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keywords: geography, historical country names, former country names, history, place name changes, historical maps
List of formerly used country names and names of countries which have ceased to exist.
Name changes of countries, dependencies, geographical and other regions of particular geopolitical interest.
 
  Africa :: Asia :: Australia/Oceania :: Europe

  Central America and the Caribbean :: North America :: South America

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Africa

 
Former Country Name Today
Abyssinia
The Ethiopian Empire spans a geographical area of today Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti,and included parts of Northern Somalia, Southern Egypt, Eastern Sudan, Yemen and Western Saudi Arabia. Abyssinia was an empire that existed for more than 800 years, from circa 1137 (beginning of Zagwe Dynasty) until 1974 when the Ethiopian monarchy was overthrown in a coup d'etat.
 
Ethiopia
 
Afars and Issas Territory
formerly known as French Somaliland, the French colony was renamed to the French Territory of Afars and Issas (1967 - 1977),the territory became independent in 1977, known today as Djibouti.
Djibouti
Basutoland
formerly a British protectorate became independent in 1966 as the Kingdom of Lesotho.
 
Lesotho
Bechuanaland
formerly a British protectorate became independent in 1966 as Republic of Botswana.
 
Botswana
Belgian Congo (1908 - 1960)
 
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Benadir
a coastal region of Somalia; covering most of the Indian Ocean coast of the country, from the Gulf of Aden to the Juba River, formerly part of Italian Somaliland.
 
Somalia
Biafra, Republic of (named after the Bight of Biafra) today part of
 
Nigeria
Bophuthatswana - nominal republic and homeland for Tswana-speaking people, 1949 reincorporated into
 
South Africa
Bourbon Island
 
Reunion Island
British Bechuanaland (region) incorporated into the Cape Colony (1895)
 
South Africa
British East Africa or East Africa Protectorate
British protectorate from 1890 until 1920
 
Kenya, Tanzania,Uganda, and parts of Somalia (Jubaland)
Cape Colony, 1795-1797 British colony, 1803-1806 colony of the Batavian Republic (Netherlands), since 1910 part of
 
South Africa
Central African Empire
 
Central African Republic
Kenya Colony
The Colony and Protectorate of Kenya was part of the British Empire in Africa. It was established when the former East Africa Protectorate was transformed into a British crown colony in 1920.
 
Kenya
Ciskei (Republic of Ciskei)- homeland for Xhosa-speaking people, 1994 reincorporated into
 
South Africa
Dahomey; (the Republic of Dahomey; in French: République du Dahomey), was a former French colony andpart of French West Africa until independence in 1960, in 1975 the Republic of Dahomeychanged its name in Benin.

Dan Ho Me was an ancient Kingdom located in the south of today Benin.
 
Benin
French Guinea was a French protectorate in West Africa, after independence from France in 1958 it became today
 
Guinea
French Somaliland
 
Djibouti
French Sudan
 
Mali
French West Africa
was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegambia and Niger, French Sudan, French Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Upper Volta and Dahomey.
 
Mauritania, The Gambia, Senegal, Niger, Mali, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Benin.
German East Africa (German: Deutsch-Ostafrika)
a German colony from 1885 until 1919 which included Burundi, Rwanda and Tanganyika (the mainland part of present Tanzania), an area almost three times the size of Germany today. German East Africa colony ended with the defeat of Imperial Germany in World War I. With the Treaty of Versailles the territory was divided between Britain (Tanganyika.), Belgium (Ruanda-Urundi), and Portugal (to become part of Mozambique).
 
Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanzania
(German) Southwest Africa
 
Namibia
Gold Coast
 
Ghana
Grain Coast
 
Liberia
Hausaland, consisted of seven independent city-states: Biram, Daura, Gobir, Kano, Katsina, Rano, and Zaria.
 
Niger, Nigeria
Italian East Africa (former name for Italian possessions in eastern Africa)
 
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia
Kaffraria, former name for Transkei
 
South Africa
Katanga - 1960, Belgium granted independence to the Congolese province of the
 
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Malagasy Republic
 
Madagascar
Mali Federation, was a country in West Africa 1959-1960, formed by a union between
 
Senegal and Mali
Nubia (region)
 
Sudan, Egypt
Nyasaland
 
Malawi
Portuguese East Africa (Província Ultramarina de Moçambique)
Mozambique or Portuguese East Africa (officially the State of East Africa) for almost 500 years a Portuguese Colony, 1498–1975. See also: Portugal
 
Mozambique
Rhodesia, Northern
 
Zambia
Rhodesia, Southern
 
Zimbabwe
Rio de Oro (region)
 
Western Sahara
Ruanda
 
Rwanda
Sahara Occidental, Spanish name for
 
Western Sahara
Sahel (region) Burkina Faso, Chad, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal
Senegambia (region; former name of the confederation of Senegal and Gambia)
 
The Gambia, Senegal
Songhay (Songhai), in the 16th century a major empire of the Western Sudan, in the region of
 
Mali, Mauritania
South-West Africa (SWA, German: Deutsch-Südwestafrika), a German colony from 1884-1915
 
Namibia
Spanish Guinea
 
Equatorial Guinea
Spanish Sahara
 
Western Sahara
Spanish West Africa (former name for Ifni and Spanish Sahara)
 
Morocco, Western Sahara
Stellaland, Republic of; annexed by the Boers later British Bechuanaland, incorporated into the Cape Colony (1895)
 
South Africa
Sudanese Republic
 
Mali
Tanganyika Territory, united with the islands Zansibar and Pemba it became
 
Tanzania
Togoland (British Togoland), since 1957 part of
 
Ghana
Transkei (former Kaffraria and one of ten "black homelands" and nominal republic, in Southeast of )
 
South Africa
Transvaal or ZAR - Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek; today the Province Limpopo of
 
South Africa
Ubangi-Shari (Oubangui-Chari) a former French territory in central Africa, whith independence on 13 August 1960 the country became the
 
Central African Republic
Union of South Africa
The Union of South Africa was formed on 31 May 1910 as a parliamentary union of the four self-governing British colonies: the Cape of Good Hope Province (Cape Province; previously Cape Colony), Natal Province (Natal Colony), the Orange Free State Province (Oranje Vrij Staat/Orange River Colony) and the Transvaal Province (Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek/Transvaal Colony). The Union came to an end in 1961with a new constitution and became the "Republic of South Africa".
 
South Africa
Upper Volta, Burkina, today
 
Burkina Faso
Urundi
 
Burundi
Zaire, changed its name in 1997 to
 
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Zanzibar (island, east off the coast of Tanzania) a former protectorate of Britain. Zanzibar gained independence in1963 united with Tanganyika, today it is a semi-autonomous part of
 
Tanzania
Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) or Transvaal colony; today the Limpopo province of
 
South Africa

 Historical Map of Africa (1855)
Annotated Map of Africa at the end of the 19th century.

More Historical Maps of Africa
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
 
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Asia

Former Country Name Today

__Central and Northern Asia

Abkhazia (Region name is still in use)
 
Georgia
Bactria (Bakhtria)
historical region of Greater Iran, located between the Hindu Kush mountain range and the Amu Darya (Amu river). The region was the birthplace of Zoroastrianism (Mazdaism) and later, also hosted Buddhism before becoming Muslim after the 7th century. The Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valleyare a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Afghanistan with the remains of two huge standing Buddha statues which were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.
 
Afghanistan (north), Turkmenistan (east), Uzbekistan (south east) and Tajikistan (west)
Circassia
was located east of the Black Sea and west of the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus region, it was the mountainous territory of the Circassians (Adyghe), it was wiped from the map in the late 19th century whenRussia conqueredthe Caucasus region. All Circassians were displacedfrom their homeland. Historians refer to the displacement of the Adyghe people by the Russian Empire to "the inventing of the strategy of modern ethnic cleansing and genocide".
 
Circassia was situated north of today Georgia in the southern half of Russia's Krasnodar Krai, south of Kuban River,as well as in the Beshtau, an isolated mountainous region in Stavropol Krai, and in todays Russian Republics of Adygea, Karachay–Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, and North Ossetia–Alania, in south west Russia.
East Turkestan; Eastern Turkestan; Chinese Turkestan
 
Part of western China (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region )
Kashmir (region)
is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the Vale of Kashmir, the valley between the GreatHimalayas (in northeast) and the Pir Panjal mountain range (in southwest). Today the term Kashmir refers to a larger area that includes the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (including the Kashmir valley and Jammu and Ladakh), the Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan and the Azad Kashmir provinces, and the Chinese-administered regions of Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract.
See: Map of Pakistan
 
China, India, Pakistan
Kirgizia Kyrgyzstan
Pashtunistan (region)
is aterm used for the historical region inhabited by the native Pashtun (Pakhtun people) since at least the 1st millennium BC.
 
Afghanistan, Pakistan
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union (USSR) was the former name of a large Eurasian empire, roughly coequal with the former Russian Empire.
 
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
Turkestan, ("Land of the Turks")
a region in Central Asia largely inhabited by Turkic peoples like the Oghuz Turks (Turkmens), Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Khazars, Kyrgyz and Uyghurs are some of the Turkic inhabitants.
 
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and parts of Western China (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region)

_ Middle East

 
Alashiya,
state during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, it is the ancient name of
 
Cyprus
Dilmun,
mentioned in ancient texts as a trade partner of Mesopotamia, although the exact location of Dilmun is unclear, it is associated with
 
Bahrain, the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and nearby coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf.
Galilee, Galilea
is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. See: Map of Israel
 
Israel
Judea, Judäa,(region)
Hebrew: יהודה
was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BC (Assyrian rule) to the 2nd century AD, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.
 
Israel, West Bank
Mesopotamia,
geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern
 
Iraq, southeastern Turkey, and the Khūzestān Province of southwestern Iran
Mishmahig (islands)
 
Bahrain
Muscat and Oman, Sultanate of Muscat and Oman until 1970
 
Oman
North Yemen or Yemen Arab Republic
was a country from 1962 to 1990 in the western part of what is now Yemen.
 
Yemen
Ottoman Empire
the Turkish empire, established in northern Anatolia by Osman I (Osman Gazi Khan) at the end of the 13th century and expanded by his successors to include all of Asia Minor and much of southeastern Europe. After setbacks caused by the invasion of the Mongol ruler Tamerlane (Timur) in 1402, the Ottomans captured Constantinople (today Istanbul) in 1453, and the empire reached its zenith under Suleiman the Magnificent (ruled 1520 to 1566). At the height of its power, in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Ottoman Empire controlled territory in southeastern Europe, southwestern Asia, and North Africa. It had greatly declined by the 19th century and collapsed after World War I.
 
Turkey
Palestine (region)
 
Israel, West Bank & Gaza Strip
Persia, name for today
The ancient kingdom of Persia became the domain of the Achaemenid dynasty in the 6th century bc. Under Cyrus the Great, Persia became the center of a powerful empire that included western Asia, Egypt, and parts of eastern Europe; it was eventually overthrown by Alexander the Great in 330 bc. The country was conquered by Muslim Arabs between ad 633 and 651. It was renamed Iran in 1935.
 
Iran
Socotra (island)
 
Yemen (Republic of)
Transjordan
The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine. In 1921 it was excised from Palestine and became an autonomous political division under as-Sharif Abdullah bin al-Husayn.
 
Jordan
Trucial Coast
also known as the Trucial States, Trucial Oman, and the Trucial Shaykdoms
 
United Arab Emirates
Tylos, was referredby the Greeks to today
 
Bahrain
United Arab Republic (UAR)
The United Arab Republic or U.A.R., was a union between Egypt and Syria. The union began in 1958 and existed until 1961, when Syria seceded from the union. Egypt continued to be known officially as the "United Arab Republic" until 1971. The President was Gamal Abdel Nasser. During most of its existence (1958–1961) it was a member of the United Arab States, a confederation with North Yemen.
 
Egypt, Syria, Yemen
Yemen Arab Republic (YAR)
The Yemen Arab Republic, also known as North Yemen, was a country from 1962 to 1990 in the western part of what is now Yemen, its predecessor was the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (1918–1962), also known as the Kingdom of Yemen, its capital was at Taiz (Ta'izz).
See: Map of Yemen
 
Yemen


__Eastern Asia

Cathay, (English) Cathay is the Anglicized version of "Catai" the name used for northern China, and an alternative name for:
 
China
Choson, Chosen
 
the Korean peninsula today split into Republic of Korea (South Korea) and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)
 
Formosa (island)

Dutch Formosa,
period of a colonial Dutch government (1624–1662), the Dutch East India Company established its presence on Formosa to trade with China and Japan and to prevent Portuguese and Spanish trade and colonial activities in East Asia.

Spanish Formosa,
a Spanish colony established in the north of of the island (1626–1642).
 
Taiwan
Great Korean Empire
was the name of the Korean empire that existed on theKorean Peninsula, from the Proclamation of the Korean Empire in October 1897 to the Annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910. The Great Korean Empire was an absolute monarchy with a constitution.
 
Republic of Korea (South Korea) and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)
Kingdom of Tungning
(1662 - 1683) The kingdom was founded by Koxinga (official name: Zheng Chenggong),on the island of Formosa. Koxinga was born in Hirado, Japan to Zheng Zhilong, a Ming dynasty admiral-pirate-merchant, and his Japanese wife. The Kingdom of Tungning was run by the Zheng family, supporting the Ming Dynasty in mainland China which was replaced by the Manchu-ruled Qing Dynasty in 1644. Koxinga wanted to use the island as a base of operations to train its Ming military forces and recapture the mainland from the Manchus. Hedied in 1662 six month after the conquest of Formosa. His son Zheng Jing ruled the next 20 years from its court at Tainan.
 
Taiwan
Manchuria
historical a vast geographic region in northeast Asia, commonly referred to as Northeast China.

See also: Chinese Imperial Dynasties
 
China, (Russia)


__Southeast Asia

Amarapura (Land of Immortality)
 
Myanmar (Burma)
Annam, Anam (1883-1954) French protectorate in
 
Central Vietnam
Ayutthaya, Kingdom of; (Siam) covered Thailand, half of Cambodia, most of Laos and large areas of present day Myanmar (Burma)
 
Bengal, region in the northeast of South Asia today divided between Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan), and the Indian federal stateWest Bengal.
 
Balochistan or Baluchistan
a region on in the Iranian Plateau in Southwest Asia, named after the local Baloch tribes of Persian origin.
 
part of the region is now the province Balochistan inPakistan, other areas of the region were part of today's Iran and Afghanistan.
Baluchistan States Union existed between1952 and1955 in southwest
 
Pakistan
British North Borneo, former British protectorate and crown colony, occupies the northern tip of the island of Borneo.
 
Malaysia
Burma, changed its name in 1989 to
 
Myanmar
Cochin-China, French colony, the southern part of Vietnam, Capital: Saigon, today Ho Chi Minh City.
 
Celebes (island)
 
Sulawesi, part of Indonesia
See: Map of Indonesia
 
Ceylon
in 1972 thename of the country was changed to "Free, Sovereign and Independent Republic of Sri Lanka", in 1978 the name was changed to "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka"
 
Sri Lanka

Map of Sri Lanka
Dutch East Indies (Netherlands East Indies)
was the Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalized colonies of the former Dutch East India Company that came under the administration of the Netherlands in 1800.
 
Indonesia
East Pakistan, a former province of Pakistan.
East Pakistan was created from Bengal Province based on the 'Mountbatten Plan' in what was then British India in 1947. Eastern Bengal was given to the Dominion of Pakistan and became a province of Pakistan by the name East Bengal. East Bengal was renamed East Pakistan in 1956 and later became the country of Bangladesh after the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, which took place after the General Elections of 1970.
 
Bangladesh

Map of Bangladesh

Map of Pakistan
Federation of Malaya, (31 Jan. 1948 - 16 Sept. 1963) a federation of 11 states comprising the nine Malay states of Peninsular Malaysia and the British settlements of Penang and Malacca.
 
Malaysia

Map of Malaysia
Gorkhali (The Nepali Empire (1769) covered an area that was at least a third more than its present confines.)
 
Nepal

Map of Nepal
Hindoostan, Hindustan the name was used to refere to the Indian Subcontinent, including the present-day nations of
 
India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh
Indo-China (French Indochina) former federation of states comprised of Cochin China, Tonkin, Annam, Laos, and Cambodia.

Cochin China (in south), Annam (central) and Tonkin (in north) were later united to form today Vietnam.
 
Java (island) today part of
 
Indonesia
Kampuchea, state (1975 - 1979), The Khmer Rouge regime, led by Pol Pot (Saloth Sar, 19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998), changed the official name of the country to Democratic Kampuchea.
 
Cambodia
Map of Cambodia
Khmer Republic (1970-1975)
 
Cambodia
Malay States (Federated Malay States) 1895-1946
 
Malaysia
Moluccas (Spice Islands) today part of
 
Indonesia
Mustang, Kingdom of;was once an independent kingdom,a hereditary dynasty which survived as the Kingdom of Lo in Upper (northern) Mustang (Nepal), bordering Tibet Autonomous Region (China), to which it is closely tied by language and culture.The Kingdom was abolished by Nepali government on 7th October2008.
 
Nepal
Netherlands East Indies
 
Indonesia
New Territories (mainland region)
 
Hong Kong
Portuguese Timor (former name for East Timor)
 
Timor-Leste
Serendib is the old Arabic, Persian and Urdu name for
 
Sri Lanka
Siam was the foreign name for the Kingdom of Siam (Rattanakosin Kingdom), and still isa synonym for
 
Thailand

Map of Thailand
 
Sikkim, Kingdom of; today a state of
 
India

See: Map of India's states.
 
Straits Settlements
British Settlements on the Malay Peninsula at the Strait of Malacca: Penang, Malacca, and Singapore.
 
Malaysia, Singapore
Sultanate of Malacca
was first a Hindu kingdom which later became Muslim, it existed 1402–1511 covering large parts of the Malay Peninsula with a small portion on Sumatra.
 
Malaysia, Singapore
Tonkin (French protectorate, later North Vietnam with the Capital Hanoi)
 
Vietnam

Map of Vietnam
 
West Pakistan official (1955–1970) name of the western wing of today
 
Pakistan

 Historical Map of Asia (1914)
Annotated Map of Asia with international borders as of the year 1914, with a short description of the countries of that time.

Historical Map of Asia (1892)
Historical Maps of Asia
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
 

Australia/Oceania

Former Country Name Today
Ellice Islands
 
Tuvalu
Friendly Islands
 
Tonga
Gilbert Islands
 
Kiribati
Harvey Islands
 
Cook Islands
Navigator's Islands; 1899-1914, German protectorate of
 
Samoa (Western Samoa)
New Holland (see also New Holland in South America), from about 1600 until the middle of the nineteenth century the Dutch name for the
 
Australian continent
New Guinea (island) divided into parts of
 
Indonesia and Papua New Guinea

See: Map of Indonesia and Map of Papua New Guinea
 
New Hebrides
 
Vanuatu
Northern Solomon Islands today part of
 
Papua New Guinea

Map of Papua New Guinea
 
Papua Territory
 
Papua New Guinea
Savage Island
 
Niue
Van Diemen’s Land, (Anthoonij van Diemenslandt) was thename used by Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now a state of Australia (capital: Hobart).
 
Australia
Western Samoa
 
Independent State of Samoa

Historical Maps of Australia/Oceania
UT Library - Perry-Castañeda Library, Collection of historical maps of Australia and the Pacific Region.
 

Central America and the Caribbean

Former Country Name Today
British Honduras
 
Belize
British West Indies - the colonies of the British in the Caribbean:

today the term refers to the British Caribbean overseas territories which are:
Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago

Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands.
 
Danish West Indies or "Danish Antilles",
were a colony of Denmark-Norway in the Caribbean. They were sold to the United States in 1916 in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies and became the United States Virgin Islands in 1917.
 
US Virgin Islands
French West Indies, the French overseas departments Guadeloupe and Martinique, as well as the French Caribbean Départments d'Outre Mer, include the Guadeloupe dependencies of the French part of the island St. Martin and the islands Saint-Barthélemy, Les Saintes, Marie-Galante and La Désirade.
 
Haiti, the Arawaks name for the island of Hispaniola
 
Dominican Republic and Haiti
New Spain (Nueva España) colonial territories of the Spanish Empire in North and Central America, including
 
Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and parts of South-West USA
Somers Islands is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean better kown as
 
Bermuda
United Provinces of Central America - UPCA later renamed to Federal Republic of Central America (from 1823 to approximately 1840). Capital cities were Guatemala City (Until 1834) and San Salvador. UPCA consisted of the states of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica
 

North America

Former Country Name Today
Newfoundland (island, with mainland area, and a province of)
 
Canada

See: Administrative Map of Canada
New Spain (Nueva España) colonial territories of the Spanish Empire in North and Central America, including
 
Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and parts of South-West USA
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch,
was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America.
The settled areas are now part of the Mid-Atlantic States of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut, with small outposts in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The provincial capital, New Amsterdam, was located at the southern tip of the island of Manhattan on upper New York Bay.
 

South America

Former Country Name Today
British Guiana
was a British colony on the northern coast of South America, what is now the independent nation of Guyana. Capital was Georgetown.
 
Guyana
Dutch Guiana (Netherlands Guyana)
Dutch colonization of the Guianas began in the beginning of the 17th century. The colonies of Essequibo and Demerara (Demerary), Surinam, and Berbice were Dutch settlements, trading posts and plantations in the coastal areas ofthe north eastern part of South America, a region which is known as the Guianas, today divided into the countries of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and the north eastern part of Brazil. Capital city was Fort Zeelandia (Paramaribo)
 
Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname,French Guiana, and the Amapá province of Brazil.
Gran Colombia (1819-1830), the former republic consisted ofthe territories of present-day Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, northern Peru and northwest Brazil.
 
Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, Peru and Brazil
Inini, an inland territory of French Guiana, its capital was Saint-Élie.
 
French Guiana
New Holland (2), Nieuw Holland, or also known as Dutch Brazil, was a former dutch colony on the northeast coast of Brazil 1630 - 1654. Capital city was Mauritsstad, today part of the city of Recife.
 
Province of Pernambuco, Brazil
Terra de Santa Cruz, in the early 16th century when the Portoguese realized it was not an island but part of a continent they were about to conquer, they renamed it from 'Ilha de Vera Cruz' (Island of the True Cross) to Terra de Santa Cruz (Land of the Holy Cross). Today the region is known as Brazil. Brazil

Historical Maps of The Americas
UT Library - Perry-Castañeda Library, Collection of historical maps of The Americas.
 

Europe

Former Country Name Today
Albion, is the oldest known name of the island of Great Britain.
 
United Kingdom
Map of the United Kingdom
 
Batavian Republic (Bataafse Republiek) 1795 to 1806, was the successor of the Dutch Republic and the precursor of the Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810), the then capital was The Hague.
 
Netherlands

Map of the Netherlands
Bessarabia - historic region comprising most of current-day Moldova and districts of Ukraine. Capital city was Kishinev today known as Chişinău.
 
Moldova and parts of Ukraine

Map of Moldova
 
Bohemia, prior 1918 the term "Bohemia" was traditionally used for today's Czech Republic. Largest city and capital is Prague.
 
Czech Republic
Map of Czech Republic
Britain, the name Britain is derived from the Latin name Britannia used by the Romans for the Roman province on the island of Great Britain (the portion south of Hadrian's wall).
 
United Kingdom
Map of the United Kingdom
Confœderatio Helvetica - CH (Latin for: Swiss Confederation)
 
Switzerland
Map of Switzerland
Czechoslovakia (Chechoslovakia)
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic; on 1 January 1993, it split into the
 
Czech Republic and Slovakia

Map of Czech Republic
Map of Slovakia
 
East Germany,
German Democratic Republic (GDR); the formerly Soviet influenced eastern part of then in two parts divided Germany, from 1945 - 1990. Capital city was East-Berlin.
 
Germany

Map of Germany
Fortunate Islands
 
Canary Islands (Spain)
Helvetia - Latin name for, and the female national personification of Switzerland.
 
Switzerland

Map of Switzerland
 
Kingdom of Sardinia
(1297–1861) comprised initially the island of Sardinia, its capital was originally Cagliari.

Sardinia (Italy)

Map of Italy
 
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
1918-1929 renamed to Yugoslawia, since 1991 the countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Rep. of, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. Capital city was Belgrade (1918–1941), Capital-in-exile was London (1941–1944).
 
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Rep. of, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia
Moldavia,
created in the Middle Ages was a principality of Romania, its easterly extension now forming the state of Moldova. Capital city from 1564 to 1859 aws Iași (Jassy).
 
Romania, Moldova

Map of Romania
Map of Moldova
Moravia
(in German: Mähren) historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, one of the historical Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. Largest city and former capital is Brno.
 
Czech Republic

Map of Czech Republic
Podolia
is a historic region in part of the East European Plain in Eastern Europe, located in the west-central and south-western portions of present-day Ukraine and in northeastern Moldova (i.e. northern Transnistria).
 
Ukraine, Moldova

Map of Ukraine
Map of Moldova
Pridnestrovia (Transnistria)
formerly part of the Soviet Union (Russia), today a breakaway state of Moldova also known as Transnistria, which claims territory between the Dniester river and the eastern border of Moldova with Ukraine. It declared independence in 1990 but is unrecognised by any United Nations member state.
Transnistria is one of four post-Soviet "frozen conflict" zones. (see: Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia)
After the dissolution of the USSR, tensions between the newly created Moldova and the de facto sovereign state of Pridnestrovia escalated into a military conflict. Unlike the rest of Moldova Pridnestrovia had not wanted to separate from the Soviet Union. Because of the Russian military contingent present in Transnistria, the European Court of Human Rights considers Transnistria "under the effective authority or at least decisive influence of Russia".
Moldova

Map of Moldova
Prussia, Preussen
a former kingdom of the German Empire.Originally a small country on the south eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, under Frederick the Great it became a major European power covering much of modern northeast Germany and Poland. Capital city was Königsberg (today Kaliningrad, Russia), later Berlin.
 
Germany, Poland

Map of Germany
Map of Poland
Ruthenia
(region; former name for Carpatho-Ukraine)
 
Ukraine
Map of Ukraine
Silesia,
(in German: Schlesien) historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts in the Czech Republic and Germany, its largest city and capital was Wrocław(Breslau).
 
Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany.
Soviet Union (1922 - 1991)
short form of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), a former federation of Communist republics occupying the northern half of Asia and part of eastern Europe, capital city was Moscow.
12 constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 as independent post-Soviet states.
 
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russian Federation (Russia), Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
Scotland,
the former independent kingdom is today one of four constituent nations which form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, capital city is Edinburgh
 
United Kingdom

Map of the United Kingdom
Spitzbergen
 
Svalbard
Transcarpathia
(region; alternate name for Carpatho-Ukraine)
 
Ukraine
Map of Ukraine
 
Transylvania (region)
 
Romania
Map of Romania
West Germany,
was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; 1949-1990) to distinguish it from East Germany, the German Democratic Republic (GDR)
 
Germany

Map of Germany
Yugoslavia
(former name for a confederation of states in the western Balkan peninsula)
The country was formed as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes in the peace settlements at the end of the First World War. It comprised Serbia, Montenegro, and the former South Slavic provinces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and assumed the name of Yugoslavia in 1929; its capital was Belgrade (today the capital of Serbia).
 
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia
External Links

Historical Maps of Europe
Perry-Castañeda Library, Collection of historical maps of Europe.
The Origin of African Country Names
African Country Names and what they mean, page from ClickAfrique.
Aboriginal Place Names (Canada)
Many of the Canadian earliest place names draw on Aboriginal sources.
Origin of Baltic country names
List of country name etymologies
Wikipedias list of country names meanings.
 

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