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Historical Country Names
List of formerly used country names and names of countries which have ceased to exist
| Africa |
Former Country Name | 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 Isas 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 |
| Bausotoland 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 |
| 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 of Tswana-speaking people, 1949 recorporated into | South Africa |
| Bourbon Island | Reunion Island |
| British Bechuanaland (region) incorporated into 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. (Nederlands), 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 and part of French West Africa until independence in 1960, in 1975 the Republic of Dahomey changed 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 | Gunea |
| French Somaliland | Dijibouti |
| French Sudan | Mali |
| French West Africa was a federation of eight colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegambia and Niger, French Sudan,French Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Upper Volta and Dahomey. | Mauritania, The Gambia, Senegal, Niger, Mali, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Benin |
| German East Africa (German: Deutch-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 possessioned in eastern Africa) | Eritrea, Ethopia, Somalia |
| Kaffraria former name for Transkei | South Africa |
| Katanga 1960, Belgium granted independence to the Congolese province of the | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Madagasy 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 (Provincia Ultramarina de Mocambique) Mozambique or Portuguese East Africa (officially the State of East Africa) for almost 500 years a Portuguese Colony, 1498–1975. | 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: Deutch-Sudwestafrica), 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 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 Republeik; today the Province of Limpopo of | South Africa |
| Ubanghi-Shari (Oubangui-Chari) a former French territory in central Africa, with 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 |
| 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 in 1963 united with Tangayika, today it is a semi-autonomous part of | Tanzania |
| Zuid-Afrikaansche Republeik (ZAR) or Transvaal colony today the Limpopo province of | South Africa |
| Asia |
Former Country Name | Name Today |
|---|
| Abkhazia (Region name 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 when Russia 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. | China, India, Pakistan |
| Kirigizia | Kyrgyzstan |
| Pashtunistan (region) is a term 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) |
| 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. | Israel |
| Judea (region) 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 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 referred by 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). | Yemen |
| 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 the Korean 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. | China (Russia) |
| Amarapura (Land of Immortality) | Myanmar(Burma) |
| Annam, Anam (1883-1954) French protectorate in | Central Viet Nam |
| 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 state West 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 in Pakistan, other areas of the region were part of today's Iran and Afghanistan. |
| Baluchistan States Union existed between 1952 and 1955 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 |
| Ceylon In 1972 the name 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 |
| Dutch East Indies (Nederlands 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 |
| Federation of Malaya (31 Jan. 1948 - 16 Sep. 1963) a federation of 11 states comprising the nine Malay states of Peninsular Malaysia and the British settlements of Penang and Malacca. | Malaysia |
| Gorkhali (The Nepal Empire (1769) covered an area that was at least a third more than its present confines. | Nepal |
| Hindoostan, Hindustan the name was 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 |
| Khmer Republic (1970-1975) | Cambodia |
| Malay States (Federated May 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 is a synonym for | Thailand |
| Sikkim, Kingdom of today a state of | India |
| Straits Settlements British Settlements on the Malay Peninsula at the Strait of Malacca: Penang, Malacca, and Singapore. | Malaysia, Singapore |
| Sultinate 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 of Sumatra | Malaysia, Singapore |
| Tonkin | Vietnam |
| West Pakistan official (1955-1970) name of the western wing of today | Pakistan |
| Australia/Oceana |
Former Country Name | Name Today |
|---|
| Ellice Islands | Tuvalu |
| Friendly Islands | Tonga |
| Gilbert Islands | Kiribati |
| Harvey Islands | Cook Islands |
| Navigator's Islands 1899-1914, German protectorate | Samoa (Western Samoa) |
| New Holland from about 1600 to 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 |
| New Hebrides | Vanautu |
| Northern Solomon Islands today part of | Papua New Guinea |
| Papua Terrirory | Papua New Guinea |
| Savage Island | Niue |
| Van Diemen's Land (Anthoonij van Diemenslandt) was the name used by Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now a state of Australia (capital: Hobart) | Australia |
| Western Samoa | Independent State of Samoa |
| Central America and the Caribbean |
Former Country Name | 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 departmentsGuadeloupe 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 Espana) 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 known 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 | Name Today |
|---|
| Newfoundland (island, with mainland area, and a province of) | Canada |
| New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of Seven United Nederlands 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 | Name Today |
|---|
| British Guina was a British colony on the nortern coast of South America, what is now the independent nation of Guyana. Capital was Georgetown | Guyana |
| Dutch Guina (Nederlands Guina) 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 Guina, its capital was Saint-Elie | French Guina |
| New Holland (2), Nieuw Holland or also known as Dutch Brazil, was a former dutch colony on the notheast coast of Brazil 1630 - 1654, Capital city was Mauritsstad, today part of the city of Recife. | Province of Pernambucco, Brazil |
| Terra de Santa Cruz in the early 16th century when the Portuguese realized it was not an island but part of a continentt 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 |
| Europe |
Former Country Name | Name Today |
|---|
| Albion, is the oldest known name of the island of Great Britain | United Kingdom |
| Batavian Republic (Bataafse Republeik) 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 |
| 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 |
| Bohemia prior 1918 the term "Bohemia" was traditionally used for today's Czech Republic. Largest city and capital is Prague. | 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 |
| Confoederatio Helvetica - CH (Latin for: Swiss Confederation) | Switzerland |
| Czechoslovakia (Chechoslovakia) Czechoslovak Socialist Republic; on 1 January 1993, it split into the | Czech Republic and 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 |
| Fortunatee Islands | Canary Islands (Spain) |
| Helvetta Latin name for, and the female national personification of Switzerland | Switzerland |
| Kingdom of Sardinia (1297-1861) comprised initially of Sardinia, its capital was originally Cagliari | Sardinia (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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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". | Madagascar |
| 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 |
| Ruthenia (region; former name for Carpatho-Ukraine) | 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 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 |
| Spitzbergen | Svalbard |
| Transcarpathia (region; alternate name for Carpatho-Ukraine) | Ukraine |
| Transylvania (region) | 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 |
| 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 |
Extracted from: https://nationonsline.org/oneworld/historic_countrynames.htm
Page Edited: October 27, 2024
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Page Created: October 21, 2024