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India (Country of River Indus), Pakistan (Pure Country): What does each country name mean?

A fascinating map is doing the rounds online, which shows the literal translation of each country name. While some like India (Country of the River Indus) and Japan (Land of the Rising Sun), are well-known, others like Spain, which comes from 'Land of Many Rabbits'.

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This world map shows the literal translations of country names. (Source: creditcardcompare.com)

Ever wondered how a country gets its name? While we agree that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, still the name of a place holds a special significance and there is a lot of historical influences that goes into naming a country. Though the essence of a name is often lost in translation, a world map recently surfaced on social media, showing what exactly does your nation stand for, in the form of the literal translation of the country name.

Take, for instance, ”Country of the River Indus”, known to the world as India, or ”Land of the Rising Sun”, which is Japan. Though Japan is not the first country to see the rising sun, the name was given in the context of China referring to Japan’s, or Nippon’s, eastern position relative to China. The etymology of the word Israel, meaning “He that Striveth with God”, or Pakistan, meaning “Pure Country”, can also be traced back to the rich history of these countries.

Of course, there are some surprises as well. Who would have thought that Spain would come from the “Land of Many Rabbits”, or Canada means “The Village”, but there were some that made sense, such as the Bahamas from “Land of Shallow Sea” and “Land of the Finns” as Finland.

This map has been around for a while, and seems to take its data from The World Factbook by the Central Intelligence Agency and Oxford University Press. But it recently resurfaced on social media when German geographer Simon Kustenmacher shared it on Twitter. Kustenmacher tweeted out segments from the map, saying, “I was disappointed by #Spain: Land of many rabbits?! I expected something related to military”.

Beautifully designed #map shows the literal translations of country names across the globe. I was disappointed by #Spain: Land of many rabbits?! I expected something related to military… The link leads you to a zoomable version of the whole map: https://t.co/CI8XtOiqKF pic.twitter.com/g04cfnxqBd

— Simon Kuestenmacher (@simongerman600) March 7, 2018

Soon after, arguments erupted over the translations with a user claiming Wales to be the English translation of the country and not the native (Cymru). He added that the English translation of Cymru would be ”fellow countrymen”. A similar debate ensued over Egypt as the English translation and ‘Misr’ being the ancient name.

Here’s a zoomable version of the map for a closer look.

First uploaded on: 19-03-2018 at 20:09 IST

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