How African Countries Got Their Names
How African Countries Got Their Names
Surrounded by water on all sides and rich in history, Africa is a continent with fifty four sovereign states. Each country name holds a story. Many reflect ancient kingdoms, languages, or geography, while others were fixed during the Berlin Conference of 1884 to 1885 and later reimagined after independence.
Table of Contents
Algeria · Angola · Benin · Botswana · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cabo Verde · Cameroon · Central African Republic · Chad · Comoros · Democratic Republic of the Congo · Republic of the Congo · Cote d’Ivoire · Djibouti · Egypt · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Eswatini · Ethiopia · Gabon · The Gambia · Ghana · Guinea · Guinea Bissau · Kenya · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Madagascar · Malawi · Mali · Mauritania · Mauritius · Morocco · Mozambique · Namibia · Niger · Nigeria · Rwanda · Sao Tome and Principe · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Somalia · South Africa · South Sudan · Sudan · Tanzania · Togo · Tunisia · Uganda · Zambia · Zimbabwe
How Each African Country Got Its Name
Algeria
From the capital Algiers, ultimately from Arabic Al Jazair meaning the islands.
Angola
From the royal title Ngola of the Ndongo kingdom in the north.
Benin
Named for the Bight of Benin along the Gulf of Guinea. Adopted in 1975 to replace Dahomey.
Botswana
Means Land of the Tswana, referencing the majority ethnic community.
Burkina Faso
Means Land of Upright or Honest People, a combination of Mossi and Dioula terms, adopted in 1984.
Burundi
Takes its name from the pre colonial Kingdom of Burundi.
Cabo Verde
From Cap Vert, Green Cape, the nearby headland on the Senegal coast. Official Portuguese form Cabo Verde.
Cameroon
From Portuguese Rio dos Camaroes, River of Prawns, at the Wouri estuary.
Central African Republic
Self descriptive name for its position near the center of the continent.
Chad
From Lake Chad on the western border. The term likely comes from local words for large body of water.
Comoros
From Arabic al Qumur or al Qamar, Islands of the Moon.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
From the Congo River, named after the Kongo kingdom and its people, often glossed as hunters.
Republic of the Congo
Also named for the Congo River and the historical Kongo polity at its mouth.
Cote d’Ivoire
Ivory Coast in French, reflecting the early trade in ivory. The country retains the French form officially.
Djibouti
From the name of its capital. Local origins may be Afar, but are uncertain.
Egypt
From Greek Aigyptos, linked to ancient Hwt ka Ptah, House of the soul of Ptah. Arabic name is Misr.
Equatorial Guinea
Named for the Gulf of Guinea and its location just north of the Equator.
Eritrea
From Greek Erythra Thalassa, the Red Sea that borders the country.
Eswatini
Means Land of the Swazi. The state adopted the traditional name Eswatini in 2018.
Ethiopia
From Greek Aithiopia, a classical term for lands south of Egypt.
Gabon
From Portuguese gabao, cloak, describing the shape of the Komo River estuary.
The Gambia
Named for the Gambia River that runs through the country. The article The helps distinguish it from Zambia.
Ghana
Named after the medieval Ghana Empire. Adopted at independence in 1957.
Guinea
From the wider Guinea region of West Africa along the Gulf of Guinea.
Guinea Bissau
Guinea for the region and Bissau from the capital, to distinguish it from neighboring Guinea.
Kenya
From Mount Kenya. Local languages render it as a place of brightness or possibly God’s resting place.
Lesotho
Means Land of the Sesotho Speakers.
Liberia
From Latin liber, free. Founded as a homeland for freed people of African descent.
Libya
From the ancient Libu, a people recorded in Egyptian sources.
Madagascar
European form popularized by Marco Polo, likely a confusion with Mogadishu. In Malagasy the name is Madagasikara.
Malawi
From Maravi, a sixteenth century kingdom. Often explained as flames, possibly a reference to sunrise over the lake.
Mali
Named for the Mali Empire of the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries. The term is linked to royal authority in Manding languages.
Mauritania
From ancient Mauretania, farther north than the modern state. From the Mauri, the Moorish peoples.
Mauritius
Named by Dutch sailors in honor of Prince Maurice of Nassau in 1598.
Morocco
From Marrakesh, a former capital. In Arabic Al Maghrib means The West.
Mozambique
From the island of Mozambique, associated with a local ruler called Mussa or Musa. The exact form is debated in sources.
Namibia
From the Namib Desert, with namib meaning vast place in Nama.
Niger
From the Niger River. The origin of the river name is debated among scholars and may derive from local languages.
Nigeria
Coined from Niger Area for the lands around the river. Popularized in the late nineteenth century.
Rwanda
Likely from a Kinyarwanda word for domain or expansive land.
Sao Tome and Principe
Sao Tome marks the feast day of Saint Thomas when the island was noted by the Portuguese. Principe refers to the Prince of Portugal who received duties from the sugar crop.
Senegal
From the Senegal River. Etymology has several theories, including a link to the Berber Zenaga or the Wolof phrase Sunu Gaal, our boat.
Seychelles
Named in the eighteenth century for Jean Moreau de Sechelles, a French finance minister.
Sierra Leone
From Portuguese Serra Leoa, Lion Mountains, named by Pedro de Sintra in the fifteenth century.
Somalia
Land of the Somali people. The name is deeply rooted in Cushitic language history.
South Africa
Descriptive of its position at the southern end of the continent.
South Sudan
Named from its position within the former Sudan before independence in 2011. Sudan is from Arabic bilad as sudan, land of black peoples.
Sudan
From Arabic bilad as sudan, land of black peoples, a historical geographic term for Sahelian regions.
Tanzania
A union name formed in 1964 from Tanganyika and Zanzibar.
Togo
Linked to Ewe words for water and shore, first applied to Togoville on Lake Togo before extending to the wider territory.
Tunisia
From the capital Tunis, a name with ancient roots in the region.
Uganda
From Buganda, a powerful kingdom on the shores of Lake Victoria.
Zambia
From the Zambezi River, which forms much of the southern boundary.
Zimbabwe
From Great Zimbabwe. In Shona, dzimba dzemabwe means houses of stone.
Regional Notes
North African states are often grouped with the Middle East in politics and economics under the term Middle East and North Africa. The phrase sub Saharan Africa is widely used for countries south of the Sahara, although definitions vary by institution.
