Country Names in their Native Languages Quiz

Answer: Deutschland

It's no surprise that a name can be spelled, pronounced, and/or written differently in other languages, but often each of those names tend to stick to a similar root. Germany is a very rare case, since its name varies widely in different languages, and such variety is due to the many tribes that have inhabited the area over the years.

All of the options are names given to Germany in different parts of Europe. The correct answer, "Deutschland", is derived from the word "diutisc", from the Old High German, which meant "popular", or "of the people" (as opposed to "walhisc" which was used to denote something foreign). "Tyskland" shares the same root, and it's used in the Nordic countries, except Finland, which in turn uses "Saksa", derived from the Saxons tribe. As for "Alemania", the Spanish name, it comes from the Alemanni tribe, though some sources note that it was also used to denote "all men", a conglomeration of the different tribes of the area.

There are even more different rooted names in Europe for Germany, but to keep this from being way too long, I invite you to go check them for yourselves; it's very entertaining reading. :)

Answer: Lebanon

The country owes its name to Mount Lebanon, which in turn, has its roots in the Phoenician "lbn", meaning "white". It is believed that this symbolized the white snow at the peak of the mountains.

Answer: New Zealand

Although English is the most spoken language in New Zealand, it may come as a surprise that it's actually a "de facto" official language, since it's not recognised as such in the country's legal statutes.

The Maori native language, instead, was granted official status in 1987, as part of a still-ongoing process of revitalization after its use was greatly discouraged following WWII. It is spoken by around 4% of the population.

The name "Aotearoa" means "Land Of The Long White Cloud" in Maori.

Answer: China

Throughout its history, the name "Zhongguo" was used to refer only to the capital of the empire, to the central states of the Yellow River Valley, or to the center of the civilization in whole, before becoming the common name for the whole country in the 19th century.

As for the name "China", it comes from the Latin "Sina" (which is also the origin of the prefix "Sino-"), which was first documented by Portuguese explorers during the 16th century.

Answer: Swazi

Swazi, or Swati, is the name of an ethnic group that inhabits Southern Africa, mainly eSwatini (which was formerly known as Swaziland).

The three remaining choices were the names for Switzerland in French (Suisse), Italian (Svizzera) and German (Schweiz). The fourth official language is Romansch, and its name for the country is Svizra.

Answer: Hungary

The name "Hungary" derives from the old Latin word "Hungaria". There are many theories on the origin of the name, with some citing that it comes from the association with the Huns, that were early inhabitants of present-day Hungary, while other studies trace its origins to the Byzantine period, relating it to the Greek "oungroi", derived in turn from the Turkic "on-ogur" ("ten tribes of the Ogur").

Nevertheless, Hungarians have always referred to themselves as Magyars (from "magyeri", one of the major ancient tribes of the area), and the addition of "orszag" ("country") rounds up the country's name in Hungarian (which, on a side note, is the world's most widely spoken Uralic language).

Answer: Bolivia

In its origins, Bolivia was briefly called Republic of Bolivar, in honor of Simon Bolivar, who played a key role in their independence. It then changed its name to Bolivia on 3 October 1825, and since 2009, adopted the official name of "Plurinational State of Bolivia". The Quechua name mentioned in the question, translates roughly to the current denomination.

Bolivia's constitution recognizes a total of 37 official languages, though most of them are barely spoken at all. During the presidency of Evo Morales, there have been considerable efforts directed at expanding the use of the indigenous languages in the country.

Answer: Egypt

It is believed that "Egypt" comes from the ancient name of Memphis, called "Het-ka-Ptah" (home of the Ka of the god Ptah), that entered Greek as "Aegyptus".
The current official name of the country is Misr, which has a Semitic origin and could either mean "land", "fortress" or "frontier" according to different sources.

Answer: Croatia

"Hrvatska" is Croatian for "Croatia". In most languages, the country's name has its roots in the ethnic group of the Croats (as in the English name, but also in the Spanish "Croacia", French "Croatie", German "Kroatien", Czech "Chorvatsko", among others), but there's still not scientific consensus on the origin of "Hrvat" and "Hrvatska".

In case you were wondering, the ISO codes for the other options are BIH for Bosnia, MKD for North Macedonia, and SRB for Serbia.

Answer: Albania

While the Albanians called their country "Arberi" or "Arbeni" in the Middle Ages, they gradually shifted to the current "Shqiperia" around the 18th century. It is believed to come from "shqiponje", Albanian for "eagle", as it was a heraldic symbol for many powerful dynasties, particularly in the flag wielded by Skanderbeg, leader of the revolution against the Turks and the national hero of Albania. That theory is also reinforced by the current flag of the country, which features a black two-headed eagle on a red background.