America.
It is believed that America (and subsequently the USA) was named after the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci. However, some experts lean towards the version that the continent was named after Richard Amerike, a Bristol merchant who financed John Cabot's second transatlantic expedition. Cabot reached the shores of Labrador two years before Vespucci and named the discovered lands after the expedition's main sponsor.
Afghanistan - possibly from 'Upa-Ghana-Stan' (in Sanskrit "land of the united tribes").
"Land of the Afghans." The ethnonym has been known since the 3rd century BC. In Persian, "stan" means "place, country." The Afghans themselves call themselves "Pashtuns." Apparently, the word comes from the Indo-European pasto — "to graze" (our word "pastors" comes from the same root).
Albania - From the tribe of Albanians. The root "Alb" means "white" or "mountain." It is believed that mountain tribes from modern Kosovo brought their mountain ethnonym to the narrow coastal plain. The name used within the country, Shqiperia, means "land of the eagle." Perhaps the eagle was a totem of the tribe. The inhabitants themselves refer to themselves as "Shqiptars," from the Albanian shkip — "to speak clearly."
Algeria - from the name of the capital Algiers, which in French is Alger, in Arabic - Al Jazair (islands).
Andorra - From the Basque word andurrial — "wasteland." Possibly Iberian or Basque.
Angola - from ngola, a title used by the monarch in the pre-colonial kingdom of Ndongo.
Argentina - from the Latin "argentum" (silver). Merchants used the Argentine river Rio de la Plata (Silver River) to transport silver and other treasures from Peru. The land downstream became known as Argentina (Land of Silver).
The Spaniard Juan Diaz de Solis killed his wife in Portugal. To avoid punishment from the authorities, he fled back to his homeland and participated in numerous voyages of the golden age of Spanish exploration. On October 8, 1515, Diaz de Solis was part of a fleet of three ships, hoping to find a western passage to the Pacific Ocean. De Solis found the estuary and named it "Mar Dulce," or "fresh sea," continuing further inland. There, the explorer was brutally killed, closer to modern Buenos Aires. Cannibals captured the entire crew and gradually ate all the crew members. His brother-in-law, Francisco de Torres, took over the expedition, which again met with failure, shipwrecked. But the locals in this new land were quite friendly and treated the crew well. Another explorer, Sebastian Cabot, found the survivors a few years later, who told him about the wealth of the locals and the mountain of silver ("Sierra de la Plata"). De Solis's discovery became known as the silver river ("La Plata"). Ultimately, the country became known as the "land of silver," Argentina Terra ("Argentina," meaning "silver").
Armenia — a small, landlocked country bordered by Turkey, Iran, and Georgia. The country has a very deep history with monotheistic religions. Armenia is considered the first country to adopt Christianity as the official state religion in 301 AD. Armenia, which sounds like "Armina" in Old Persian, has another name: Hayk, in honor of a descendant of Noah who lived in the lands near Mount Ararat. According to legend, Hayk left for a while to help in the construction of the Tower of Babel. During this time, the Babylonian king invaded his lands, whom he killed in battle. Later, the country's name was changed to Gayastan, which literally translates to "Land of Gaya." Another legend speaks of the name Armenia being derived from the name "Aram," whom the locals consider the ancestor of all Armenians.
Australia - from "unknown southern land" (Latin: terra australis incognita). The territory was named by early European explorers who believed that the Australian continent was much larger than they had yet discovered. The traveler Matthew Flinders (1774-1814), who first explored the Australian coast and mapped it, used the term "Australia" in his work.
Austria - "eastern kingdom," for example, compare with modern German: Osterreich. In the 9th century, Austria was the farthest eastern territory of the Frankish Empire and also a border zone of German settlements with Slavic lands. Charlemagne named the country Ostmark ("eastern border territory"). The term Ostarrichi first appeared in the 11th century.
Azerbaijan - "land of fire" (from the fires on the surface of ancient oil fields). The ancient name Atropatene in Arabic became pronounced as Azerbaijan. "Gathering fire." Zoroastrianism was widespread in the region. Followers of the teaching were called "fire worshippers," as the visible form of God in the physical world was considered light, including that from fire. In Avestan, "fire" is "atar," in Middle Persian - "Adur."
Persian geographers called the region "Adurbadagan," which transformed into "Azerbaijan."
Countries