Etymology of State Names

SAUDI ARABIA

. The kingdom was formed within its current borders in 1926. The name was adopted in 1932. It reflects the geographical location (the country occupies two-thirds of the Arabian Peninsula, in Arabic — Jazirat al-Arab, "island of the Arabs") and the name of the ruling dynasty, the Saudis.

SYRIA. The name of the country is mentioned in the Babylonian cuneiform tablets in the form of Syria. The meaning of the word is unknown. If you face east towards the sacred stone of the Kaaba, Syria will be to the left — to the north (Ash-Sham). Therefore, Arabs often refer to the country as Ash-Sham.

El Salvador - translates from Spanish as "savior." The country was named by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado in honor of Jesus Christ.

Samoa - "Sanctuary of the Sacred Moa," from moa - a local domestic bird resembling a chicken. According to legend, the place for the sacred chicken "Sa-moa" was fenced off by order of King Lu. After battles to protect this area, he named his son Samoa. Later, Samoa became the ancestor of the Moa clan, which led the island of Manu'a and then all the islands of Samoa.

San Marino - named after a Christian from Dalmatia, Marino, who fled. Later - Saint Marino, who, according to legend, founded San Marino in 301 AD.

São Tomé and Príncipe - Portuguese: the islands of Saint Thomas and Prince.

Seychelles - named in honor of Jean Moreau de Sechelles, the finance minister of King Louis XV of France.

Serbia - unknown, possibly of Sarmatian origin; "rowan" (Sorbs) in modern Germany has the same origin, Serbs migrated to the Balkans from a region in Germany known as Lusatia, where rowans are still found.

Singapore - the city was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819, and he borrowed the name Singapore from the Malay language. Sinhapura was an early name for the island. In turn, Sinhapura comes from Sanskrit (Simhapura), meaning "city of lions."

According to legend, the name was given in the 14th century by the Malay prince Sri Tri Buana. Upon landing on the island, he saw a huge animal resembling a lion. In Sanskrit, "simha" means "lion," and "pura" means "city." So Singapore means "city of the lion." Although lions do not inhabit the area.

Slovakia - from the Slavic "glory" or "word."

Slovenia - similarly to Slovakia.

Sudan - from Arabic Bilad as-Sudan, "land of the blacks."

Suriname - named after the Surinen people, local American settlers.

Sierra Leone - adapted either from the Spanish version Sierra Leon or from the Portuguese Serra-Leoa ("lion mountains"). Possibly because the echo in them reminded the Portuguese sailors who arrived here of a lion's roar.

T

TURKMENISTAN - "Land of the Turkmen." According to various versions, Turkmen means "similar to a Turk" or "true Turk." This was the name given to nomadic tribes of Central Asia.

Tajikistan - from the Turkic root tasi, meaning "Muslim." "Land of the Tajiks." From Persian "tazik" - this is what Persians called Arabs. Subsequently, this word began to refer to the Iranian-speaking agricultural settlers who settled in Central Asia and practiced Islam. These Muslim agriculturalists became the basis of the Tajik ethnicity.

Thailand - from Thai "land of the free." Until 1939 - Siam. The name Siam was given to the ancient Thais by their neighbors and possibly comes from a toponym in Pali "Suvarnabhuma" ("Land of Gold"), another root "sama" means various shades of colors, mostly brown or yellow, but sometimes green or black (note: in Sanskrit, Siam means "beautiful").

The current name is often translated as "land of free people." It comes from the ethnonym "tai." This word apparently simply means "people." The final "land" is a legacy of British colonization.

Taiwan - "bay with terraces" in Chinese. Rice fields make up the typical landscape of Taiwan.

Tanzania - a combination of the names of two states that make up this country - Tanganyika and Zanzibar.

Timor - from the Malay word timur, meaning "east." In its official language Tetun, East Timor is known as Timor Lorosae. To neighboring Indonesia, it is known as Timor Timur, "east east."

Togo - from the settlement Togo. In the language of the local people, ewe "to" means "water" and "go" means "shore."

Tonga - from the local "south," "southern." The islands were named so by James Cook. In the 19th century, they were known as the "Islands of Friendship."

Trinidad and Tobago - "Trinidad" in honor of the three prominent mountain peaks and the Christian Trinity (trinidad means 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." The earlier name - Niulakita, which was prohibited, was the name of the first atoll.