctic Division. Archived from the original on 5 December 2005. Retrieved 28 August 2008. The first confirmed sighting of Heard Island was made on 25 November 1853 by Captain John Heard on the merchant vessel Oriental. Earlier sightings of land in the area in the 1830s are considered doubtful.
  11. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ^ "Paradise". Norfolk Island. Archived from the original on 14 March 2007. Retrieved 9 February 2007.
  13. ^ "Burgenland". aeiou.at.
  14. ^ Harper, Douglas. "Flanders". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 10 June 2010. probably a compound of roots represented by Flemish vlakte 'plain' + wanderen 'to wander.'
  15. ^ a b Njeuma, Martin Zachary (1969). The rise and fall of Fulani rule in Adamawa 1809-1901 (phd thesis). SOAS University of London. p. 17.
  16. ^ "Acadia: Origin of the Word by Bill Casselman". 2 August 2004. Archived from the original on 2 August 2004.
  17. ^ "Provinces and Territories – The origins of their names". Archived from the original on 4 June 2008.
  18. ^ "Nunatsiavut Government". Nunatsiavut Government. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010.
  19. ^ a b Room, Adrian (2005). Placenames of the World. McFarland. p. 168. ISBN 0-7864-2248-3.
  20. ^ Bishop, Kevin; Roberts, Annabel (1997). China's Imperial Way. China Books. p. 218. ISBN 962-217-511-2.
  21. ^ Fairbank, John King. Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast: The Opening of the Treaty Ports, 1842–1854. 2 vols. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1953.
  22. ^ "Your Complete Guide to Macau". Archived from the original on 6 October 2007. Retrieved 21 September 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  23. ^ Jørgensen, Bent, Stednavneordbog. Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1994. P. 41
  24. ^ a b Jørgensen, Bent, Stednavneordbog. Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1994. P. 170
  25. ^ a b Jørgensen, Bent, Stednavneordbog. Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1994. P. 148
  26. ^ a b c Jørgensen, Bent, Stednavneordbog. Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1994. P. 249
  27. ^ "Utbildning & Vetenskap: Svenskfinland". Veta.yle.fi. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
  28. ^ Hellquist, Elof (20 October 1922). "58 (Svensk etymologisk ordbok)". runeberg.org.
  29. ^ ""Alsatia"". Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1989. ISBN 0-19-861186-2. [L. form of El-sasz, i.e. foreign settlement, Fr. Alsace.]
  30. ^ Xavier Delamarre, Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental, éditions Errance 2003. p. 300.
  31. ^ a b c MacBain, Alexander. (1982:§1) An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language Gairm Publications.
  32. ^ Mallory, J.P. and D.Q. Adams. Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1997: p. 269
  33. ^ Politikens Nudansk Ordborg (1993), 15th edition, entry "Bornholm"(in Danish)
  34. ^ King Alfred's Anglo-Saxon version of Orosius, London, 1859, edited by J. Bosworth
  35. ^ Essai sur l'histoire du peuple burgonde, de Bornholm (Burgundarholm) vers la Bourgogne et les Bourguignons, 1965, by Rene Guichard, published by A. et J. Picard et Cie. (Paris)
  36. ^ Bernardo Gomes de Brito. Historia Tragico-Maritima. Em que se escrevem chronologicamente os Naufragios que tiverão as Naos de Portugal, depois que se poz em exercicio a Navegação da India. Lisboa, 1735. (in Portuguese)
  37. ^ UNESCO in Action. "The shipwrecked memory of the L'Utile slaves Archived 14 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine."
  38. ^ Smith, S. Percy. "Futuna, or Horne Island, and Its People". The Journal of the Polynesian Society, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 33 – 52. 1892
  39. ^ a b "Rhine". Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper. November 2001. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  40. ^ Peterson, Lena. "Swābaharjaz" (PDF). Lexikon över urnordiska personnamn. Institutet för språk och folkminnen, Sweden. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2007. (Text in Swedish); for an alternative meaning, as "free, independent" see Room, Adrian (2006), "Swabia, Sweden", Placenames of the World: Origins and Meanings of the Names for 6,600 Countries, Cities, Territories, Natural Features and Historic Sites: Second Edition, Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, pp. 363, 364, ISBN 0-7864-2248-3; compare Suiones.
  41. ^ Pokorny, Julius. "Root/Lemma se-". Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch. Indo-European Etymological Dictionary (IEED), Department of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics, Leiden University. pp. 882–884. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Some related English words include sibling, sister, swain, self.
  42. ^ Joubert & Van Buurt. 1994.
  43. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary. "Netherlands". Accessed 16 September 2011.
  44. ^ Mills, William James (2003). Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia, Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-57607-422-6.
  45. ^ See Dobruja#Etymology for this and alternative etymology
  46. ^ Webster's third international dictionary; Merriam-Webster 1993, p.381.
  47. ^ Vasmer, Max (1958). Russisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German). Vol. 3. Heidelberg: Carl Winter. p. 334.
  48. ^ Krško, Jaromír (June 2003). "Názvy potokov v Banskej Bystrici a okolí". Bystrický Permon. 1 (2): 8.
  49. ^ Janota, Bratislavské rarity, page 152; "Historical calendar". The Official Website of the City of Bratislava. Retrieved 9 April 2008.
  50. ^ Lacika, Bratislava, pág. 6; Janota, Bratislavské rarity, pág. 154
  51. ^ a b c Habšudová, Zuzana (2001). "Historical melting pot of cultures". travel.spectator.sk. Retrieved 9 April 2008.
  52. ^ Salner, Peter (2001). "Ethnic polarisation in an ethnically homogeneous town" (PDF). Czech Sociological Review. 9 (2): 235–246. doi:10.13060/00380288.2001.37.12.14. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  53. ^ Janota, Bratislavské rarity, pp. 155
  54. ^ Lacika, Bratislava, pp. 6
  55. ^ "Short History of Košice". City of Košice. 2005. Archived from the original on 24 October 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
  56. ^ "Z histórie Košíc – 13. storočie" (in Slovak). City of Košice. 2005. Archived from the original on 27 June 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
  57. ^ "Csehországi és Szlovákiai Szlovákiai Magyar Kultúráért Alapítvány honlapja" (in Hungarian). Retrieved 12 August 2008.
  58. ^ a b "Presov city, Slovakia". Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  59. ^ Earle, Anton; Malzbender, Daniel; Turton, Anthony; Manzungu, Emmanuel (April 2005). A preliminary basin profile of the Orange/Senqu River (PDF). Inwent Capacity Development Programme: Integrated Water Resources Management in Shared River Basins in the SADC Region. Cape Town: African Water Issues Research Unit (AWIRU), University of Pretoria. p. 1. ISBN 1-86854-618-7. Retrieved 21 April 2010. Contrary to popular belief, the Orange River was not named after the reddish orange colour of its silt-laden water. It was in fact named in 1779 by Colonel Robert Gordon, the commander of the garrison of the Dutch East India Company (Cape Town) during a reconnaissance into the interior, in honour of the Dutch House of Orange (DWAF, 2005).
  60. ^ "Alans, Encyclopædia Iranica". Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
  61. ^ Fallis, Catherine, ed. (2006). The encyclopedic atlas of wine: a comprehensive guide to the world's greatest wines and wineries. Willoughby, N.S.W.: Global Book Publishing. p. 336. ISBN 1-74048-050-3.
  62. ^ "Entry #40074 (平湖)". 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan]. (in Chinese and Hokkien). Ministry of Education, R.O.C. 2011.
  63. ^ Rigelman, A.I. Chronicles of Russia Minor and its people as well as the Cossacks in general. Kyiv. "Lybid", 1994. (page 45)
  64. ^ "England". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  65. ^ "England". Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
  66. ^ a b Taylor, Isaac. Names and Their Histories; a Handbook of Historical Geography and Topographical Nomenclature. Gale Research Co. (Detroit), 1898. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  67. ^ "Angle". Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
  68. ^ Swanton, M. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. Phoenix Press (London), 2000. Op. cit. BBC Online. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
  69. ^ Garmonsway, G.N. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Everyman. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
  70. ^ Gwynn, Stephen (2009). The History of Ireland. BiblioBazaar. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-113-15517-7.
  71. ^ Cubbin, G.P. (1996). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition. Vol. 6: MS. D. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. pp. 1, l. 3, pp. 13, l. 20. ISBN 0-859-91467-4.
  72. ^ Cubbin, G.P. (1996). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition. Vol. 6: MS. D. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. pp. 1, l. 1–3. ISBN 0859914674.
  73. ^ a b Davies, John (1994). A History of Wales. London: Penguin. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-14-028475-1.
  74. ^ "Ar wynep Kymry Cadwallawn was" in Afan Ferddig. Moliant Cadwallon. Op. cit. Davies, John. A History of Wales, p. 71. Penguin (London), 1994.
  75. ^ Lloyd, John Edward (1911). "Note to Chapter VI, the Name "Cymry"". A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest. Vol. I (Second ed.). London: Longmans, Green, and Co. (published 1912). pp. 191–192.
  76. ^ "Wordorigins.org". wordorigins.org. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  77. ^ Government of Anguilla. "Anguilla's History Archived 16 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine".
  78. ^ Morison, Samuel (1974). The European Discovery of America: The Southern Voyages, 1492-1616. New York: Oxford University Press.
  79. ^ Henry Evans Maude (1968). Of islands and men: studies in Pacific history. Oxford University Press.
  80. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions about Midway", U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
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