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List of etymologies of country subdivision names

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This article provides a collection of the etymology of the names of subnational entities. 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.

[edit] Australia

[edit] States

[edit] Territories

[edit] Mainland Territories

[edit] External Territories

[edit] Austria

[edit] Bundesländer (States)

  • 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.[15] The Hungarian Várvidék and Croatian Gradišće calque the German Burgenland[citation needed]
  • 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
  • Tyrol, German, Italian: after the Castle of Tyrol 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) characterised by Arle, a local German term for "mountain pine".

[edit] Belgium

Official languages: Dutch; French; German

[edit] Gewesten / Régions / Regionen (Regions)

  • 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; 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".

[edit] Provincies / Provinces / Provinzen (Provinces)

  • Liège: of disputed etymology. The name Liège 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.

[edit] Brazil

See List of Brazil state name etymologies.

[edit] Canada

[edit] Provinces and territories

See Canadian provincial name etymologies

[edit] Regions

  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]

[edit] Chile

[edit] Regions

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.

[edit] China

[edit] People's Republic of China

Most of the names of the modern administrative regions appeared as coinages in the Ming Dynasty and in the Qing Dynasty in ancient China. The Republic of China (ruling all of China from 1911 to 1949) and the People's Republic of China (ruling most of China after 1949) inherited most of them, and each made modifications and innovations. This list only includes the subnational entities under the effective control of the People's Republic of China.

[edit] 省 Shěng (Provinces)

[edit] Republic of China (Taiwan)

The Republic of China governed all the territory of China from 1911 to 1949, and retreated to Taiwan after the Chinese civil war (1927 - 1949). The list below includes only the subnational entities under the effective control of the Republic of China.

[edit] Czech Republic

[edit] Denmark

  • Bornholm: the Old Norse version of the name, Burgundarholm, suggests connections with the Burgundians, who traditionally originated in Scandinavia
  • Copenhagen (Danish: København) - a corruption of the original designation for the city, Købmandshavn, or "Merchants' Harbour" in Danish. It comes to English via the German Kopenhagen.
  • Faroe Islands (Danish: Færøerne, Faroese: Føroyar) - literally, "Sheep Islands", from their dense population of sheep. Another theory suggests that the lexeme fár- / 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) - name associated with the Jutes
  • Zealand (Danish: Sjælland) - literally "sea-land" or "the land in the sea" from Old Norse "Selund" and Old Danish "Sialand". A highly speculative alternative interpretation postulates an origin from *Selha-undi, "seal".

[edit] Estonia

Note: Estonian maakond means "county" and maa means "land". Counties 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.
  • 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 Baltic-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.)

[edit] Finland

[edit] France

Note that 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: even non-speakers of French can deduce them with a minimum of geographical knowledge. The traditional provinces and regions (of any period) often bear names with more obscure and superficially richer histories.

[edit] Germany

[edit] Bundesländer (States)

  • 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 ("Branim's 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
  • 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, Nordwestmecklenburg District (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 ocean": 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.
    • 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 (after the River Rhine) 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 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
  • the 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.
  • Thuringia (German Thüringen) — after the tribe of the Thuringii

[edit] Historic regions

  • Brunswick (German: Braunschweig): from the town of Brunswick, itself originating as "Bruno's wik" (Bruno's marketplace) (with reference to the legendary founder Bruno, Duke of Saxony, died 880) or as "burnt wik")
  • Franconia (German: Franken): from the traditional designation "Franks", referring especially to the Kingdom of the East Franks
  • 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 Prussian people
  • Swabia (German: Schwaben or Schwabenland): after the tribe of the Suebi

[edit] Greece

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

[edit] India (Republic of India)

[edit] States

See List of Indian states by the etymology of their name

[edit] Union Territories

  • Andaman Islands: From the name of the Hindu God Hanuman (Hanumant)
  • Chandigarh: "Chandi's fort". No actual fort ever existed; a large Chandi temple "protected" the locals, hence the name. The goddess Chandi appears as a form of the goddess Kali or of Parvati.
  • Delhi: according to one theory: city of the Goddess Dhilika. The area had seven temples of Yoginis or Goddesses in the area, the highest dedicated to the Goddess Dhillika. Compare Dhillika.
  • Lakshadweep: "Hundred Thousand Islands". In Sanskrit, laksha means "a hundred thousand" and dweep means "island".
  • Puducherry: Pudu + cheri, from the Tamil words for "new" and "settlement" or "camp". Formerly a French colony: Pondicherry.[20]

[edit] Indonesia

  • Bandung: from the word bendungan (dam), referring to the dam near the Citarum River near Bandung, left unfinished according to the myth of Tangkuban Perahu mountain
  • Bekasi: from the word candrabaga, a canal built in the Tarumanegara era; and sesasi ("a month")
  • Jakarta: from Jayakarta, "City of Victory", referring to the victory of Fatahillah (Adipati Unus) of the Demak Sultanate which conquered the city from the Sunda-Padjadjaran Kingdom in 1511 AD
  • Jayapura: jaya means "glory" and pura means "city"
  • Sumatra: from Ibn Battuta's 14th-century pronunciation of the name of the Samudra Kingdom (13th to 15th centuries CE)
  • Surabaya: sura means "shark" and baya means "crocodile". The name came from myths or legends of a battle between Sura and Baya in the Surabaya River.
  • Kulon Progo: a regency in the Special Territory of Yogyakarta (DIY), named after its position. Kulon means "west" and the Progo River runs through the area - Kulon Progo, giving the meaning: "western side of the Progo River".
  • Banten: a province at the western end of the island of Java; named after the historic Sultanate of Banten which ruled the area c.16th-17th Century AD.
  • Bogor: A localization of the Dutch name for the city of Bogor, Buitenzorg, which means "No worries", referring to the position of the city on the Sunda Highlands. (Compare the name Sans Souci.)
  • Parakan: from the local patron of the town, Kyai Parak.
  • Mojokerto: from Maja (an abbreviation/short version of the Majapahit Kingdom) and Karta meaning city. Referring to the ancient capital of the Majapahit Kingdom near the town itself.
  • 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 in the country).
  • Depok: from the Sundanese word meaning "hermitage" or "abode of one living in seclusion". Alternative derivations cite initialisms (DEPOC or DEPOK) from Dutch phrases: De Eerste Protestante Organisatie van Christenen (the first Protestant Organisation of Christians)[21] or Die Eerste Protestante Oostindische Kirken (The first Protestant Church in the East Indies)[citation needed]. (The Dutch set up a Protestant Church in the city.)
  • Bengkulu: named after the Bengkulu river passing 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"[cite this quote].
  • Jambi: the province takes its name from the historical Jambi Sultanate which ruled over the area from the 17th to the 19th centuries
  • Gorontalo: from the Dutch version of the local phrase of Hulontalo, meaning "lands surrounded by water" due to the many lakes and rivers formerly in the area
  • Aceh: from the local words a meaning "not" and ceh meaning "broken". This refers to the strong solidarity amongst the local inhabitants.
  • Irian Jaya: The name Irian can have various meanings, as each dialect of the island has a different meaning for it. But the most acknowledged[by whom?] version interprets it as "land of heat", as many local dialects interpret iri as "fire" or "heat". The syllable an means "land" in all the dialects. Thus, Irian may refer to hot weather.[citation needed] An alternative etymology for Irian (variously identified[by whom?] as a real etymology or a folk etymology) 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 — the current 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.

[edit] Iran (Persia)

[edit] Italy

  • Campania: from the Latin campania (countryside, plain, battlefield). Compare Champagne in France.
  • Friuli: from the Latin Forum Julii (The market of Julius), which at the beginning referred only to the city of Cividale, founded by Julius Caesar and then extended to the whole region
  • Latium (in modern Italian: Lazio): land of the early Italic inhabitants known as Latins, in their turn popularly associated with the mythological King Latinus [in turn, "Latins" (in Latin, Latīnī) — as well as the name of King Latīnus (simply the singular of the same name) — clearly derived their names from Latium by means of the ethnic suffix -īnus, with the obvious meaning of "inhabitant(s) of Latium", which makes this etymology ridiculously circular, but let that serve as a warning to the reader as to the quality of this and other etymologies on this page]. 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.
  • Lombardy: from the Germanic tribe of the Lombards (literally "long-beards" or "long-bearded axe people", or, according to another theory, "long-halberds"), who invaded Italy in the 6th century. Note: After the Lombard invasion, the name "Longobardia" or "Langobardia" applied to the whole of Italy for about two centuries, throughout Europe and also in Arabic (al-Ankubardiya). The name Italia did not return into wide use until the late 8th century
  • Marche: literally. "marches", "borderlands". In the Middle Ages the region lay on the boundaries between imperial lands and the more independent areas of southern Italy. The March of Ancona became the best known of such marches
  • Sardinia: speculatively linked with the Shardana people and/or with Sardis
  • Sicily: island settled by the Sicels

[edit] Japan

[edit] Korea

[edit] Malaysia

  • 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"
  • 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 became famous; 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"

[edit] Mexico

See Mexican state name etymologies

[edit] Netherlands

[edit] Provinces

  • Drenthe (Dutch Low Saxon: Drentie):
  • Flevoland: from Lacus Flevo (Latin: Lake Flevo), a name used in Roman sources to refer to a body of water at what would later become known as the Zuider Zee. The Netherlands government established the province in 1986 on lands reclaimed from the Zuider Zee in the 1950s and 1960s.
  • Friesland (West Frisian: Fryslân):
  • Gelderland (also English: Guelders):
  • Groningen (Gronings: Grönnen or Grunnen):
  • Limburg:
  • North Brabant (Dutch: Noord-Brabant). The name in Carolingian times appeared in Latinised form as pagus Bracbatensis, from bracha "new" and bant "region".
  • North Holland (Dutch: Noord-Holland): Germanic "holt (i.e. wooded) land" (often incorrectly regarded as meaning "hollow [i.e. marsh] land")
  • Overijssel: Dutch for "lands across the IJssel river" (also Latin: "Transiselania")
  • South Holland (Dutch: Zuid-Holland): Germanic "holt (i.e. wooded) land" (often incorrectly regarded as meaning "hollow [i.e. marsh] land")
  • Utrecht: named after the city of Utrecht; the name derives from Latin Ultraiectum ad Rhenum, meaning "place to cross the Rhine river".
  • Zeeland (also English: Zealand): Dutch for "Sea land".

[edit] Other names

  • 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.
  • 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")
  • 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 n 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.

[edit] New Zealand

See also List of New Zealand place names and their meanings.

[edit] Provinces

[edit] Other categories

  • Levin: from a director of the railway company that created the town to help boost its railway
  • 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.
  • Waikato: Named after the Waikato River. The hydronym means "flowing water" in Māori.

[edit] Pakistan

[edit] Provinces

[edit] Pakistan-administered Kashmir

[edit] Papua New Guinea

[edit] Poland

[edit] Portugal

  • Alentejo: meaning "beyond the Tejo (the Tagus river)"
  • Algarve: meaning "country to the west" (of the Guadiana River), from the Arab "Al-Gharb"
  • Azores: from Açores (pl.), after the "Açor", a type of bird
  • Beira: quite literally, the "edge" (during the early phase of Portugal's history, Beira formed a borderland)
  • Madeira: "wood"

[edit] Romania

See: Etymological list of counties of Romania

  • Bessarabia - from Basarab I, Wallachian prince who led some expeditions in this land
  • Bukovina - (in German: "Buchenland") = "beech land"
  • Dobrogea - from Dobrotitsa, ruler of the region in the 14th century[24]
  • Haţeg - "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"
    • Ardeal - probably 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). An alternative explanation extracts the meaning "wooden hill": arde expresses an Indo-European root meaning "forest", the same as in English Forest of Arden and Belgian Ardennes Woods; deal means "hill" in Romanian.
  • Wallachia - "land of the foreigners"

[edit] Russia

[edit] South Africa

[edit] Spain

  • 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 and even from Arabs (who, however, never occupied the province for long). A chronicle of 905 uses the form Arba, but later the word commonly appears as Alaba or Alava.
    • Biscay (Basque: Bizkaia]]: variant of bizkarra ("shoulder", "back" or, in this case, "mountain range" in Basque)
    • Guipuscoa (Basque: Gipuzkoa]]: 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 Catalonha 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"[27] 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, reforced 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").

[edit] 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:

Provinces of Sweden

Administrative counties (in the official order):

[edit] Switzerland

  • Aargau: German name labelling the district (Gau) of the River Aar.
  • 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.
  • Berne: 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.
  • Neuchâtel: French for "new castle"; Neuenburg (with the same semantic meaning) in German
  • 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 ther Canton of the same name, first appears under the Celtic name Salodurum.
  • 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.)

[edit] Taiwan

See Republic of China (Taiwan)

[edit] Thailand

  • Ban Dongphayom from ban (Thai for "village") + dong (Thai for "forest") + phayom (Thai for a type of hardwood of the genus Shorea) = "Hardwood Forest Village"
  • Ban Grong Greng from ban (Thai for "village") + Grong Greng (named for Wat Grong Greng or Grong Greng Temple; the Thai word grong onomatopoeically names a "gong"; greng in Thai means "dread") = "Village of the Dreaded Gong"
  • Ban Sam Ruen from ban (Thai for "village") + sam (Thai for "three") + ruen (Thai for "dwelling") = "Village of Three Dwellings"
  • Bang Khratum from bang (Thai for "settlement") + khratum (Thai for the bur-flower tree or Anthocephalus Chinensis) = "Bur-Flower Tree Settlement"
  • Nakhon Pa Mak from nakhon (Thai for "town") + pa (Thai for "forest") + mak (Thai for the betel palm) = "Betel Palm Forest Township"
  • Phitsanulok from Phitsanu (a cognate of Vishnu) + lok (Thai for "globe") = "Vishnu's Heaven"

[edit] Ukraine

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.

[edit] United Kingdom

[edit] United States

[edit] States

[edit] Counties

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "About New South Wales". http://www.nsw.gov.au/about.asp. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. 
  2. ^ "How Queensland Got Its Name" at http://www.abc.net.au/queensland/federation/stories/s223425.htm
  3. ^ http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/resources/transcripts/vic3_doc_1851.pdf
  4. ^ "Jervis Bay History". Territories Division, Attorney-General's Department, Australian Government. 2008-02-19. http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/TerritoriesofAustralia_JervisBay_JervisBayHistory. Retrieved on 2008-10-10. "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. ^ http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/mpa/ashmore/plan/chap4.html#42
  6. ^ Australia
  7. ^ Christmas Island - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  8. ^ Cocos Tourism - Discovery
  9. ^ Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  10. ^ Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  11. ^ a b "Heard island: History: Discovery". Australian Antarctic Division. http://www.heardisland.aq/history/discovery.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-28. "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." 
  12. ^ Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  13. ^ http://www.stonnington.vic.gov.au/gui/files/NI%20fact%20sheet.pdf
  14. ^ http://www.pitcairners.org/][http://www.norfolkisland.com.au/history_and_culture/paradise.cfm
  15. ^ Burgenland
  16. ^ Acadia: Origin of the Word by Bill Casselman
  17. ^ Provinces and Territories - The origins of their names
  18. ^ Nunatsiavut Government | Nunatsiavut.com
  19. ^ ""Alsatia"". Oxford English Dictionary (2nd edition ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1989. ISBN 0198611862. "[L. form of El-sasz, i.e. foreign settlement, Fr. Alsace.]" 
  20. ^ Reference: http://www.statoids.com/uin.html
  21. ^ http://margonda.com/ (in Indonesian)
  22. ^ Talageri, Shrikant. Chapter 4:"The Geography of the Rigveda". The Rigveda. A historical analysis. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan 2000. Retrieved 25 November 2006
  23. ^ Witzel, Michael. "Have Words, Will Travel!" from "WESTWARD HO ! The Incredible Wanderlust of the Rgvedic Tribes Exposed by S. Talageri", Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies Vol. 7 (2001), issue 2 (March 31). Retrieved 25 November 2006.
  24. ^ See Dobruja#Etymology for this and alternative etymology
  25. ^ Webster's third international dictionary; Merriam-Webster 1993, p.381.
  26. ^ Vasmer, Max (1958) (in German). Russisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch. 3. Heidelberg: Carl Winter. pp. 334. 
  27. ^ Alans, Encyclopædia Iranica

[edit] See also

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