Out of 195 countries in the world, most of the countries have changed their names for some reasons of war boundary change, political motivation and simply to facilitate pronunciation abroad etc. It’s not a simple process to change the name of a whole big country it costs in billions but some parts of world have dared to do it. Aakanksha Unnat reports about some countries that changed their names and story behind their resolutions.
- Ceylon to Sri Lanka
Pearl drop of Indian ocen and teadrop of India, Ceylon is the name given by the Portuguese in 1505 to modern day Sri Lanka. The government decided to bring some changes in the Island because it was ruled by Britishers too till 1948 so they changed its name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka in 2011.
- Siam changed to Thailand
Home to beaches and mountains and “Land of Smiles” Thailand was known as Siam earlier. The gorgeously well developed country was established in 1939. In the regional language, it is is pronounced Prathet Thai, which denotes “the country of free people,” and it pays tribute to the first settlers who arrived seeking freedom from China. Thailand name changing incident didn’t happen recently.
- Burma to Myanmar
You may still know Myanmar as Burma isn’t it?
In an attempt to preserve the way Modern Myanmar written in the local language: Myanma, countries leading government decided to change its name from Burma to Myanmar.
- Holland to Netherland
For some marketing or promotional purposes, the Dutch government ditched the name Holland and decided to use Netherland. One of the main purpose for this change is to present the Netherlands as an open, inventive, and inclusive country and also in an effort to distance the Netherlands from its reputation as a European Sin City in the eyes of international tourists.
- Swaziland to Eswatini
The Kingdom of Swaziland changed its name to Eswatini in 2018. The purpose behind changing the name was driven by a desire to get rid from the country’s colonial past, while ending international confusion between Swaziland and Switzerland.
- Irish Free State to Ireland
With purpose to remove all the tie up with UK , the Irish Free State changed its name in 1937 from Irish Free State to Ireland. In local language they pronounce it as Èire.