These are twelve most popular countries with a very different name than the one we all know

Toponymy or geographical onomastics is the discipline that is responsible for knowing the origin of the name of places. It is a curious branch, since thanks to it we can understand many aspects of the origin, characteristics and realities of countries that, although they have a specific name in each language, things change if we analyze their national or original name, which can give us many clues about its history or nature.

This is not the case of countries with official names or nicknames, the case of the Netherlands (whose unofficial and inaccurate name is Holland) or Burma, the old name of the current Republic of Myanmar. In this case we are talking about well-known countries, such as Germany or Greece, whose native name is very different:

Deutschland

Although traditionally in Spain the country is known as Germany, the truth is that the German word to name the country is Deutschland. We use Germany because of the Alemanni, one of the leading peoples of the Germanic invasions.

Nippon

To name their country, the Japanese use the word Nippon, which literally means the country of the rising sun and which in Spanish is also used as a synonym for Japanese (Nippon).. The use of Japan instead of Nippon to refer to the country comes through the Cantonese pronunciation.

Hellas

The origins of the name of Greece, Hellas, come from Hellas, the name with which the ancient inhabitants of the region identified themselves.. It was the Romans who used the word Graecia to define the people of the Epirus area and from there it derived Greece.

shqipëria

This term, the real name of Albania, literally means 'land of eagles' and enjoys great symbolism in the country.. Albania is a Latin name that comes from the Albani tribe and does not represent the entire territory.

Sunrise

It is the real name of Scotland in Gaelic, a term that is related to the terms 'white' or 'hill'. However, it is better known as Scotland due to the Greek word skotos which translates as 'darkness' or 'darkness'.

suomi

In Finnish the name of Finland is Suomi, but we use the word that comes from the Germanic finn and is used to define nomadic hunters.

Al Maghrib

The original name of Morocco is Al Maghrib, which in Arabic means the extreme west.. The denomination of Morocco has been extended due to the city of Marrakech. It is a Spanish term that extends the name of this city to the whole country.

Sverige

The real name of Sweden comes from two old Scandinavian words and means something like people of the suiones. The Latin derivation has ended up giving that much-used Sweden.

hayastan

Although the origin of the word Armenia is uncertain, there are several versions: some say that it comes from the Armi region, and others speak of the Arame king.. Whatever it is, it bears little resemblance to Hayastan, which is the term used by the locals.

Druk Yul

It is believed that Bhutan comes from Tibetan and means something like the end of Tibet.. A word very different from that of Druk Yul, which is the one used and which is translated as country of the dragon.

Bharath

Although it may not seem like it, Bharat is the name of India in various indigenous languages. Bharat's name comes from a legendary king, while India is simply a derivation of the Indus River.

Kalaallit Nunaat

The name Greenland was invented as a lure to attract more visitors by the Viking Erik the Red and means green land.. In Greenlandic it is called Kalaallit Nunaat which means land of the kalaallit.