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What They Call Their Own Country Quiz
We may call it one thing in English, but sometimes the name of a country can be radically different in the country's own language. I give you their name, you pick the English name. Hint: It is not always in the official language of the country
A multiple-choice quiz
by case2.
Estimated time: 4 mins.
Finnish is a non indo-European language and therefore has a very different vocabulary from the English. Suomi is related to suo, meaning peatland. Finland simply means land of the Finns. Interestingly though, the Finns are closely related to the Hungarians.
2. Cymru?
Answer: Wales
This is the name in the old Celtic Welsh language. It means "friends" or "companions". Strangely enough, Wales is derived from an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning "foreigners" or "strangers".
3. Shqipëria?
Answer: Albania
The English name comes from the Albanoi tribe. The Albanian name is probably derived from shqipe meaning eagle, i.e the land of the Eagle.
4. Sakartvelo?
Answer: Georgia
The Georgian name means Land of the Karts (the biggest tribe).
5. Taehan-min'guk?
Answer: South Korea
The English name is derived from Koryo, the dynasty that ruled the peninsula from 935 to 1392. The Korean name means Great Han Empire.
6. Bod?
Answer: Tibet
The Tibetan name is probably derived from Bon, Tibet's pre-Buddhist, animist religion. The European version is derived from the Arabic Tubbat which was derived from the Chinese Tufan used for Tibet between 600 and 900.
7. - al-Maghrib?
Answer: Morocco
The Arab name means "of the setting sun", the English name is derived from the city of Marrakesh.
8. Aotearoa?
Answer: New Zealand
This is the Maori name for New Zealand and means Land of the Long White Cloud. Tasman named the country after the Dutch province of Zeeland.
9. Hayastan?
Answer: Armenia
'Armenia' is of Persian or Greek origin, but the meaning is unknown, Hayastan is named after the Hayes-Azzi tribe.
10. Alba?
Answer: Scotland
This is Scots Gaelic for Scotland, derived from Albion, the old name for Great Britain. It means "white". Scotland is derived from the tribe of the Scots.
11. Kalaallit Nunaat?
Answer: Greenland
The Greenland name means The Land of Man.
12. Magyarország?
Answer: Hungary
The Hungarian name means Country of the Magyar, which is the name of a tribe. Hungary is possibly derived from the Asian tribe of the Huns who overran Europe in the 4th and 5th century.
13. Ningizumu Afrika?
Answer: South Africa
This is the Zulu name for South Africa.
14. Wuliwya?
Answer: Bolivia
This is the Aymara word for Bolivia, Aymara is the main language of Bolivia spoken by two million people.
15. Nippon?
Answer: Japan
The Japanese name means "of the Rising Sun", the English name comes from the Malay "japang" meaning "sunrise".
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor minch before going online.
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