This article provides a collection of theetymology of thenames ofadministrative divisions. 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.
South Australia: located in the south-central region of Australia
Tasmania: named afterAbel Tasman, who sighted the island in 1642; originally named by Tasman asVan Diemen's Land, afterAnthony van Diemen, the colonial governor who commissioned Tasman's voyage
Burgenland (German;Hungarian:Várvidék;Croatian:Gradišće): originally calledVierburgenland, "Land of four Burgs (castles)", a name suggested in 1919 from the endings of the four former counties forming the state:Preßburg,Wieselburg,Ödenburg andEisenburg. In 1922 Austria ceded Ödenburg to Hungary and dropped the numeric prefixVier- ("four"); the remaining three counties became Burgenland.[13]
Carinthia, German Kärnten: etymologically related to the early Slavic medieval principalityCarantania (SlovenianKarantanija, GermanKarantanien); 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, GermanNieder-Österreich: the lower part (lower in height) of the original territory of Austria ('the eastern country'), as opposed to Upper Austria; also calledÖsterreich unter der Enns "Austria below the (river)Enns"
Salzburg: after the city ofSalzburg (literally "salt castle"), which takes its name from thesalt mines that existed there during the Middle Ages
Upper Austria, GermanOber-Österreich: the upper (physically higher) part of the original territory of Austria, as opposed to Lower Austria; also calledÖsterreich ob der Enns "Austria above the (river) Enns"
Vienna, GermanWien: from CelticVindobona (vindo "white" +bona "foundation, fort")
Vorarlberg, literally "in front of the Arlberg", takes its name from theArlberg, a mountain (German:Berg) with a high mountain pass, characterised byArle, a local German term for "mountain pine".
Brussels, DutchBrussel, FrenchBruxelles (the capital city, outside any province; also Belgium's third region): medieval Dutchbroek 'bog' +zele (in many place names in the Low Countries="habitation using thatching")
Flanders, DutchVlaanderen, FrenchFlandre(s): plural of a terrain type; or "flooded land"; or a compound Flemishvlakte "plain" andwanderen "to wander".[14] The name 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 Frenchles Flandres, plural) to the whole Dutch-speaking, majority part of Belgium (Frenchla Flandre, singular)
Wallonia, FrenchWallonie: from the (Romanized (Germano-) Celtic, now Francophone) Walloon people: as in many European countries, so named by Germanic neighbours; meaning: "strangers". Compare "Wales"below.
Antwerp: from the city ofAntwerp, the province's capital, which may derive from theFrankishanda ("against") and a noun derived from the verbwerpen ("to throw").
Brabant (now divided for administrative purposes intoFlemish Brabant andWalloon Brabant): The name in Carolingian times appeared in Latinised form aspagus Bracbatensis, frombracha "new" andbant "region". See also under the Netherlands.
Liège: of disputed etymology. The nameLiège (also used by the city ofLiège, the province's capital) 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 fromLatinlucotætia, "marsh" or "mud". Another suggestion derives the names from LatinLætica, "colony", orLeudica, "free". Alternatively, the LatinLeudica meaning "public place" may have given rise to theWalloonLîdje and thence toLiège. Note that the name appeared in written form asLiége (with an acute accent) until the 1950s.
Limburg: Derived from the castle-fortified town ofLimbourg, which in turn was derived from "lint" "dragon" and burg "fortress". See also under the Netherlands.
Kampong Thom Province: According to legend two large snakes came to the port and it was named Kampong Pos Thom which means Large Snakes' Port in Khmer but passed through the years it was simplified to Kampong Thom which means Large Port in Khmer
Adamaoua: From theAdamawa Emirate, a vassal state of the 19th-centurySokoto Caliphate.Adamawa comes from the name of its founder,Modibbo Adama. The suffix-wa is used in theHausa language to signify the collective identity of 'people of' that place. Therefore,Adamawa means "the people of Adama".[15]
# Credited to ItaliannavigatorGiovanni da Verrazzano, who first named a region around Chesapeake BayArchadia (Arcadia) in 1524 because of "the beauty of its trees", according to his diary. Cartographers began using the nameArcadia to refer to areas progressively farther north until it referred to the French holdings in maritime Canada (particularlyNova Scotia). The-r- also began to disappear from the name on early maps, resulting in the currentAcadia.[16]
# Possibly derived from theMíkmaq wordakatik, pronounced roughly "agadik", meaning "place", which French-speakers spelled as-cadie in place names such asShubenacadie andTracadie, possibly coincidentally.[17]
Roman numerals originally identified the regions in order from north to south (except Santiago). With the establishment ofArica-Parinacota andLos Ríos Region in 2007 the numbers no longer reflect the regions' positions.
Los Ríos Region (SpanishXIV Región de los Ríos): refers to the river systems ofValdivia andBueno and to the nickname of the city ofValdivia. The name may also reflect the name ofLos Lagos Region (Spanish for Region of the Lakes) from which Los Ríos split away.
Aisén Region, sometimes also spelled Aysén (SpanishXI Región Aisén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo): The name Aisén may come from theHuilliche wordachen, meaning "to crumble". Another theory suggests that theChonos culture used the word to mean "going more to the interior", in reference to theFjord of Aisén that stretches east from theMoraleda strait.
Hainan (海南) – "South of the Sea", in reference to theQiongzhou Strait, for the Hainan Island. Similarly,Leizhou Peninsula, which faces Hainan across the strait, is also called Haibei, meaning "North of the Sea".
Jiangxi (江西) – lit. "West of the [Yangtze] River" (although it is to the Yangtze's south), actually contracts the earlier "WesternJiangnan" (Jiangnanxi, "Western Region South of the River")
Liaoning (遼寧) – lit. "Distant Peace", actually refers to "Peaceful Liao", the region around theLiao River
Inner Mongolia (內蒙古) – from the perspective ofBeijing, as distinguished from "Outer Mongolia", which became independent in the 20th century (Mongolia itself from "Land of the Mongols";Mongol from theMongolian for "brave")
Shaanxi (陜西) – "West of the Pass(es)" or "West ofShanzhou". Shanzhou is named in reference to the three former channels of theYellow River atSanmenxia, previously supposed to have been cleft in the rock byYu the Great and now submerged by theSanmenxia Dam
Tibet – fromTibetan:བོད་,Wylie:Bod (Böd) in the formMtho-Böd 'High Tibet' orStod-Böd 'Upper Tibet', or fromOld TurkicTöbäd orTöpüt 'the heights'; the modern Chinese name西藏Xizang means 'Western Tsang", from theSinification of TibetanTsang, the central-southern region of Tibet
Macau – for the Cantonese Chinese pronunciation of 媽閣 (Maa5gok3), the name of temple of the sea goddessA-Ma,[citation needed] orA-Ma Gao (阿媽澳, "Bay ofA-Ma").[22] The Chinese name of Macau (澳門) means "Inlet Gates". Also theEnglish transcription isMacao.
Czech Republic/Czechia (Česko in Czech). From oldCzechCzech (nationality), later writtenČech. Until 19th century referred predominantly toBohemia only, later the meaning has been extended to all Czech lands (Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia). Traditionally traced to aForefather Čech, who brought the Czechs into Bohemia.
Bohemia: "Land of theBoii", aCeltic tribe of the region. The ultimate etymology ofBoii is uncertain, but has been connected toProto-Indo-European roots meaning "cow" and "warrior"
Bornholm: The Old Danish form,Burghændeholm shows derivation with the suffix-und fromburgh "fortress": "provided with a fortress", later combined withholm, "island".[23] The similarity with the Germanic Burgundian tribe whose name has the same etymology and which may or may not have originated in Scandinavia, can be purely coincidental since the derivation is quite basic in meaning.
Copenhagen (Danish:København): The Old Danish form,Køpmannæhafn[24] shows the older genitive pluralkøpmannæ ofkøpman, "merchant", coupled withhafn, "harbor", producing the meaning "merchants' harbour".[24] It has entered English via the (Low) GermanKopenhagen.
Faroe Islands (Danish:Færøerne,Faroese:Føroyar): FromOld NorseFæreyjar – literally, "Sheep Islands", from their dense population of sheep. Another theory suggests that the lexemefær instead derives from Celtic and means "distant".[citation needed]
Greenland (Danish:Grønland): FromOld NorseGrœnland, literally, "green land"; so named byErik the Red to induce settlement there.Greenlandic-speakers use the nameKalaallit Nunaat, meaning "Land of the Greenlanders"
Jutland (Danish:Jylland;German:Jütland): From Old DanishJutland,[25] derived from the tribal name of theJutes, combined withland "land".[25]
Zealand (Danish:Sjælland): Old IcelandicSelund, Latin renderingSelon, Old DanishSialand.[26] A somewhat later form, now poetic, isSjølund. The oldest forms with the single l and the original vowel reveal that the name is derived with the suffix-und (cf. Bornholm above) from Old Danish*sial meaning either "seal" or "furrow": "provided with seals" or "provided with furrows", referring either to populations of seals or inlets from the sea.[26] The suffix has later been reinterpreted as the lexemeland "land.[26]
Note:Estonianmaakond means "county" andmaa means "land". Counties given here without the suffix -maa take their names (and etymologies as given here) from their capitals.
Hiiumaa: fromEstonianhiis – "holy grove", orhiid – "giant", meaning "land of holy groves" or "land of giants".
Ida-Virumaa: "Eastern Virumaa" – see Virumaa below
Jõgeva: fromEstonianjõgi – "river" (Pedja river) and possiblyvahe – "between" (since the old estate stood on an island in the river), meaning "between rivers".
Põlva: fromEstonianpõlv – "knee". According to a legend, a virgin was once bricked in a church wall on her knees. According to another version, theTartu-Võru andKanepi-Räpina roads form a curve, shaped like a knee.
Pärnu: named afterPärnu river, that drains into the sea at Pärnu
Valga: from German family namesde Walco andde Walko. According to another version, fromOld Estonianvalketa – "white".
Virumaa: from severalFinnic languagesvirukas – "big" or "strong", orvire "sharp" or "penetrating" (for wind), meaning "land of the strong / big" or "land of the sharp / penetrating winds". (In Finnish, the words forEstonia andEstonians derive from Virumaa –Viro andvirolaiset.)
Helsinki: The Swedish nameHelsingfors (IPA:[helsiŋˈforsː]ⓘor[hɛlsɪŋˈfɔʂː]ⓘ) represents the original official name of the city of Helsinki (in the very beginning, in the form 'Hellssingeforss'). The Finnish language form of the city's name probably originates from 'Helsinga' and similar names used for the river currently known as Vantaanjoki, as documented as early as the 14th century.Helsinki (pronounced with the stress on the first syllable:[ˈhelsiŋki]ⓘ), refers to the city in all languages except Swedish and Norwegian.Helsingfors comes from the name of the surrounding parish,Helsinge (source for FinnishHelsinki) and the rapids (in Swedish:fors), which flowed through the original village. The nameHelsinge possibly originated with medieval Swedish settlers who came fromHälsingland in Sweden. Another possible derivation looks to the Swedish wordhals (neck), referring to the narrowest part of the river, i.e. the rapids.[27]
Ostrobothnia (or in Swedish:Österbotten) – "Eastern Bothnia". Bothnia is aLatinization ofOld Norsebotn,[28] meaning "bottom". The namebotn was applied to the Gulf of Bothnia asHelsingjabotn inOld Norse, afterHälsingland, which at the time referred to the coastland west of the gulf. Later,botten was applied to the regionsVästerbotten on the western side andÖsterbotten the eastern side ("East Bottom" and "West Bottom"). The Finnish name of Österbotten,Pohjanmaa, or "Pohja"-land, gives a hint as to the meaning in both languages:pohja means both "bottom" and "north".
Most modern Frenchdépartements take their names from local geographical features: usually rivers, occasionally mountain ranges or coasts. Thus most such names have a self-evident immediate origin. The traditional provinces and regions (of any period) often bear names with richer but more obscure histories.
Alsace – fromLatinAlsatia, a Latinised form of the Germanic name that also yields Old High GermanEl-sasz (modern GermanElsass), allegedly meaning "foreign settlement" (according to theOED article on "Alsatia"[29]); or "settlement on theIll River"[citation needed]
Artois – fromLatinAtrebatensis, adjectival form derived the Belgic tribeAtrebates, whose name comes from*ad-treb-ates, meaning 'inhabitants', based on the Celtic roottreb- 'building', 'home' (cf. Old Irishtreb 'building', 'farm', Welshtref 'building', Middle Bretontreff 'city', toponyms inTre-,Provençaltrevar 'to live in a house or in a village').[30] According toAlexander MacBain (d. 1907),[31] the nameAtrebates parallels the Irishaitreibh, 'building,'Early Irishaittreb, 'building,' and Welshadref, 'homeward'. McBain states that theCeltic roottreb corresponds to Latintribus, 'tribe', and to Englishthorpe, 'village'.[31] MacBain reconstructs *ad-treb- as theProto-Celtic form ofEarly Irishaittreb.[31] The name of the main city of Artois,Arras (Atrecht in Dutch) derives directly from the tribe's nameAtrebates, soArtois properly means "territory of Arras".
Basque Country (French:Pays Basque,Basque:Euskal Herria) – derived from the ancient tribe of theVascones via the medievalDuchy of Vasconia and aCounty of Vasconia, split from it. The Basque name derives fromEuskara (the autochthonous name of the Basque language).
Labourd (Lapurdi): from the Roman city of Lapurdum (modernBayonne).
Lower Navarre (French:Basse Navarre, Basque:Nafarroa Behera,Benafarroa). From the medievalKingdom of Navarre, itself of disputed etymology (either Basquenabar: "brownish, multicolor", also "ploughshare"; or Romancenava: "river bank"; or Basquenaba (valley, plain) +herri (people, land)). CompareKingdom of Navarre#Etymology
Soule: deformation of the original Basque nameZuberoa orXiberue
Burgundy (Bourgogne) – part of the land settled by the East GermanicBurgundians, who possibly originated on the island now known asBornholm. Speakers of Old Norse knew the island asBorgundarholm, and in ancient Danish especially the island's name appears asBorghand orBorghund; these names relate to Old Norseborg "height" andbjarg/berg "mountain, rock", as the island rises high from the sea.[32] Other names known for the island includeBurgendaland (9th century),Hulmo /Holmus (Adam of Bremen),Burgundehulm (1145), andBorghandæholm (14th century).[33]Alfred the Great uses the formBurgenda land.[34] Some scholars[35] believe that theBurgundians take their name from the island of Bornholm; they comprised aGermanic tribe which moved west when the westernRoman Empire collapsed, and occupied and namedBurgundy in France in the 5th century CE.
Champagne – from theLatincampania (plain, open country, battlefield). Compare "Campania",below.
Occitania, fromOccitània inOccitan. From medieval LatinOccitania (approximately since 1290). The first part of the name,Occ-, is from Occitan[lenga d']òc or Italian[lingua d']oc (i.e. "Language of Òc"), a name given to the Occitan language byDante according to its way of saying "yes" (òc). The ending-itania is probably an imitation of the old Latin name[Aqu]itania.
Provence – from Latinprovincia (province), short forProvincia Narbonensis, the Roman province located in present-day southern France.
Bassas da India, part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands: Cartographic errors misspelling original namePortugueseBaixo da Judia ("Jewess Shoal") from the name of a Portuguese ship that ran aground on the reef.[36]
Mayotte, a territory: A French corruption of the nativeMaore orMawuti, sultanates on the island around the year 1500.
New Caledonia, a territory: "New Scotland" from theLatinCaledonia, bestowed byBritish captainJames Cook in 1774 after a supposed resemblance. For further etymology of "Caledonia", see Scotlandbelow.
Saint Pierre: From theFrench for "Saint Peter", patron of fishermen.
Miquelon: From theBasque for "Michael", possibly forSaint Michael, published byMartin de Hoyarçabal's pilot in 1579 asMicquetõ andMicquelle, after which it evolved over time intoMiclon,Micklon, and finallyMiquelon.
Baden: after the city ofBaden-Baden, formerlyBaden, 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 inStuttgart, formerlyWirtemberg, further origin uncertain (-berg means "mountain")
Bavaria (GermanBayern): the state of Bavaria developed out of the tribe of theBaiuvarii, who probably gained their name from the land ofBohemia
Brandenburg: after the city ofBrandenburg. The earlierSlavic name of the castle (Burg) of Brandenburg appears asBranibor (Slavic for "Branim's forest", wherebor means "a dense forest").
Hamburg: from the 9th-century nameHammaburg, whereHamma has multiple conflicting interpretations, butburg means "castle".
Lower Saxony (GermanNiedersachsen): after the tribe of theSaxons. "Lower Saxony" became differentiated in modern times from the state ofSaxony to its southeast. The word "lower" reflects Lower Saxony's location in the lowlands of theNorth German Plain, as opposed to Saxony, which has a higher elevation. See below for etymology of "Saxony".
Mecklenburg takes its name from Mecklenburg Castle inDorf Mecklenburg (Burg means "castle" in German, the first part means "big": compareMiddle Low Germanmekel, cognate with Englishmickle—"big castle").
Pomerania (GermanPommern) comes fromSlavic roots meaning "near the sea" (in Slavic languagesmore means "sea"): the standard modern Polish name for the region,Pomorze, demonstrates this well.
The name of the Rhine derives fromGaulishRenos, and ultimately from theProto-Indo-European root *reie- ("to move, flow, run"); words likeriver andrun share the same root.[39] TheReno River in Italy shares the same etymology. The spelling with -h- suggests a borrowing from the Greek form of the name,Rhenos,[39] seen also inrheos, "stream", andrhein, "to flow".
Westphalia formed the westernmost subdivision of theSaxon tribe; the origin of the second part (-falen in German) remains unknown
The word Palatinate derives fromLatinpalatinus "imperial", frompalatium "palace", after the location of the palace of the Roman EmperorAugustus on thePalatine Hill in Rome
Saxony (GermanSachsen): land of theSaxons (possibly the "sword-folk"). The state of Saxony developed out of the Saxon tribe, which principally inhabited present-dayLower Saxony; during the Middle Ages and early modern times, the name migrated to the current location of the state of Saxony
Schleswig takes its name from theCity of Schleswig, which in turn derives its name from theSchlei bay and theLow German wordwig for "trading place".
"Holstein" comes from aSaxon subtribe named, in Latin,Holcetae, whose means "dwellers in the wood" (Northern Low Saxon:Hol(t)saten; German:Holzsassen).
Brunswick (German:Braunschweig): from the town ofBrunswick, possibly originating as "Bruno'swik" (Bruno's marketplace) (with reference to the legendary founderBruno, Duke of Saxony, died 880, or another Bruno) or as "burntwik"); the High German formBraunschweig is an erroneous translation of the originalLow GermanBrunswick
Franconia (German:Franken): from the traditional designation "Franks", referring especially to theKingdom of the East Franks. The name refers to those areas east of theRhine that were first occupied by the Franks, as opposed to areas that were held by theSwabians,Bavarians orSaxons.
Hohenzollern: ultimately from the names ofHohenzollern Castle and its location, Mount Hohenzollern (known locally asZoller orZollern). The lexemehoh/hohen in German means "high/height".
Oldenburg, after the city ofOldenburg, first recorded in 1108 as the town ofAldenburg, 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 thePrussians, a grouping of westernBalt peoples whose collective name (German:Prussen or ancientlyPruzzen) may possibly derive from anIndo-European root meaning "swamp": seeOld Prussians; for political reasons, the electors ofBrandenburg decided to name themselves kings ofPrussia in the 18th century; in this way, they transferred the name of the remote eastern region to a major German state
Banten: named in the honor of the formerBanten Sultanate, which ruled over the region from 16th to the 18th centuries and became one of the main fronts of opposition against the colonial might of theDutch East India Company (VOC).
Bengkulu: named after the Bengkulu river, which passes through the area of the province. The name ofBengkulu itself comes from the Malay wordbangkai meaning "corpse", andhulu 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.
Gorontalo: from the Dutch version of the local phrasehulontalo, meaning "lands surrounded by water" due to the many lakes and rivers formerly in the area
Irian Jaya: The nameIrian is said to come from theBiak language.[citation needed] An alternative etymology forIrian stems from the acronymIkut Republik Indonesia, Anti Nederland ("Join/Follow the Republic of Indonesia, rejecting The Netherlands) (see the article on theProvince of Papua—as of 2009[update] the official Indonesian and internationally recognized name forIrian Jaya).[citation needed] The wordjaya means "victory" or "glorious" inIndonesian, 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, specificallyIrian Jaya or the province of Papua.
Jakarta: from the Javanese wordsjaya (meaning "victory") andkarta (meaning "glory"), which make up the phrase "victorious & glorious; this refers to the victory of Prince Pati Unus (also known asFatahillah) of theDemak Sultanate in his campaign to defeat the rivalMalacca Sultanate of theMalay Peninsula andSamudera Pasai Sultanate ofAceh region in the mid-16th century. The "glorious victory" also refers to the event ofIndonesian Proclamation of Independence on 17 August 1945 which took place in the city.
Jambi: the province takes its name from the historicalJambi Sultanate which ruled over the area from the 17th to the 19th centuries
Lampung: From the word "Lambung" in the Old Malay phraseanjak Lambung, which means "descended from the heights". This refers to the ancestral riddle of the Lampung people, who allegedly had ancestors "descended from the heights". The "heights" reference the southernmost part of the Barisan mountain range that runs through all the western part of the Lampung province.
Nusa Tenggara: fromNusa meaning "islands" (referring to the Lesser Sunda Islands that make up the area) andtenggara meaning "south-east" (referring to the position of the area within the country).
Yogyakarta: From 'Jogja' and 'Karta'. Jogja is a Javanised version of aSanskrit word, 'Ayodhya', the prefix A- meaning 'not' and 'Yodhya' is synonymous to Hindi 'Yuddha', meaning battle, combat, fight, or war. Thus Ayodhya, which later Javanised into Jogja, meant 'The place of no fight' or in simpler interpretation, peaceful. This may refer to the geographic location of Jogjakarta, being fortified naturally by the Java Sea to the South, the Merapi Mountain to the north, the Gunung Sewu Karst Mountains to the east and Progo River to the west where it would be the perfect fortress of peace, and even more supported as a breeding place of peaceful life with its rich and fertile volcanic land and rivers, sourcing up to the majestic Merapi. The word 'Karta' means glory, referring to a hope that this city would bring glory to its people.
Mazendran: its combination of 3 words: Mad (female, mother, mater) and Zainthi (wisdom, knowledge, science) Eran (aryans), Both MAD and Eran is either suffix or prefix of many places in greater Iran or Persia Europeans called + upper India
Iraqi Kurdistan: The name Kurdistan literally means Land of the Kurds, believed to mean nomad in theProto-Iranian language. In the Iraqi Constitution, it is referred to as Kurdistan Region.[5] The full name of the government is "Kurdistan Regional Government" (abbrev: KRG).
Connacht:Connachta in Irish. "Descendants of Conn". From the IrishConnachta people, who all claimed descent from the High KingConn Cétchathach, Conn of the Hundred Battles.
Leinster:Laighin in Irish. From the IrishLaigin people, named afterláigne, the broad blue-grey iron spearheads they carried, and Old Norsestaðr, meaning place or territory.
Munster:Mhumhain in Irish. From the Gaelic goddess Muman and the old Norsestaðr, meaning place or territory.
Ulster:Ulaidh in Irish. From the IrishUlaid people, whose name probably comes from Old Irishul, "beard", and old Norsestaðr, meaning place or territory.
Meath:Mide in Irish. "Middle" in Old Irish. No longer a province of Ireland.
Abruzzo:Aprutium in medieval Latin (6th century), a name by which the "County of Teramo" was known; in turn, Aprutium perhaps derives from the ancient people ofPraetutii, who inhabited the territory in pre-Roman times.
Aosta Valley (Valle d'Aosta): From the valley whereAosta rises, which owes its name to its ancient Latin name ofAugusta Pretoria.
Apulia (Puglia): FromApulia, a toponym used in pre-Roman times to indicate a territory corresponding to the current north-central Apulia. In turn,Apulia derived from the indigenous toponym "Japudia" (parallel to the Greek term Ἰαπυγία, then Latinized to lapygia), with a passing from D to L, typical of italic languages or, more precisely, Osco-Sabellic.
Basilicata: From the Greekbasilikos (royal, imperial), appeared during the7th century and used to designate Bizantine Themi governors.Basilikos means "King official", being adjective ofbasileus, "king"; Basilicata is a term referred to the period when the region belonged to the Eastern Roman Empire. In ancient times it was also known as "Lucania", a term that either originated from the pre-Romani people named Lucani (who took their name from the eponymous hero Lucus or by the Latin term "lucus", meaning sacred wood) or by the Greek for wolf:lykos. Another supported theory indicates that the term may have originated from the ancient Anatolian people of Lici, which would be established in the area of their original land:Licia.
Calabria: a Roman times toponym at the time referred to theSalentine Peninsula, now part ofApulia, that may be originated from a pre-Indo-European mediterranean root cal-/cala- or calabra/galabra-, meaning "rock", "calcareous concretion".
Campania: From the homonymous Latin name, coming from theCampanians people, the ethnonym would come fromcampus, "open field, countryside", since this people was completely dedicated to agriculture; the first meaning of the Region name was the equivalent of "Land of Work", a name that was given to it for the same reason. Compare "Champagne",above.
Emilia-Romagna: Emilia derives from theVia Aemilia, a main trading route, that takes its name from its builder, Marco Emilio Lepido, from theAemilia gens. Romagna derives from Romania (Roman territory).
Lazio: From Latin "Latium", given to the Region by theLatins (Italic tribe); in turn the toponym may be deriving from the size of their territory, being it wide, flat or large (latus in Latin).Ovid hints at perhaps a slightly more sophisticatedfolk etymology, with a legend of the naming of Latium afterSaturnlatente deo (as a god in hiding) after he allegedly fled to Italy following his expulsion byJupiter. Modern linguists postulate origins in aProto-Indo-European language (PIE) root*stela- (to spread, extend), expressing the idea of "flat land" (in contrast to the localSabine high country). But the name may originate from an earlier, non-Indo-European one. See theOnline Etymological Dictionary.
Liguria: From the homonymous Latin toponym, the ancient pre-Romani people ofLigures, in greek Λιγυες, Ligues and in LatinLigures, of uncertain origin, mentioned from the7th century BC to the5th century BC.
Lombardy: from the medieval Latin "Langobardia", Land of theLombards, a germanic population that invaded the Italian peninsula in568, makingPavia its own reign capital.
Marche: from the plural ofMarca, identifying a frontier territory, developed to designate the territory on a political and administrative level during the early Middle Ages, referring to the period in which the Region was at the border ofCharlemagne Empire during the8th century.
Molise: Derives from a toponym registered for the first time during the early Middle Ages, indicating aNormans' county, like "Castello di Molise" (Molise Castle), which name may be originated from the Latin "Molensis".
Piedmont: From the expression that alludes to the Region morphology,at the foot of the mountains, particularly at the foot of theWestern Alps.
Sardinia: From the LatinSardinia and the name of its ancient inhabitants, Sardi. It is unclear how those populations did define themselves, while it is possible that the etnonym derived fromSherden people.
Sicily: From the LatinSicilia and the GreekSikelia, by the name of the people who inhabited the island,Sicels, who may had originated from the centre of Italy but moved then to the eastern side of Trinacria. Yet since the2nd century BC, the Latin termSiculus has lost every ethnolinguistic connotation, indicating who is born or lives on the island.
Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol: Trentino derived from the LatinTridentinus, adjective ofTridentum,Trento, identifying the area of itsAutonomous province. Alto Adige alludes to the upper course of the riverAdige and identifies the area ofBolzano's Autonomous province.
Tuscany: From the medieval Latin "Tuscania", having as an adjectiveTuscanus, from the late LatinTuscia, from the adjectiveTuscus, pluralTusci, in turn from a previousTruscus, shortening ofEtruscus, pluralEtrusci,Etruscan civilization, the inhabitants of the Region during the pre-Roman times.
Umbria: From the LatinUmbria, from the ancientUmbri people; it's unclear the provenance of their etnonym. An hypothesis was proposed byPliny the Elder in the "Natural History (Pliny)": "The umbrian population is estimated to be the most ancient of Italy; in facts, we believe that Umbri have been calledOmbrii by the Greeks, since they may be survived to the rains when their land was flooded by the Flood". "Ombros" in Greek and "Imbris" in Latin means "rain, downpour".
Veneto; From the ancient pre-RomanAdriatic Veneti, also known asPaleoveneti, mentioned by some main historical figures like:Julius Caesar,Tacitus andPliny the Elder; the Indo-European root detected at the origin of this name iswen, to love, so Veneti may be the "lovely and friendly ones".
Jeolla – from the first characters in the city namesJeonju andNaju (The first character of Naju is actually "ra"—"r" changes to "n" in the initial position, and the combination "nr" changes to "ll" due to phonological characteristics of theKorean language).
Khammuan (ຄໍາມ່ວນ) – Kham (ຄໍາ) in Lao means "gold", and Muan (ມ່ວນ) in Lao means "Joyous"
Luang Namtha (ຫລວງນໍ້າທາ) – means "royal sugar palm" or "royal green river"
Luang Prabang/Luang Phabang (ຫລວງພະບາງ) – Luang (ຫລວງ) in Lao means "Large" or "Grand", and Phabang (ພະບາງ) is the name of the buddha image which the city is named after.
Savannakhet (ສະຫວັນນະເຂດ) – derives fromSavanh Nakhone ('heavenly district' or 'land of fertility suitable for agriculture'). Savanh (ສະຫວັນ) in Lao means "Heaven" and Nakhet (ນະເຂດ) in Lao means "District"
Vientiane/Vieng Chan (ວຽງຈັນ) – city of sandalwood. Vieng (ວຽງ) in Lao means "city" and Chan (ຈັນ) in Lao means "Moon" or "Sandalwood"
Sainyabuli (ໄຊຍະບູລີ) – The name is derived from the Sanskrit words sena ('army') and puri ('city').
Alor Star –alor in Malay means "furrow", whilestar refers to a kind of tree (Bouea macrophylla) that bears small, sour fruit known askundang orremia inMalay
Cyberjaya – Malay: "cyber excellence", a reference to the city's designation as the "Silicon Valley of Malaysia"
Kota Kinabalu - The word of "kota" means city in Malay while the word of "kinabalu" derived from the Kadazandusunaki nabalu ("grandfather" foraki, and "mountain" fornabalu)
Kuching - Malay: "cat", but probably a corruption of the Indiancochin ("port") or a reference to themata kucing trees that used to proliferate where the city grew subsequently
Labuan – derived from the Malaylabuhan ("anchorage")
Langkawi – Malay for "eagle island", but possibly related toLangkasuka, an ancient Hindu kingdom founded inKedah in the 1st century CE
Perak – Malay: "silver", from the silvery colour of tin for which the area is known 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 firstPrime 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 Malayselangau ("fly") due to the abundance of flies along theSelangor River
Sungai Petani – literally "farmer river" in Malay, said to originate from the concentration ofpaddy-fields andfarmers in the state
Bayan-Ölgii: from theMongolian:Bayan (rich),Ölgii (cradleregion), a province later built in the 1940s especially for some Kazakh tribes migrated to Mongolia in the early 1910s for land.
Western Sahara, claimed territory: After its geographic position. "Sahara" derives from the Arabicaṣ-Ṣaḥrā' (الصحراء), meaning "desert". The area is also claimed by theSahrawis.
Curaçao: Uncertain. One etymology derives from Portuguesecuraçao ("healing");[citation needed] another from Portuguesecoração ("heart");[citation needed] another that it is a local endonym.[42]
Drenthe (Dutch Low Saxon:Drentie): first mentioned in a Latin document of 820 aspago Treanth. Treanth probably finds its origin in the number three, as the area was then divided in three jurisdictions.
Flevoland: from LatinLacus Flevo (Lake Flevo), a name used inRoman sources to refer to a body of water at what would later become known as theZuiderzee. The Netherlands government established the province in 1986 on lands reclaimed from the Zuiderzee in the 1950s and 1960s.
Gelderland (also English:Guelders): Named after the modern city ofGeldern, Germany.
Groningen (Gronings:Grönnen orGrunnen). Named afterits capital city. The origin of the city name is uncertain; theories include an original meaning of "people of Groni" (a man's name) or "green fields".
Limburg: Derived from the castle-fortified town ofLimbourg which in turn was derived from "lint" "dragon" and burg "fortress". See also under Belgium.
North Brabant (Dutch:Noord-Brabant). The name in Carolingian times appeared in Latinised form aspagus Bracbatensis, frombracha "new" andbant "region". See also under Belgium.
Alkmaar: fromAelcemaer, 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: fromAmstelredam, which means "dam over theAmstel" (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 ofBetawe between theWaal and theRhine. The name of the island probably derives frombatawjō ("good island", from Germanicbat—"good, excellent" andawjō—"island, land near water"), referring to the region's fertility.
Bonaire: Uncertain, but thought to have been originally derived from theCaquetio wordbonay. Later Dutch and Spanish colonists modified it, first to Bojnaj and finally to its current name of Bonaire (French: "good air").
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")
Netherlands Antilles, a territory: From their Dutch owners and from a mythical land or island (Antillia), west of Europe, or a combination of twoPortuguese wordsante oranti (possibly meaning "opposite" in the sense of "on the opposite side of the world") andilha ("island"), currently the name for these Caribbean Islands.
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 thecity of Groningen and the medieval Frisian lordships west, north and east of the city.
Twente (region in the east of the province of Overijssel): fromLatintvihanti;[citation needed] or after the Germanic tribe theTubantii as described byTacitus; or an early form of the currentTwents-language word for a 2-year-old horse:Tweanter.
Auckland: in honour ofGeorge Eden,Earl of Auckland, a patron ofWilliam Hobson, who founded and named the city of Auckland. The Earl took his sobriquet from Auckland inDurham, United Kingdom, possibly deriving from theCelticAlclet orAclet, or "Cliffs of the Clyde". Although nowhere near theRiver Clyde, the locality may have had connections with the Celtic kingdom ofStrathclyde; it may have borrowed the name of the Clyde for aesthetic or prestige reasons, as Alclet's river—theGaunless—means "useless" inOld Norse; or a nearby river may have had the name "Clyde"—history does not record the name of the river Gaunless before the Norse named it
Otago: anglicised from the Māori nameOtakou, akainga east of present-day Otago Harbour, originally meaning "one isolated village" or "place of red earth"
Levin: from a director of the railway company that established the town to help boost its railway
Niue, a territory:Niu probably means "coconut", andé means "behold". According to legend, thePolynesian explorers who first settled the island knew that they had come close to land when they saw a coconut floating in the water.
Plimmerton: from John Plimmer,Wellington pioneer, director of the railway company that created the seaside resort to help boost its railway; centralWellington has Plimmer's Steps.
Tasman: district named from the bay name, in honour of DutchmanAbel Tasman, commander of first European expedition to sight the country; also amountain andglacier name.Abel Tasman National Park bears a fuller version of his name.
Tokelau, a territory: From theTokelauan "North" or "Northern", in reference to their position relative toSamoa. The Tokelauan people traditionally suppose themselves to have originated from settlers from Samoa.
Adamawa: the state occupies most of the territory of the defunct 19th-centuryAdamawa Emirate, which stretched fromnortheastern Nigeria tonorthern Cameroon. The wordAdamawa derives from the name of the founder of the emirate,Modibbo Adama. The original name for the emirate was Fombina (''southlands" inFulfulde), named by the founder of theSokoto Caliphate,Usman dan Fodio. However, it later came to be known as Adamawa, meaning "the people of Adama" in theHausa language. The suffix -wa is appended in Hausa to signify the collective identity of 'people of' that place, so, Adamawa means "the people of Adama".[15]
New Britain – in honour of Great Britain. Originally named byWilliam Dampier in theLatin formNova Britannia; calledNeu-Pommern (NewPomerania) during the period of German colonization until the conquest of the area by Australia in 1914
New Ireland – named after Ireland (with the Latin phraseNovaHibernia) byPhilip Carteret in 1767 when he established that it differed from nearbyNew Britain. (Officially known as NewMecklenburg (German:Neumecklenburg orNeu-Mecklenburg) during the period ofGerman New Guinea from 1885 to 1914.)
Greater Poland – from the tribe ofPolans or from the word "pole" (field) meaning "country of fields" – "Greater" distinguishes it from the whole Polish state
Muntenia – frommuntean=man of the mountains, from Romanianmunte=mountain
Oltenia – from the riverOlt, calledAlutus by the Romans, possibly from Latinlutum, meaning "mud" or "clay".
Transylvania – "beyond the woods"—i.e., from Hungary
Ardeal – possibly a borrowing of the Hungarian name Erdély, like the Romani nameArdyalo—speakers of old Hungarian pronouncedErdély asErdél. The initial Hungarian "e-" occasionally changes to "a-" in Romanian (compare Hungarianegres "gooseberry" andEgyed, which becameagriş andAdjud in Romanian). The ending '-eal' in Romanian does not suggest a Romanian borrowing from Hungarian. In parallel examples, Hungarian-ely becomes-ei in Romanian. But when Hungarian adopts a word from Romanian, "a" usually becomes "e":Andreas becomesEndre, the Latinager becomeseger, etc. Thus the wordArdeal could becomeErdély. The linguist Josep Lad Pic determined[citation needed] that the word "Ardeal" has an Indo-European origin, while the wordsErdely andErdo do not. The Proto-Indo-European root *arde ("to grow", "high") manifests itself in the Old Indianárdhuka ("prospering"), and in Latinarduus ("high"). In Celtic Gaul,Arduenna silva parallels the English "Forest of Arden" and the Ardennes Woods in Belgium. In Romanian,deal means "hill" andardica "to grow, high, prosperous".
Arkhangelsk Oblast: the region of the city ofArkhangelsk, whose name the inhabitants traditionally associated with a monastery in the area dedicated to theArchangel Michael (Russian: Архангел Михаил orArkhangel Mikhail).
Chechnya: the RussianethnonymChechen probably derives from the name of the ancient village ofChechana orChechen-aul. The village stands on the bank of theArgun River, nearGrozny. Another theory derives the name fromchechenit' sya, "to talk mincingly".[46]Vasmer suggests aKabardian origin:šešen.[47] The native term,Noxçi, comes fromnexça (sheep cheese),nox (plow) or from the prophetNoah (Nox in Chechen).
Dagestan: the wordDaghestan orDaghistan (Avar:Дагъистан; Arabic andPersian:داغستان) means "country of mountains"; it derives from the Turkic worddağ, meaning "mountain" and the Persian suffix-stan meaning "land of". The spellingDagestan transliterates the Russian name, which lacks thevoiced velar fricative.
Kaliningrad Oblast: from the Russian nameKaliningrad (Kalinin-city) of its largest city, renamed in 1946 to commemnorateMikhail Kalinin
Kazan (former Imperial Russian governorate): (compare the name of the city ofKazan)
Sakhalin: derived from misinterpretation of a Manchu name "sahaliyan ula angga hada" (peak of the mouth of theAmur River). "Sahaliyan" means "black" in Manchu and refers to the Amur River (sahaliyan ula).
Banská Bystrica: The name includes two distinct roots: the adjectiveBanská (from Slovakbaňa—"mine") and the name of the local river Bystrica (from Slavicbystrica—"a swift stream").[48] Its name inHungarian:Besztercebánya has the same semantic origin. The name literally means "mining creek".
Bratislava: The first written reference comes from theAnnales Iuvavenses, which calls the localityBrezalauspurc (literally:Braslav's castle), in relation to the battles between theBavaria and Hungary, which took place before the walls ofBratislava Castle in 907.[49] The castle got its name either from Predslav, third son of KingSvatopluk I or from the local noble Braslav.[50] This former variant reappears as "Braslav" or "Preslava" on coins minted by KingIstván I ofHungary, dating to about the year 1000 and in which appeared the motto "Preslavva Civitas".[51] At the end of theMiddle Ages, the name took its final German formPressburg:Slovak ofPrešporok derived from this.[51] AlthoughPressburg remained the official name until 1919, the Hungarians use and used the namePozsony (attested by the 12th century).[51][52]Bozan could result from a ruling of theBratislava Castle from the eleventh century. The namePosoniumLatin derives from Hungarian.[53] In addition to these names, documents of theRenaissance call the city 'Ιστροπόλις'Istropolis which means "City of the Danube" inAncient Greek. The current name,Bratislava, dates from 1837 when the Slavist scholarPavel Jozef Šafárik reconstructed a variant of the name,Břetislaw[54] a from old names, believing that these derived from the name of the rulerBretislaus I of Bohemia.
Košice: The first written mention of the city as "villa Cassa" dates from 1230.[55] The Slovak name of the city comes from the Slavicpersonal name "Koša" with the patronymicslavic suffix "-ice".[56] According to other sources the city name probably stems from an ancient Hungarian firstname which begins with "Ko" such as Kokos-Kakas, Kolumbán-Kálmán, or Kopov-Kopó.[57] Historically, the city has been known asKaschau in German,Kassa in Hungarian,Cassovia orCaschovia inLatin,Cassovie in French,Caşovia inRomanian,Кошицы (Koshitsy) in Russian andKoszyce in Polish (seehere for more names).
Nitra: The first mention of Nitra dates back to 880 (other variations: 826 as Nitrawa, 880 as Nitra, and in 1111/1113 as Nitra, Nitria). The name of the city derives from theriver Nitra. The name originates in the Germanic wordNitrahwa: in the Indo-European languagesnid means "flow" whileahwa means "water".
Prešov: The city name originates in the Hungarian wordeper which means "strawberry".[58] The city's historic coat of arms contains strawberries.[58] Historically, the city has been known asEperjes in Hungarian,Eperies orPreschau in German,Fragopolis in Greco-Latin,Preszów in Polish,Peryeshis inRomany,Пряшев (Pryashev) in Russian andПряшів (Priashiv) inRusyn andUkrainian.
Trenčín: Trenčín first appeared under Greek nameLeukaristos(Λευκαριστος), depicted on thePtolemy world map around 150 CE. In 179 CE, during theMarcomannic Wars between theRoman Empire and GermanicQuadi, the Romans carved an inscription on the rock under the present-day castle, mentioning the place asLaugaricio. (The inscription marks the northernmost known presence of the Romans in Central Europe.) The first written mentions in the Middle Ages date from 1111 (asTreinchen) and from 1113 (adjective:Trenciniensis). The name becameTrentschin in later German andTrencsén in Hungarian.
Trnava: The name of the city derives from the Slovak wordtŕnie ("thornbush") which characterized the river banks in the region. The Hungarian nameNagyszombat (first mentioned in 1238 in the form ofZumbotel) originates from the Hungarian wordszombat ("Saturday"), referring to the weekly market fairs held on Saturdays.
Orange Free State: the Free State operated as an independent country (Free State) during most of the 19th century. The adjectiveOrange came from theOrange River to the south/south-west of the province, in turn named in 1779 byRobert Jacob Gordon (1743–1795), commander of the Cape Colony garrison (1780–1795), in honour of the DutchHouse of Orange-Nassau.[59]
Gauteng: TheSesotho name for the province's and country's largest city ofJohannesburg. The literal meaning, "Place of Gold", refers to the area's large gold-mining industry.
KwaZulu-Natal: a combination of the names of the two entities that merged to form the modern province:
Natal: Portuguese for "Christmas". The Portuguese explorerVasco da Gama named the area: he landed on the coast of the future KwaZulu-Natal on Christmas Day in 1497.
Limpopo: theLimpopo River forms the province's and the country's most northern boundary.
Mpumalanga: "east", or more literally, "the place where the sun rises", in severalNguni languages, among themSwazi,Xhosa, andZulu. Refers to the province's location in the north-east of South Africa.
North West: From its geographic position, in the north of the country and west of the main population-centre of Gauteng.
Aragon: from theAragon 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 (seeReconquista)
Asturias: the land of theAstures, an early people of north-west Spain
Basque Country (Basque:Euskal Herria): from the ancient tribe of theVascones, whose name became anethnonym in the Middle Ages. The Basque name derives fromEuskara (the autochthonous name for the Basque language).
Álava (Basque:Araba): of uncertain etymology. Various theories see it deriving from a Roman town calledAlba, from several prossible Basque etymologies or from Arabs (who only briefly held the province). A chronicle of 905 uses the formArba, but later the word commonly appears asAlaba orAlava.
Biscay (Basque:Bizkaia,Spanish:Vizcaya): variant ofbizkarra ("shoulder", "back" or, in this case, "mountain range" in Basque)
Gipuzkoa (Spanish:Guipúzcoa): of unknown etymology. Old documents sometimes use the variantIpuscoa.
Cantabria: from theCantabri, amountain people defeated by theRomans only after a great military effort (Cantabrian Wars, 29 – 19 BC). Celtologists have suggested a derivation from theCeltic rootcant-, 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 themountains", referring to the rugged terrain of Cantabria. Another suggestion derivesCantabria from the CelticKant ("mountain" or "rock") andIber (the riverEbro), thus "The Mountains of the Ebro". Spaniards also call this regionLa Montaña ("The Mountain"), but usually call theBay of Biscay theCantabrian Sea.
Castile: the Spanish/Castilian nameCastilla reflects the Spanishcastillo ("castle") and the Latincastellum ("fort" or "fortress") with reference to numerous forts or castles erected by KingAlfonso I for the defence of the area
Catalonia: from thecastlà ("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) saysCatalunya could come from ArabicQalat-uniyya (Qalat means "castle" and-uniyya operates as a collective suffix) because medieval Catalonia 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 nameCatalunya derives from "Gauta-landia": land of the Goths, or "Goth-Alania" meaning "Land of the Goths and Alans"[60] 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 Iberianlaiezken) >*laketani >laketans >metathesized ascatelans >catalans, re-inforced bycastellani (with anepenthetics according to Coromines). Another theory suggests*kaste-lan as the Iberian name, later Latinized ascastellani (an Iberian tribe in northern Catalonia according toPtolemy); then the name would have evolved into*catellani >*catelans >*Catalans.
Extremadura: fromMedieval LatinExtrema Dorii (literally, "extremes of theDouro river"), referring to the territories south of the Douro basin; or from an OldCastilian word used to designate the further territories controlled by the Christians (seeReconquista)
Galicia: from LatinGallaecia, the name of the province created in RomanHispania byDiocletian in 298 CE. It derives fromgallicoi orcallicoi, (Galli orCelts).
León: the ancientkingdom and subsequentprovince of León take their name from the city ofLeón, whose name derives from its position as the base of aRoman legion (Latinlegio)
Navarre (Spanish:Navarra, Basque:Nafarroa): from theKingdom of Navarre.Navarra has been argued to have either a Basque or Romance etymology. In the first case it would come fromnabar ("brownish, multicolor", also "plowshare"), in the second fromnava ("river bank").
Rioja: speculatively interpreted as "red" from the redness of a prominent soil type in the area.[61]
Sweden formerly consisted ofhistorical 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 intocounties (Swedish:län), introduced in 1634.
Historical provinces:
Blekinge: from the adjectivebleke, which corresponds to the nautical term for "dead calm".
Västerbotten: West Bothnia (west side of theGulf of Bothnia). In old Nordic "botten" meant inner part of a bay/gulf, see theetymology of Bothnia. CompareOstrobothnia (Österbotten / East Bothnia) in Finland, formerly a Swedish province, and Norrbotten above.
Västernorrland: means "WesternNorrland". At the time Norrland meant North Sweden including North Finland, and Western Norrland excluded Finland. Now Västernorrland is located in Eastern Norrland.
Norrbotten: North Bothnia (originally northern part of Västerbotten County)
Aargau: German name labelling the district (Gau) of the RiverAar.
Appenzell: from Latinabbatis cella, meaning "land of the abbot", referring to the fact that Appenzell originally belonged to theAbbey of St. Gall.
Basel: traditionally associated with the Greekbasileus ("king") orbasileos ("of the king"): the city saw itself as preserving theImperial Roman heritage of its parent settlement, the Roman town ofAugusta Raurica. Note the use of thebasilisk as a Basler icon.
Solothurn: the city ofSolothurn, capital of the Canton of the same name, first appears under the Celtic nameSalodurum.
Thurgau: an early medievalGau county named after the RiverThur.
Ticino: from the principal river of the canton, theTicino, a tributary of thePo River.
Uri: (speculatively) from the older GermanAurochs, a wild ox (seeaurochs); or from the Celtic wordure, a bull. (Note the head of the bull on the cantonal coat of arms.)
Valais (French), Wallis (German): from the Latin wordvallis, meaning "valley"; the canton consists mainly of theRhone valley.
Zürich: after the city ofZürich, calledTuricum in 2nd-century Latin; the origin of the Latin name is unknown.
Keelung (基隆): Literally "Prosperous Base" in Chinese, renamed in 1875 from "Chicken Cage" (Chinese: 雞籠; Mandarin: Jilong; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ke-lâng), possibly derived from theKetagalan people
Kinmen (金門): "Golden Gate", 1387. When a fortress was built to defend the coast of Fujian, Kinmen was described as being "as secure as a metal moat, proudly safeguarding the gate of the sea" (固若金湯, 雄鎮海門)
Miaoli (苗栗): Renamed in 1889 from貓狸/貓里 (Mandarin: Maoli), from the Bari Settlement of theTaokas Tribe, meaning "Plains"
Nantou (南投): 1695, after theRamtau settlement of the Arikun Tribe
Most of Ukraine'soblasts take their names from their principal city; but Volyn Oblast, Zakarpattia Oblast, the Crimean Autonomous Republic, and since 2016, Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad oblasts, offer exceptions to this rule. See alsosubdivisions of Ukraine.
Scotland: "Land of theScots", attested in the 11th-centuryAnglo-Saxon Chronicles of Abingdon, Worcester and Laud.[68][69] "Scot" fromOld EnglishScottas, fromLate LatinScoti orScotti, of ultimately uncertain origin, but used in Latin to referenceGaels raiding Roman Britain from a region (Scotia) in Ireland.[70] and whose colinguists established the realm ofDál Riata in the vicinity ofArgyll.
Caledonia, a former name: "Land of theCaledonii" inLatin, from a Latin name for a local tribe, of uncertain etymology. Possibly related to theWelshcaled ("hard", "tough").
Jersey: TheNorse suffix-ey means "island" and is commonly found in the parts ofNorthern Europe whereNorsemen established settlements. (Compare modern Nordic languages:øy in Norwegian,ø/ö in Danish and Swedish.) The meaning of the first part of the island's name is unclear. Among theories are that it derives from Norsejarth ("earth") orjarl ("earl"), or perhaps a personal name, Geirr, to give "Geirr's Island". American writerWilliam Safire suggested that the "Jers" in Jersey could be a corruption of "Caesar".[76]
Anguilla: "eel", for its elongated shape, from eitherSpanishanguila,Italiananguilla, orFrenchanguille, as it is uncertain whether the island was first sighted byChristopher Columbus in 1493 or by French explorers in 1564.[77]
Islas Malvinas, itsSpanish name: "Malovian Islands", from theFrenchMalouines describing theBreton sailors fromSt. Malo inBrittany who frequented the islands in the 1690s.
Sebald Islands, a former name now applied inSpanish to theJason Islands: From aDutch name commemoratingSebald de Weert, the captain usually credited with first sighting the archipelago in 1598.
Pitcairn Islands: A member of the English CaptainPhilip Carteret's crew in his shipHMSSwallow first sighted the remote islands in July 1767. Carteret named the main island "Pitcairn's Island" after the man who first saw land: the son of Major Pitcairn of the Marines.
South Georgia: "Land ofGeorge", from the original "Isle of Georgia" bestowed byBritish captainJames Cook in honor ofKing George III on 17 January 1775. "South" distinguished it from the othercolony of Georgia, which became an American state in 1782.
Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge, an unincorporated territory: for American captainMichael Baker ofNew Bedford, Massachusetts, who claimed to have discovered it in 1832 or 1834, despite being the third to have done so.[79]
Guam, a territory: From the nativeChamorro wordguahan, meaning "we have".
Howland Island, a territory: Bestowed by Capt.George E. Netcher in honor of the lookout who sighted it from his ship, theIsabella, on 9 September 1842.
Jarvis Island, a territory: Bestowed by theBritish Captain Brown in honor of Edward, Thomas, and William Jarvis, the owners of his vessel theEliza Francis.
Kingman Reef, a territory: For Capt.W.E. Kingman, who discovered the reef aboard theShooting Star on 29 November 1853.
Midway Islands, a territory: For their geographic location, perhaps from the islands' situation midway between North America and Asia, or their proximity to theInternational Date Line (halfway around the world from theGreenwich Meridian).[80]
Middlebrook Islands or the Brook Islands, former names: For their discoverer, CaptainN.C. Middlebrooks.
Palmyra Atoll, a territory: Named after the boatPalmyra, which belonged to the American Captain Sawle. He sought shelter on the atoll on 7 November 1802, and became the first person known to land on it.
Puerto Rico, a territory with commonwealth status:Christopher Columbus named the islandSan Juan Bautista in honour ofSaint John the Baptist in 1493. The Spanish authorities set up a capital city calledPuerto Rico (meaning "rich port"). For now unknown reasons, the island and capital city had exchanged names by the 1520s.
^"Jervis Bay History". Territories Division, Attorney-General's Department, Australian Government. 19 February 2008. Archived fromthe original on 23 September 2008. Retrieved10 October 2008.1791 The bay was named 'Jervis Bay' by Lieutenant Bowen of theAtlantic in honour of Admiral Sir John Jervis under whom he had served
^ab"Heard island: History: Discovery". Australian Antarctic Division. Archived fromthe original on 5 December 2005. Retrieved28 August 2008.The first confirmed sighting of Heard Island was made on 25 November 1853 by Captain John Heard on the merchant vesselOriental. Earlier sightings of land in the area in the 1830s are considered doubtful.
^Harper, Douglas."Flanders".Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved10 June 2010.probably a compound of roots represented by Flemish vlakte 'plain' + wanderen 'to wander.'
^Fairbank, John King. Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast: The Opening of the Treaty Ports, 1842–1854. 2 vols. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1953.
^King Alfred's Anglo-Saxon version of Orosius, London, 1859, edited by J. Bosworth
^Essai sur l'histoire du peuple burgonde, de Bornholm (Burgundarholm) vers la Bourgogne et les Bourguignons, 1965, by Rene Guichard, published by A. et J. Picard et Cie. (Paris)
^Bernardo Gomes de Brito.Historia Tragico-Maritima. Em que se escrevem chronologicamente os Naufragios que tiverão as Naos de Portugal, depois que se poz em exercicio a Navegação da India. Lisboa, 1735.(in Portuguese)
^Smith, S. Percy. "Futuna, or Horne Island, and Its People".The Journal of the Polynesian Society, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 33 – 52. 1892
^ab"Rhine".Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper. November 2001. Retrieved10 February 2009.
^Peterson, Lena."Swābaharjaz"(PDF).Lexikon över urnordiska personnamn. Institutet för språk och folkminnen, Sweden. p. 16. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 18 May 2011. Retrieved11 October 2007. (Text in Swedish); for an alternative meaning, as "free, independent" seeRoom, Adrian (2006), "Swabia, Sweden",Placenames of the World: Origins and Meanings of the Names for 6,600 Countries, Cities, Territories, Natural Features and Historic Sites: Second Edition, Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, pp. 363, 364,ISBN0-7864-2248-3; compareSuiones.
^Pokorny, Julius."Root/Lemma se-".Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch. Indo-European Etymological Dictionary (IEED), Department of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics, Leiden University. pp. 882–884. Archived fromthe original on 9 August 2011. Some related English words includesibling, sister, swain, self.
^Earle, Anton; Malzbender, Daniel; Turton, Anthony; Manzungu, Emmanuel (April 2005).A preliminary basin profile of the Orange/Senqu River(PDF). Inwent Capacity Development Programme: Integrated Water Resources Management in Shared River Basins in the SADC Region. Cape Town: African Water Issues Research Unit (AWIRU), University of Pretoria. p. 1.ISBN1-86854-618-7. Retrieved21 April 2010.Contrary to popular belief, the Orange River was not named after the reddish orange colour of its silt-laden water. It was in fact named in 1779 by Colonel Robert Gordon, the commander of the garrison of the Dutch East India Company (Cape Town) during a reconnaissance into the interior, in honour of the Dutch House of Orange (DWAF, 2005).
^Fallis, Catherine, ed. (2006).The encyclopedic atlas of wine: a comprehensive guide to the world's greatest wines and wineries. Willoughby, N.S.W.: Global Book Publishing. p. 336.ISBN1-74048-050-3.
^Cubbin, G.P. (1996).The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition. Vol. 6: MS. D. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. pp. 1, l. 3, pp. 13, l. 20.ISBN0-859-91467-4.
^Cubbin, G.P. (1996).The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition. Vol. 6: MS. D. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. pp. 1, l. 1–3.ISBN0859914674.
) ("Black River")
girin ula (吉林乌拉) meaning "Riverside"
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sahaliyan ula).
