All interesting in art and beyond. Where did the names "Russia", "Rus" and "Russians" come from?

In the same era, Russia could have different names, because the self-name was different from the designations adopted by other peoples.

Antiquity

Lands corresponding to the territory modern Russia, were described by ancient geographers and historians in those days when there was no talk of any state formations. Often these descriptions were of a fantastic nature.

For example, the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus wrote about Hyperborea, the mysterious northern Earth. Presumably, this "country" corresponded to the territory of the Russian North. According to Diodorus Siculus, the life of the Hyperboreans is so carefree and happy that they throw themselves into the sea, fed up with pleasures. Do not be surprised: it has always been common for people to inhabit the earth with fantastic creatures, about which they knew little.

Foreign titles

In the 10th century, Arab historians described three Slavic territories, which they called As-Slavia with the capital in the city of Salau, Aratinia and Cuiaba. Modern historians identify As-Slavia with the Novgorod land, and its capital with the city of Slovensk, located not far from Novgorod, and Kuyaba with Kyiv. The location of Artania remains unclear. Presumably, it was located on the territory of modern Ryazan.

In the Viking Age, the Normans called Russia the "country of cities" - Gardariki. One should not think that in those days there were many highly developed trading centers in Russia, as Novgorod was in a later era. The word Gardariki would be more correct to translate as "country of fortresses".

In Europe in the 15th-18th centuries. Russia was called Muscovy. However, not all Europeans called Russia that, but only the inhabitants of the Commonwealth, as well as those who received information from this state.

self-name

The most ancient name of the territory inhabited Eastern Slavs- Russia. This name goes back to the name of the Rus tribe, which became the basis for the unification of Slavic tribes. There is no consensus among historians regarding the origin of this people. Some historians consider Russia to be a Scandinavian tribe, others to be a West Slavic one, and still others elevate this name to the Sarmatian tribes of Roxolans and Rosomans.

At the turn of the 15th-16th centuries. another form of the name is approved - Russia. This happened under the influence of Greek literacy, and initially this name appeared.

On October 22, 1721, after the victory in the Northern War, Peter I takes the title of Emperor of All Russia, and the state receives a new name - Russian empire.

So the country was called until 1917. On September 1, 1917, the Provisional Government proclaimed the Russian Republic.

In 1922, “on the ruins” of the Russian Empire, a new state arises - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the center of which is Russia, now called the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR).

After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the modern name was adopted - the Russian Federation.

Russia. In the Cyrillic record, the word "Russia" (Рѡсїѧ) was first used on April 24, 1387 in the title of Metropolitan Cyprian, who signed as "Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia". In the 15-16 centuries, the name "Rosia" was assigned to the Russian lands, which were united into a single state under the authority of the Moscow principality. It acquired official status after the wedding of Ivan IV to the kingdom in 1547, when the state began to be called the "Russian kingdom".

In the second half of the XVII century. two traditions of writing the word "Russia" were formed: with one "s" - in state office work, and with two "s" - in the publications of the Moscow Printing House and in the works of such writers as Epiphany Slavinetsky, Simeon Polotsky and others. And only from 1721 After the adoption by Peter I of the title of Emperor "All-Russian", the spelling "Russia" (with two "s") became dominant.

Italy. According to the most common point of view, the term came from Greece and means "country of calves". The bull was a symbol of the peoples who inhabited southern Italy, and was often depicted heading the Roman She-Wolf. Initially, the name Italia was applied only to the part of the territory now occupied by Southern Italy.

USA. According to history, no one knows exactly who suggested the name "United States of America". In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map of the world on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere "America" ​​in honor of the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci. The first documentary evidence of the phrase "United States of America" ​​is mentioned in a letter dated January 2, 1776, written by Stephen Moylen. He addressed Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Reid, expressing his desire to bring "the full and wide powers of the United States of America" ​​to Spain to help in the revolutionary war.

Japan. Until the end of World War II, Japan's full name was Dai Nippon Teikoku (大日本帝國), meaning the Great Empire of Japan. Now the official name of the country is "Nihon koku" or "Nippon koku" (日本国). "Nihon" literally means "the place where the sun rises", and this name is often translated as "Land of rising sun».

Egypt. The name of the country Egypt came to Europe from the ancient Greek language (ancient Greek Αἴγυπτος, aygyuptos). In ancient Egypt, the inhabitants called their country Black, and themselves - the people of Black (earth), according to the color of the fertile soil of the low Nile valley. The name Egypt comes from the ancient Egyptian name of the city of Memphis - Hikupta. At the beginning of the first millennium BC, when the ancient Greeks began to penetrate into Egypt, the first of the largest cities that they met was Memphis. Its name (or rather, one of the names) Hikupta or Aygyuptos was taken by the Greeks as the designation of the whole country.

Australia. The term "Australia" comes from the Latin australis ("southern"). The name "Australia" became popular after the publication in 1814 of "Travel in Terra Australis" by Captain Matthew Flinders, who is the first person to circumnavigate the Australian continent. Throughout the text, the word "Australia" was used only once. However, in Appendix III of Robert Brown's book " General information, geographical and systematic, on the botany of Terra Australis" the adjective "Australian" was commonly used, and this book is the first documented use of the word. The name of the continent was finally approved in 1824 by the British Admiralty.

Thailand. The name (the word “thai” (ไทย) means “freedom”) justifies itself: Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that has retained independence from European states, while all neighboring countries were colonies of France or Great Britain. Thailand - the English version of the name of the country, introduced in 1939, means "the country of the Thais", and the Thai version sounds like Prathet Thai or Muang Thai.

Germany. The Russian name "Germany" comes from the Latin "Germania", which goes back to the writings of ancient authors of the 1st century new era and is formed from the ethnonym "Germans" (Latin - Germanus). In German, the state is called "Deutschland". "Deutsch" originally meant "pertaining to the people" and meant primarily the language. "Land" means land/country. The modern spelling of the country's name has been in use since the 15th century.

China. The word "China" comes from the name "Katai", which arose from the name not of the Chinese, but of the proto-Mongolian group of nomadic tribes from Manchuria - the Khitan (Chinese). In 907, they captured northern China and founded their Liao dynasty in it. Their place in the 12th-13th centuries was taken by other nomads, but the name of the Kitays was fixed as a proper name for Northern China. Thanks to European merchants, in particular, Marco Polo, this name in the form of "Cathay" ("Cathay") came to medieval Western Europe, displacing the Latin "China". From there it passed into the majority Slavic languages, where it became "China".

India. The name of the country comes from the ancient Persian word Hindu, akin to the Sanskrit Sindhu (Sanskrit सिन्धु) - the historical name of the Indus River. The ancient Greeks called the Indians the Indoi - "the people of the Indus". The Constitution of India also recognizes a second name, Bharat (Hindi भारत), which comes from the Sanskrit name of an ancient Indian king. The third name, Hindustan, has been used since the time of the Mughal Empire, but has no official status.

England. The word comes from the Old English name Englaland, which means "land of the Angles". The Angles are a Germanic tribe that settled in Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries CE. e. The first mention of the Angles is in a work called "Germany", written in 98 AD. e. ancient Roman historian Tacitus. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest known reference to the term "England" in relation to the southern part of the island of Great Britain dates back to 897.

Vietnam. The name of the country (越南) consists of two words - "Việt" means one of the nations of the state - Viet, and "Nam" - south, "southern Viet". The name "Vietnam" was first used by the poet Nguyen Binh Khiem in his book The Prophecies of Chang Chin in the 16th century, writing "And Vietnam was formed." In 1804-1813 Emperor Gia Long used the word "Vietnam" in official documents. However, until 1945, the country was usually referred to as "Annam" until the name was officially changed by Emperor Bao Dai.

Finland. The name of the country in Russian and in many languages ​​comes from the Swedish Finland (“Land of the Finns”). The Finnish name for the country is Suomi. According to one version, there once existed a place called Suomamaa (Finnish suoma - "swamp", maa - "land"; literally: "land of swamps"). Settlers from this area transferred the name of their homeland to southwestern Finland, which became known as Suomi. According to another version, "Suomi" is a distorted "Saami", the very name of the people who lived here before the arrival of the Finnish tribes.

Canada. The name Canada comes from the word kanata, meaning "settlement", "village" and "land", "land", "edge" in the language of the Laurentian Iroquois, who wintered in the village of Stadacona (in the vicinity of modern Quebec). Their existence was discovered by the French navigator Jacques Cartier in 1534. Cartier later used the word "Canada" to refer not only to this village, but to the entire area under the control of the local chief Donnacona. Subsequently, this name was transferred to most of the neighboring territories in North America.

Mexico. Mēxihco was an Aztec language term for the central area of ​​the Aztec Empire, namely the Valley of Mexico, its population and surrounding areas.

Israel. For the past three millennia, the word "Israel" has meant both the Land of Israel and the entire Jewish people. The source of this name is the Book of Genesis, where the forefather Jacob, after a struggle with God, receives the name Israel: “And he said: what is your name? He said: Jacob. And he said to [him], from now on your name will not be Jacob, but Israel, for you have wrestled with God, and you will overcome men” (Genesis 32:27,28). The first ever mention of the word "Israel" was found on the Merneptah stele in ancient Egypt (late 13th century BC) and refers to the people, not the country.

Czech Republic. The name of the country comes from the name of the people - the Czechs. The name "Czech" is formed using the diminutive formant *-xъ from Praslav. *čel-, reflected in the words *čelověkъ and *čelędь, that is, the internal form of this word is “member of the genus”.

Brazil. According to one version, the name Terra do Brasil (in Russian spelling - Brazil) assigned to the country in ancient times is associated with the discovery of caesalpinia trees on the coast, the wood of which was in large numbers export to Europe. The Portuguese called this tree pau-brazil: they believed that they had found a place from where Arab traders took the so-called brazil. The brazil tree had a valuable redwood that was used to make paints, as well as to make furniture and musical instruments.

Poland. After the introduction of the official name - "Rzeczpospolita Polska" - for some time it was translated into Russian as the Polish Republic, since the word Polska simultaneously means both "Poland" and "Polish". This was followed by an explanation from the Polish Foreign Ministry that the correct translation was "Republic of Poland". AT official name country is not used modern Polish word"republika" (republic), and the obsolete - "rzeczpospolita", which is a literal translation into Polish of the Latin term "rēs рūblica" (public cause).

Chile. As the Spanish historian José de Acosta (Chile was colonized by the Spaniards) pointed out, the word "Chile" in Quechua meant "cold" or "limit". According to another version, this was the name of the main valley in Chile. Attention should be paid to the grammatical gender of the name "Chile". When referring to the state, the word Chile is neuter. If the country is meant (“Chile stretches in a narrow strip along ...”), then it is feminine.

Montenegro. The name of the country in most Western European languages ​​is an adaptation of the Venetian Montenegro (from mons "mountain" + niger "black"), i.e. "black mountain". Serbian Crna Gora referred to most of present-day Montenegro in the 15th century. Initially, it referred only to a small strip of land where the Pashtrovichi tribe lived, but later it began to be used to refer to a wider mountainous region where the Chernoevich dynasty ruled.

Azerbaijan. The name comes from the Parthian and Middle Persian Aturpatakan (Āturpātakān) - the name of the ancient state of Atropatena or Media Atropatena. Media Atropatena after the invasion of Alexander the Great began to be called the northern part of Media, where the last Achaemenid satrap of Media Atropat (Aturpatak) created a kingdom for himself. From the name "Aturpatakan" through the Middle Persian "Aderbadgan" (Persian Âzarâbâdagân) comes the modern name Azerbaijan.

Greece. Hellas (Greek Ελλάδα) - this is how the Greeks call their country. The words "Greece" and "Greek" are of Latin origin and Greek not used. With the adoption of the term Hellenic (Greek), Hellas became the collective name for all of mainland Greece, and then all of Greece, including the archipelagos, islands, and areas in Asia Minor.

"Russia" is the name of a country that does not have much history. Previously, the country of the ball was listed on geographical maps under completely different names.

The first name of Russia known to historians is Hyperborea

Hyperborea is a legendary state in ancient Greek mythology. According to scientists, it was the Hyperboreans who occupied the territories of the present Russian North several millennia ago. Also interesting is the fact that on medieval maps this land was designated as Hyperborea. The ancient Greek historian Diodorus wrote with envy that even death comes to the inhabitants of this country as deliverance from life's pleasures, which the Hyperboreans, having experienced in abundance, rush into the sea to meet eternal pleasure.

The second name of Russia is Sarmatia

The borders of this state stretched from the Urals to the Black Sea. There are scientists who claim that people from the mythological Hyperborea lived in Sarmantia, who ousted the Scythians and began to rule over their people. M. Lomonosov said that the beginning of Russian statehood should be sought in the Sarmatian tradition.

The third name of Russia is Great Sweden

Snorri Sturlusson (a politician and famous Icelandic skald who lived in the 12th-13th centuries) called the European territory of today's Russian Federation Great Sweden. It turns out that the citizens of Russia to some extent can consider themselves Swedes.

The fourth name of Russia is Gardariki

The Vikings and Normans called Russia that way in the past. Translated from Icelandic, "gardariki" means "country of cities."

The fifth name of Russia is As-Slavia

Arab geographers Ibn Haukal and El-Farsi in the 10th century. Russia was called As-Slavia. The city of Salau in those days was the capital of the state. There are scientists who identify As-Slavia with the Novgorod land, and the capital of the state with the city of Slovensk, which is currently located near Veliky Novgorod. Arab scientists did not stop at As-Slavia, and present-day Russia was also called Artania and Kuyava. And even today they argue about the localization of Artania, the thing is that some historians say that it was modern Ryazan, and as for Kuyava, it is associated with the Kyiv lands.

The sixth name of Russia is Tartaria

European cartographers used such a harmless winding to designate the territory of present-day Russia until the 19th century.

The seventh name of Russia is Muscovy

It would seem that everything is very clear with this name, because Russia is called Muscovy thanks to the capital. But there are sources claiming that the name Muscovy does not come from the word Moscow, but from Mosokh, Noah's grandson, since he is the founder of the "Muscovites" people. Some stories claim that the words "Muscovy" and "Moscow" have nothing in common, so there is no point in identifying them.

The history of the formation of the Russian state includes several hundred years of formation, political struggle and geographical changes. Let's try to find out when Russia appeared.

• The first mention of Russia appeared already in 862 ("The Tale of Bygone Years").
• The very word "Russia" was introduced by Peter I in 1719-1721.
• The Russian Federation was founded on December 25, 1991 after the collapse of the USSR.

And now let's look at the history of our state in more detail, highlighting the main historical periods development, and also find out what Russia was called at different times.

Old Russian state

The first mention of the Russian state in literary monuments is considered to be the calling of the Varangians in The Tale of Bygone Years. In 862, Russia already existed in the form of the Old Russian state, with its capital first in Novgorod, and then in Kyiv. The Rurik dynasty ruled the ancient Russian state. Subsequently, in 988, under the rule of Prince Vladimir, Russia, at that time already Kievan, adopted Christianity.

In 1132, when the last of the rulers, Mstislav Vladimirovich, died, the period of fragmentation of the Old Russian state began, and further, until the middle of the XIV century, Russia existed in the form of separate principalities, suffering from the Mongol-Tatar yoke and attacks from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Moscow state

Finally, in 1363, the Russian princes managed to combine their efforts and form a new Moscow principality, and later, thanks to the reign of Ivan III and the weakening of the power of the Golden Horde, Moscow stopped paying tribute to it, thus marking the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke and a new milestone in the history of the Russian state.

In 1547, Ivan IV the Terrible came to power, and now the head of state is not a prince, but a tsar. Despite the fact that Ivan the Terrible was known for his cruelty, it was he who managed to significantly expand the borders of Russia.

After the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the Time of Troubles begins in Russia - the era coup d'état and riots. The Time of Troubles was brought to an end only in 1613, when the Romanov dynasty came to power.

Russian empire

At the beginning of the 17th century, when Tsar Peter I came to power, Russia began to develop by leaps and bounds. Actually, the word "Russia" itself was introduced into general use by Perth I, although it was used every now and then in different sources, but mainly as the name of the country for foreigners. If before that the phrase "All Russia" was added to the title of the ruler (for example, Ivan IV the Terrible - the Grand Duke of Moscow and All Russia or Mikhail Fedorovich - Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Duke of All Russia), then even before Peter I took the title of Emperor , the following was engraved on the coins: "Tsar Peter Alekseevich, ruler of all Russia."

Further, thanks to the reforms of Peter I, Russia strengthens its army and becomes an Empire, at the head of which emperors often change after the death of Peter I. Under Catherine II the Great, Russia wages war with Turkey, the development of America begins, and foreign citizens are allowed to enter the territory of the Russian Empire itself and their residence in the country.

Russian republic

At the beginning of the 20th century, the first civil revolution took place (1905-1907), and then the second February Revolution of 1917. After it, the Provisional Government decided that from now on the Russian Empire becomes the Russian Republic. In October of the same year, the country becomes the Russian Soviet Republic thanks to the efforts of Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik Party.

In 1922, the Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian and Transcaucasian republics formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics headed by V. I. Lenin.

After his death in 1924, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, famous for his repressions and dictatorship, comes to power. Under him, industrialization begins, which led to the fact that the sectors of the national economy developed unevenly, therefore, many goods and consumer products were in short supply. In branch Agriculture collectivization was carried out, which led to famine in Ukraine, the Volga region and the North Caucasus.

In 1955, Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev became secretary of the Central Committee. Stalin's personality cult is being debunked. Many regimes established under Stalin are weakening.

In 1985, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev came to power, under whom perestroika began, and after that, the collapse of the Soviet Union.

perestroika

The basis of perestroika was the political and economic reforms in the USSR, but in reality the situation in the country only worsened. Again there was a shortage of goods, a card system was introduced, which had been forgotten since 1947. The national republics were dissatisfied with the centralized power, as a result of which interethnic conflicts arose. Each republic demanded recognition of the priority of its own laws over the general laws of the Soviet Union.

In August 1991, an attempt was made to stop the collapse of the country, but it failed, and on December 8, the heads of Belarus, Ukraine and the Russian Federal Republic signed an agreement on the creation of the CIS, which became the actual date of the collapse of the USSR.

Here Short story of our country, which will help shed light on the origin of its name and better understand the history of the state.

I suggest you get acquainted with the etymology of the names of the countries of the world.

Where did the names of the countries of the world come from? What are they related to? For those who are interested, to broaden their horizons.))

Afghanistan- possibly from "Upa-Ghana-Stan" (Sanskrit for "land of united tribes").
Albania- the land of the mountaineers. The root "Alb" means "white" or "mountain". It is assumed that the hill tribes from present-day Kosovo brought their mountain ethnonym to the narrow coastal plain. The domestically used name Shqiperia means "land of the eagle". Perhaps the eagle was the totem of the tribe.
Algeria- from the name of the capital Algiers (Algiers), which in French Alger, in Arabic - Al Jazair (island).
Andorra- origin unknown. Possibly Iberian or Basque.
Angola- from ngola, a title used by a monarch in the pre-colonial kingdom of Ndongo.
Argentina- from the Latin "argentum" (silver). Merchants used Argentina's Río de la Plata (Silver River) to transport silver and other treasures from Peru. Land downstream and became known as Argentina (Land of Silver).
Australia- from "unknown southern land"(lat. terra australis incognita). The territory was named by early European explorers who believed that the Australian mainland was much larger than they had discovered so far. Traveler Matthew Flinders (1774-1814), who was the first to explore the Australian coast and made his map, used the term "Australia" in his work.
Austria- "eastern kingdom", for example, compare with the modern German: Osterreich. In the 9th century, Austria was the extreme eastern territory of the Frankish Empire, as well as the border zone of German settlements with the Slavic land. Charlemagne named the country Ostmark ("eastern frontier territory"). In the 11th century, the term Ostarrichi first appeared.
Azerbaijan- "land of fire" (from fires on the surface of ancient oil pools) The ancient name Atropatene in Arabic began to be pronounced as Azerbaijan.

Bahamas- from the Spanish "Baja Mar" ("shallow sea"). The Spanish conquistadors thus named the islands according to the characteristics of the water that surrounds them.
Bahrain- from the Arabic "two seas". Only what seas are mentioned here is still under discussion. Bahrain is in a gulf surrounded by Arab land and the Qatari peninsula, and some people believe that the "two seas" are the waters of the gulf on both sides of the island. Others believe that in this case there is a reference to the position of the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, separated by "two seas" from the Arab coast in the south and Iran in the north.
Bangladesh- from Sanskrit/Bengali. Bangla means Bengali speaking people and Desh means "country", thus Bangladesh means "Land of Bengali (Bengali) speakers". The country was formerly part of India and the Bengali culture covers a vast area of ​​India and Bangladesh.
Barbados- was named by the Portuguese explorer Pedro a Campos "Los Barbados", which means "bearded ones". This has been said about the appearance of the island's fig trees.
Belarus- "Belaya Rus", in the past Belarus, "White Russia". The name was changed after the collapse of the USSR to emphasize that Belarus and Russia were and remain separate countries. It is assumed that the new name has an independent root Rus from Ruthenia (to be honest, I could not find an analogue of this name in books on the history of Russia, if anyone comments, I will only be glad). Although in fact Ruthenia and Russia came from the same root "rus", which came to us from the Vikings. Thus, the Ukrainian region of Ruthenia can be found in old sources as "Red Russia" (perhaps it means Kievan Rus), where the term does not refer to all of Ukraine or the USSR.
Belgium- from the name of the Celtic tribe, Belgae. Perhaps later the name came from "Bolg" (proto-Indo-European group of languages), meaning a bag or womb.
Belize- from a distorted Spanish pronunciation of "Peter Wallis" - a pirate who created the first settlement in Belize in 1638
Benin- named after the old African empire of the same name, on whose territory modern Benin is located. The state of Benin was previously called Dahomey from the largest ethnic group.
Butane- the land of Bhotia. The inhabitants of Tibet or Bhotia migrated from Tibet to Bhutan in the 10th century. The common root is "bod", the ancient name of Tibet. The second unofficial name is Druk-Yul, which means "land of the thunder dragon", "land of thunder" or "land of the dragon".
Brazil- from the tree of the same name, which, in turn, was named because of the reddish color of the wood, reminiscent of hot coals (brasil in Portuguese).
Britannia- "painted", a reference to the original settlers of the islands, who used paint and tattoos to decorate their bodies; may also be derived from the Celtic goddess Brigid.
Bolivia- in honor of Simon Bolivar (1783-1830), a military figure who fought against the Spaniards, and the first president of the republic (after the recognition of independence in 1824).
Bosnia and Herzegovina- Previously, the country consisted of two separate territories: the larger northern part was named after the Bosna River, the smaller southern part took its name from the German noble title "Duke". This title was awarded to the supreme governor of the territory, Stefan Vikcic (if it is not pronounced that way, sorry) by Emperor Frederik 4 in 1448.
Botswana- named after the country's predominant ethnic group, the Tswana. The former name - Bechuanaland - came from Bechuan, another spelling of "Botswana".
Bulgaria- "a country of a tribe formed from many tribes." "Bulg" comes from a Turkish root meaning "mixed".
Burkina Faso- "the land of honest people." Previously, the country was called "Upper Volta" from the names of the two main rivers - White and Black Volt - originating in Burkina Faso.
Burundi- the land of the Rundi speakers.

Vanuatu- from "forever in our land" in Bislama. The country was previously known as the New Hebrides, after the islands in Scotland.
Vatican- from lat. vaticinari "prophesy", from the name of the hill "Mons Vaticanus", on which the Vatican is located. The street at the foot of this hill was used by fortune-tellers and soothsayers in Roman times.
Hungary- "people of ten spears." In other words, "an alliance of ten tribes."
Venezuela- "little Venice", from the diminutive form of "Venice". European explorers were amazed by the stilt houses built by the natives on Lake Maracaibo and decided to name the country after Venice.
Vietnam- "southern land". The original layer of Vietnamese civilization was actually far north of modern Vietnam.

Gabon- from the Portuguese name of the river Mbe: "Gabao" (hooded coat) from the specific shape of the mouth of the river.
Haiti- in the language of the Indians, Taino means " high mountain", Columbus gave the name "Hispaniola" ("little Spain"), but before him the region was called Haiti.
Guyana- perhaps from the local "Guainazes" - "people worthy of respect."
Ghana- in honor of the ancient West African kingdom of the same name. However, the modern territory of Ghana was never part of it.
Germany- "land of spearmen" from the German "gar" ("spear") and the Latin and German "man" - a man. In Latin, "Germany" means: Allemagne - "land of all people", i.e. "of our many nations"; Deutschland - "land of people"; Nemetsy (Polish: Niemcy; Romanian: Nemti; Czech: Nemecko; Hungarian: Nemet(orszag)) - "land of the dumb", where "dumb" is a metaphor for "those who do not speak our language". The Hungarian name is borrowed from the Slavic languages.
Honduras- from the Spanish "depth", referring to the deep waters off the north coast.
Grenada- from the southern Spanish city (province) with the same name.
Greece- from lat. Grecus (Greeks), Aristotle suggested that the name referred to the indigenous peoples of Epirus (a mountainous coastal region surrounded by Macedonia and Thessaly); Hellas - "land of light" (a dubious assumption, since in Greek there are no words similar to "light" and "earth" in the word Hellas).

Denmark- dhen (proto-Indo-European group of languages) means "low" or "flat" and in Germanic "mark" means "border land" and/or "border forest". The name was used by the ancient Goths to describe the forest that separated Gothland (I'm afraid to translate it incorrectly) from Scania.
Djibouti- named after the lowest point of the Gulf of Aden indian ocean. It may have come from the word "gabouti" (in Afar) - a rug under the door, made of palm fiber. Dominican Republic - from lat. "Dies Dominica" ("Sunday"), the day of the week that Christopher Columbus first landed on the island.

Egypt- "the temple of the soul of the god Ptah."

Zambia from the Zambezi River.
Zimbabwe- "stone houses" in Shona, related to the stone-built capital of the ancient trading empire of Great Zimbabwe.

Israel- an alternative name for the biblical hero Jacob, literally "wrestling with God."
India- in honor of the Indus River (in Hindi). It is often believed that "Bharat", the native name of the inhabitants for India, came from the name of the ancient king "Jada Bharatha", but this name could also come from another king Bharata, the son of the legendary king Dushyanta (sorry, I am not familiar with the history of India. How , however, with the history of many other countries ...).
Indonesia- "Indian Islands". From the Greek word nesos, "island", added to the name of the country India.
Iraq- from the Hebrew "Uruk" ("between the rivers"), which is a reference to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Iran- "land of the Aryans" or "land of the free". The term "Arya" comes from the Proto-Indo-European group of languages ​​and usually means "noble" or "free", akin to the Greek word "aristocrat". Persia (the former name of Iran): from lat. "Persais", from the Old Persian "Paarsa", the central region in the country, modern Fars. Persia is often associated with Greek mythology - the "land of Perseus".
Ireland- from Eire from the pre-Celtic Iweriu - "fertile place" or "place of Eire", the Celtic goddess of fertility. It is often mistakenly believed that it came from the "land of iron" (in English "land of iron").
Iceland- "land of ice" (Island in Icelandic). Named to discourage outsiders from attempting to settle on what was actually fertile land.
Italy- "son of the bull god" or "calf god", the name is usually attributed only to a small area at the southern tip of modern Italy.

Yemen- the origin of the name is debated. Some sources claim that it comes from the Arabic yamin, meaning "by right hand" (referring to Yemen's position from the point of view of an observer looking from Mecca), others suggest that the name comes from yumn meaning "happiness", "blessing". Name (for the classical world - "Arabia Felix" (again lack of knowledge of history) ) usually referred to the entire southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

Cape Verde- from the Portuguese Cabo Verde ("green cape"), named by Portuguese sailors who traveled along the Sahara desert before they saw the relatively green islands.
Cameroon- from the Portuguese Rio de Camaroes ("shrimp river"), the name given to the Vouri River by Portuguese travelers in the 15th century.
Canada- "small settlement" or "village" in Algonquian (one of the indigenous languages ​​of North America). The name referred to Stacadona, a settlement near present-day Quebec.
Kenya- in honor of Mount Kenya, in the Kikuyu language, the mountain is called Kere-Nyaga ("mountain of whiteness").
Cyprus- named after the copper mines located on its territory.
Kiribati- distorted "Gilbert", from the European name for the Gilbert Islands. By the way, in Russian they are called like that.
China(pronounced "China" in English) - named after the Chin dynasty in Sanskrit.
Colombia- in honor of Christopher Columbus.
Comoros- in Arabic "Djazair al Kamar" ("island of the moon").
Korea- in honor of the Goryeo Dynasty (again, I'm afraid to make a mistake), the first Korean dynasty, under which people from the west visited the country. The internal name Hangeuk in ancient Joseon means "land of morning calm".
Costa Rica- "rich coast" in Spanish.
Cuba- "Cubanacan" ("central place") in the language of the Taino Indians.
Kuwait- from the Arabic "Kut", meaning "fortress".

Lebanon (Lebanon)- from the Hebrew "white mountains".
Lesotho- in honor of the people of Sotho.
Liberia- from lat. liber, "free". So named because the nation was established as a homeland for freed American slaves.
Liechtenstein- "light stone". The country was named after the Liechtenstein dynasty, which bought and united the territories of Schellenburg and Vaduz. The Roman Emperor will allow the family to rename their new property.
Luxembourg- (Celtic "Lucilem" - "small", German "burg" - "castle") "small castle".

Mauritius- named after the Dutch ruler Prince Maurice (Maurice) of Orange.
Malawi- from the local "flaming water", possibly referring to Lake Malawi.
Malaysia- the land of the Malay people.
Maldives- in Sanskrit mahal ("palace"), diva ("island"). On the main island was the palace of the local sultan.
Malta- from the Phoenician "refuge". The name most likely survived in circulation due to the existence of the Greek and Latin word melitta ("honey"), the name of the island in ancient times, as well as the main export product at that time.
Morocco- from the city of Marrakesh. The local name "Al Maghreb al Aqsa" means "Far West".
Marshall Islands- named after the British captain John Marshall, who first documented the existence of the island in 1788.
Mexico- in honor of the Aztec branch of the same name.
micronesia- from Greek. "little islands"
Moldova- from the river Moldova in Romania. The river was named so because of the quarrying of minerals, for which its waters were used. Molde is the German term for this type of prey.
Monaco- "alone and by itself", a reference to the Greek hero Hercules.

Namibia- from the Namib Desert. "Namib" means "a place where there is nothing" in the Nama language.
Nepal- "woolen market".
Nigeria- from the local African language "Ni Gir", "Gir River" (Niger).
Netherlands- German "low lands". Holland (part of the Netherlands; the name is often used in relation to the country as a whole) - German "holt land", i.e. wooded land (very often misunderstood to mean "hollow land"). Batavia (Batavia) - "arable land" (derived from Betuwe, opposition to the local name "Veluwe" - "uncultivated land").
New Zealand- from the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands.
Norway- from Old Norse northr and veg (" north way"). The Norwegian name Norge comes from the roots northr and rike ("northern kingdom").

Oman- controversial origin. In some sources, the name comes from the Arabic term "settled" (as opposed to nomads), or from other Arabic words meaning "peace" and "trust". Others claim that the country was named after a historical figure, perhaps Oman bin Ibrahim al-Khalil, Oman bin Siba" bin Yaghthan bin Ibrahim, Oman bin Qahtan, or Oman bin Loot ( Arabic name biblical character Lot). The name existed for some time and was mentioned by the geographer Ptolemy (85-165 AD)

Pakistan- acronym (provinces: Punjab, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Iran, Sindh, Tokharistan). It also means "country of the pure, blameless", since. "pak" means "pure".
Palestine- from the Roman name of the country, literally "country of invaders" ("Philistines" from the Hebrew root meaning "invader").
Panama- in honor of a pre-existing village near the modern capital. In the language of the Indians, Cueva means "a place where there are many fish", perhaps from the Caribbean "abundance of butterflies" or from another local name referring to the tree of the same name.
Papua- "Papua" means "land of people with curly hair." So named by the neighboring Malays, whose hair is mostly straight.
Peru- possibly from the Biru River in present-day Ecuador.
Poland- from the German polen, "field".
Portugal- from lat. portus, "port" and the names of the Roman port of Gaya, which later became known as Calais. The derived name belonged to the small town of Portucale, now Porto.

Russia- from the ancient group of Vikings known as Rus' and from the kingdom they created in what is now Ukraine.
Romania- "country of the Romans", because the local "Romanized" population called themselves Rumani or Romani.

Salvador- "salvation" in Spanish, named after Jesus Christ.
Samoa- "Reserve of the Sacred Moa", from the moa - a local chicken-like poultry. According to legend, the place for the sacred chicken "Sa-moa" was fenced on the orders of King Lu (Lu). After fighting to defend this zone, he named his son Samoa. Later, Samoa became the progenitor of the Moa clan, which stood at the head of the island of Manua and then all the islands of Samoa.
San Marino- in honor of Saint Marino, who, according to legend, founded San Marino in 301.
Sao Tome and Principe- Portuguese: Saint Thomas and Prince Islands.
Seychelles- named after Jean Moreau de Sechelles, Minister of Finance of King Louis XV of France.
Serbia and Montenegro. Serbia- unknown, possibly Sarmatian in origin; "rowan" (Sorbs) in modern Germany has the same origin, the Serbs migrated to the Balkans from a region in Germany known as Lusatia, where rowans are still found.
Montenegro- called by the Venetian conquerors montenegro, "black mountain" because of the appearance of Mount Lovcen or, more likely, because of its dark coniferous forests. Crna Gora, modern local name for the country, literal translation of Montenegro (Montenegro). (note "gora" in Serbian means "forest on the mountains", so the name of the country rather means "black forest"). Previously, the country was known as "Zeta" (Zeta), Dioclea (Dioclea, in Serbo-Croatian Duklia) and Doklia (Doclea). Doclea is the name of the area in early period Roman Empire, was given to an ancient tribe. In the following centuries, the Romans transferred Doclea to Dioclea, mistakenly believing that I was lost due to the peculiarities of speech. The early Slavic name Zeta comes from the name of a river in Montenegro, which in turn comes from a root meaning "harvest" or "grain". (Contrary to the general opinion: Montenegro - did not come from Italian, because "black mountain" in Italian - monte nero without g.)
Singapore- the city was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819 and he borrowed the name Singapore from Malay. Sinhapura was also the early name of the island. In turn, Sinhapura came from Sanskrit (Simhapura), which means "city of lions."
Slovakia- from the Slavic "glory" or "word".
Slovenia- similar to Slovakia.
USA- in honor of the explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci, who wrote his name on the maps of the New World. The buyers mistakenly believed that the name did not belong to the cartographer, but to the new land.
Sudan- from the Arabic Bilad as-Sudan, "the land of the blacks."
Suriname- in honor of the people Surinen (Surinen), local American settlers.
Sierra Leone- adapted from either the Spanish version of Sierra Leon or the Portuguese Serra-Leoa ("Lion Mountains").

Tajikistan- from the Turkic root tasi, meaning "Muslim".
Thailand- from the Thai "land of the free". The country was previously known as Siam. Siam - the name was given to the ancient Thais by their neighbors and possibly comes from the Pali place-name "Suvarnabhuma" ("Land of Gold"), the other root "sama" means various shades colors, mostly brown or yellow, but sometimes green or black (approx. in Sanskrit, Siam means "beautiful").
Taiwan- "bay with terraces" in Chinese. Rice fields make up the typical landscape of Taiwan.
Tanzania- a combination of the names of the two states that make up this country - Tanganyika and Zanzibar.
Timor- from the Malay word timur, meaning "east". On his official language Tetun East Timor is known as Timor Lorosae. In neighboring Indonesia it is known as Timor Timur, "eastern east".
Togo- from the settlement of Togo. In the language of the local Ewe people, "to" means "water" and "go" means shore.
Tonga- from the local "south", "southern". The islands are named so by James Cook. In the 19th century they were known as the "Friendship Islands".
Trinidad and Tobago- "Trinidad" in honor of the three protruding mountain peaks and the Christian trinity (trinidad is a trinity or trio in Spanish). "Tobago" - in honor of the tobacco that the locals smoked.
Tuvalu- from the local "eight islands" or "eight standing together". An early name, Niulakita, which was banned, was the name of the first atoll.

Uganda- from the early "Buganda", "land of people", the ethnonym of the people dominating this area.
Ukraine- from the Slavic "border territory".

Fiji- from the Tongan (Tonganese) name of the islands "Viti".
Philippines- "the land of King Philip" (Spanish monarch in the 16th century).
Finland- from the Germanic Fennland, possibly from a root meaning "wanderers". Suomi, a name used by the natives, may be derived from the Baltic word for "land".
France- "land of the Franks", literally "land of free people". The country was previously known as Gaul from a Celtic tribe.

Croatia- unknown, usually believed to have originated from the Sarmatian language.

Chile- unknown. Possibly from the Arakaunian (Aracaunian, language of the settlers) name for "deep", which is a reference to the fact that the Andes loom over a narrow coastal plain. Also a possible origin of "Chile" could be "the end of the world" ("end of the world") in the Qechhua language.

Switzerland- from the canton of Schwyz, perhaps earlier this name came from the German "Schweitz", "swamp".
Sweden- "people of Svea". The exact development of the ethnonym is unknown, but at least it is known that it originated from the Old Norse "Svithjoth", the origin of "Svi", "thjoth" from the Germanic "people" ("people") is unknown. The term Svithjoth was originally used to refer to various localities found in Norse mythology, including regions in Scandinavia and/or modern Russia. The obscure manner in which this toponym is used suggests that it was used for areas generally unknown, but just beyond the north or west of what the Goths, the most frequent users of the term, considered the zone of civilization. The derivative name "Svear rike" ("Kingdom of the Swee") seems to have come about after the northern Heruli people were forced out of the Gothic kingdom into southern Scandinavia. It would be logical to believe that the Heruli, pushed beyond the northern borders of the Gothic kingdom, could take the traditional name "Svi". In the end, they captured the Goths, and from that moment on, modern scholars can talk about the existence of Sweden, and not one of its constituent territories.
Sri Lanka- "brilliant island" in Sanskrit. Serendip is an ancient name derived from Sinhala-dweepa in Sanskrit meaning either "land of lions" or "land of the Sinhala people", sinha means "lion" in Sanskrit, Sinhala are early settlers of the area.
Ceylon (Ceylon - English, Cilan - Portuguese, Seilan) - the previous names of the country, also meaning "land of lions".

Ecuador- "equator" in Spanish.
Equatorial Guinea- "equatorial" - from the geographical location, "Guinea", - perhaps from the word "aguinaoui" in the Berber language, which means "black".
Eritrea- named by the Italian colonialists, from the ancient Greek name of the Red Sea "Erythrea Thalassa".
Estonia- from the German "eastern way". It is commonly believed that the name comes from Aestia in ancient Greek sources, but in fact Aestia is modern Masuria in Poland and it is possible that the name comes from a Baltic root meaning "variegated", since this land is dotted with lakes.
Ethiopia- from lat. "Aethiopia" meaning "land of the blacks". The root of the word in Greek comes from aithein "to burn" and ops "face". The old name Abyssinia comes from the Arabic "mixed", a reflection of the many peoples inhabiting the country.

Jamaica- in the language of the Indians "Hamaica" means the land of wood and water, or perhaps the land of springs.
Japan- "ribenguo" in Chinese or "land of the rising sun", which refers to the fact that Japan lies to the east of China (where the sun rises). Japanese scholars borrowed the term, simplifying Nippon-gu to Nihon-gu to just Nihon or Nippon ("origin of the sun").

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