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With the Olympics starting this week, I got interested in all the countries of the world. Naturally, I would like to know the Latin names for modern countries. I have only been able to find a few Wikipedia pages, but they mostly focus on the countries that used to be Roman provinces, but I want to know the Latin name for EVERY country. Are there any sources that have compiled these names?

Please note that although I have already accepted an answer, new, more complete answers are welcome, and could be accepted instead.

3 Answers 3

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Update: Now with macrons! (Macrons reproduced as in my source.)

The book Clavis Latina II, grammatica & exercitia by Maija-Leena Kallela and Erkki Palmén (I advertised this series for self-study here) contains a list of many modern countries as an appendix. In my experience the series is well researched and reliable. Some countries have several spelling variants, but I don't think all options are included here.

This book has only appeared in print in Finnish, so I will reproduce the appendix here in English. Each country is given three Latin words, in the order "Finland, Finnish, Finns".

  • Eurōpa Septentriōnālis:
    • Finland: Finnia, Finnicus, Finnī
    • Sweden: Suētia, Suēticus, Suētī
    • Norway: Norvēgia, Norvēgicus, Norvēgī
    • Denmark: Dānia, Dānicus, Dānī
    • Iceland: Islandia, Islandiēnsis, Islandiēnsēs
  • Eurōpa Occidentālis:
    • The Netherlands: Nēderlandia, Nēderlandiēnsis, Nēderlandiēnsēs
    • Belgium: Belgium, Belgicus, Belgae
    • Eire: Rēs Pūblica Irlandiae, Irlandiēnsis, Irlandiēnsēs
    • Monaco: Monoecus, Monoecēnsis, Monoecēnsēs
    • Liechtenstein: Lichtenstenum, Lichtenstenēnsis, Lichtenstenēnsēs
    • Luxemburg: Luxemburgum, Luxemburgēnsis, Luxemburgēnsēs
    • France: Francogallia, Francogallicus, Francogallī
    • UK: Regnum Ūnītum (Magna Britannia et Irlandia Septentriōnālis), Britannicus, Britannī
    • England: Anglia, Anglicus, Anglī
    • Scotland: Scōtia, Scōticus, Scōtī
    • Wales: Vallia, Vallicus, Vallī
  • Eurōpa Centrālis:
    • Austria: Austria, Austriacus, Austriacī
    • Latvia: Lettonia, Lettonicus, Lettonēs
    • Lithuania: Lithuānia, Lithuānicus, Lithuānī
    • Poland: Polōnia, Polōnicus, Polōnī
    • Romania: Dācorōmānia, Dācorōmānicus, Dācorōmānī
    • Germany: Germānia, Theodiscus/Germānicus, Germānī
    • Slovakia: Slovakia, Slovakus, Slovakī
    • Switzerland: Helvētia, Helvēticus, Helvētiī
    • Czech Republic: Tzechia, Tzechicus, Tzechī
    • Hungary: Hungaria, Hungaricus, Hungarī
    • Estonia: Estonia, Estonicus, Estonī
  • Eurōpa Austrālis:
    • Andorra: Andorra, Andorrēnsis, Andorrēnsēs
    • Albania: Albānia, Albānus, Albānī
    • Bosnia-Herzegovina: Bosnia, Bosniēnsis, Bosniēnsēs
    • Bulgaria: Bulgaria, Bulgaricus, Bulgarī
    • Spain: Hispānia, Hispānicus, Hispānī
    • Italy: Italia, Italicus/Italiānus, Italiānī/Italī
      (Note that in Aeneis it is Ītalia for metric reasons.)
    • Yugoslavia: Iugoslavia, Iugoslavicus, Iugoslavī
    • Greece: Graecia, Graecus, Graecī
    • Croatia: Croatia, Croatus, Croatae
    • Cyprus: Cyprus, Cyprius, Cypriī
    • Macedonia: Macedonia, Macedonicus, Macedones
    • Malta: Melita, Melitēnsis, Melitēnsēs
    • Portugal: Portugallia, Portugallicus, Portugallī
    • San Marino: Rēs Pūblica Marīniāna, Marīniānus, Marīniānī
    • Slovenia: Slovenia, Slovenus, Slovenī
    • Turkey: Turcia, Turcicus, Turcae
    • Vatican: Cīvitās Vāticāna, Vāticānus, Vāticānī
  • Eurōpa Orientālis:
    • Moldova: Moldova, Moldovānus, Moldovānī
    • Ukraine: Ucraina, Ucrainus, Ucrainī
    • Belarus: Belorussia / Russia Alba, Belorussicus, Belorussī
    • Russia: Russia, Russicus, Russī
  • Oriēns Proxima:
    • Israel: Isrāël (gen. Isrāēlis), Isrāēlīticus, Isrāēlītae
    • Iran: Irania, Iraniānus, Iraniānī
    • Iraq: Iraquia, Iraquicus, Iraquiānī
    • Jordan: Iordānia, Iordānus, Iordānī
    • Palestine: Palaestīna, Plaestīnus, Palaestīnī
    • Saudi-Arabia: Arabia Saudiāna, Saudiānus, Saudī
    • Syria: Syria, Syriacus, Syrī
  • Āfrica:
    • Algeria: Algeria, Algeriānus, Algeriānī
    • Egypt: Aegyptus, Aegyptius, Aegyptiī
    • South Africa: Āfrica Austrālis, Austroāfricānus, Austroāfricānī
    • Kenia: Kenia, Keniānus, Keniānī
    • Libya: Libya, Libycus, Libyes
    • Morocco: Marochium, Marochiānus, Marochiānī
    • Namibia: Namibia, Namibiēnsis, Namibiēnsēs
    • Sudan: Sudania, Sudaniēnsis, Sudaniēnsēs
    • Tanzania: Tanzania, Tanzaniēnsis, Tanzaniēnsēs
    • Tunisia: Tunesia, Tunesiēnsis, Tunesiēnsēs
  • Asia:
    • Afghanistan: Afganistānia, Afganistāniānus, Afganī
    • Philippines: Philippīnae, Philippīnus, Philippīnī
    • Indonesia: Indonēsia, Indonēsiānus, Indonēsiānī
    • India: India, Indicus, Indī
    • Japan: Iapōnia, Iapōnicus, Iapōniēnsēs
    • China: Sīnae, Sīnēnsis, Sīnēnsēs
    • (South/North) Korea: Corēa (Septentriōnālis/Austrālis), Corēānus (Septentriōnālis/Austrālis), Corēānī (Septentriōnālēs/Austrālēs)
    • Malaysia: Malaesia, Malaesiānus, Malaesiānī
    • Nepal: Nepalia, Nepaliānus, Nepaliānī
    • Pakistan: Pakistania, Pakistaniānus, Pakistaniānī
    • Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka, Srilancānus, Srilancānī
    • Thailand: Thailandia, Thailandiēnsis, Thailandiēnsēs
  • America Septentriōnālis:
    • Canada: Canada, Canadēnsis, Canadēnsēs
    • US: Cīvitātēs Americae Ūnītae, Americānus, Americānī
  • America Austrālis:
    • Argentina: Argentīna, Argentīniānus, Argentīniānī
    • Bolivia: Bolivia, Boliviānus, Boliviānī
    • Brazil: Brasilia, Brasiliēnsis, Brasiliēnsēs
    • Chile: Chilia, Chiliēnsis, Chiliēnsēs
    • Mexico: Mexicum, Mexicānus, Mexicānī
    • Peru: Peruvia, Peruviānus, Peruviānī
    • Venezuela: Venetiola, Venetiolānus, Venetiolānī
  • Australia: Austrālia (no further details given)
  • Terra Antarctica

Let me know if there seem to be typos, declination aid is needed or something is suspicious.

Two third declension plurals lack a macron in the list: Macedones and Libyes. This can be a typo or, as I find likely, ancient adaptations from Greek where the plural nominative ending is -ĕs. Also, I would expect the -o- in the antepenult to be long in Lettones and Macedones, but his may be a misunderstanding on my behalf.

(The next appendix contains a list of cities of similar length, but that is irrelevant here.)

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  • 1
    This is pretty good for most major modern countries, but is there some compendium and/or convention for the names of other, smaller countries?
    – Sam K
    Commented Aug 7, 2016 at 18:01
  • @SamK, not that I know of, alas. Vicipaedia is not always that reliable and not all countries are mentioned in Latin news. I hope someone finds a more complete list somewhere.
    – Joonas Ilmavirta
    Commented Aug 7, 2016 at 18:08
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    I have always heard Civitates Foederatae Americae for the USA.
    – brianpck
    Commented Aug 8, 2016 at 21:27
  • When I was in Luxembourg I recall seeing a sign along the lines of "Lucem" with a c rather than a x. Maybe I am misremembering.
    – Francesco
    Commented Aug 9, 2016 at 9:32
  • 2
    Several of these have ancient names, e.g. Hibernia (Ireland), or Illyria (Albania) and of course Persia (Iran).
    – fdb
    Commented Apr 30, 2018 at 23:26
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This Latin wikipedia page lists all the modern countries for which there is an entry (in Latin).

This English Wikipedia page has a link (table on top right) to lists of names of different geographical units (countries, regions, cities, rivers, etc).

Here there is another list of countries and cities.

Here is another list of Latin names for towns (constructed from books printed before 1809, so beware).

No macrons though :(

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  • Oh! no macrons!
    – Quidam
    Commented Nov 3, 2019 at 11:10
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Carolus Egger's 1977 opus Lexicon Nominum Locorum gives a fairly exhaustive list of country names, as well as notable city, territory, state, and region names. No macrons, but it does specify the stressed syllable. It also has demonyms and adjectives.

It's a bit dated, but I highly recommend it. It has some real gems in there: Horti Nationales Flavopetrenses (Yellowstone National Park).

I should note that the entries are are in Italian, not English. So you might want to order an English-Italian dictionary when you order Lexicon Nominum Locorum, if you need one and don't have one already.

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