Edited by Azizi Powell
This post provides etymological information about the place name "Africa" and current and past names of African nations & territories.
The content of this post is presented for etymological, historical, and educational purposes.
All of this information is quoted from two Wikipedia pages (links given below without the citations).
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the editors of Wikipedia and its sources for all of these quotes.
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ETYMOLOGICAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PLACE NAME "AFRICA"
From
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa
"Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most-populous continent. At about 30.3 million km² (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers six per cent of Earth's total surface area and 20.4 per cent of its total land area.[2] With 1.1 billion people as of 2013, it accounts for about 15% of the world's human population.[1] The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos. It contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states (countries), nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition.
Etymology
Afri was a Latin name used to refer to the inhabitants of Africa, which in its widest sense referred to all lands south of the Mediterranean (Ancient Libya).[9][10] This name seems to have originally referred to a native Libyan tribe; see Terence#Biography for discussion. The name is usually connected with Hebrew or Phoenician ʿafar 'dust', but a 1981 hypothesis[11] has asserted that it stems from the Berber ifri (plural ifran) "cave", in reference to cave dwellers.[12] The same word[12] may be found in the name of the Banu Ifran from Algeria and Tripolitania, a Berber tribe originally from Yafran (also known as Ifrane) in northwestern Libya.[13]
Under Roman rule, Carthage became the capital of the province of Africa Proconsularis, which also included the coastal part of modern Libya.[14] The Latin suffix -ica can sometimes be used to denote a land (e.g., in Celtica from Celtae, as used by Julius Caesar). The later Muslim kingdom of Ifriqiya, modern-day Tunisia, also preserved a form of the name.
According to the Romans, Africa lay to the west of Egypt, while "Asia" was used to refer to Anatolia and lands to the east. A definite line was drawn between the two continents by the geographer Ptolemy (85–165 AD), indicating Alexandria along the Prime Meridian and making the isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea the boundary between Asia and Africa. As Europeans came to understand the real extent of the continent, the idea of "Africa" expanded with their knowledge.
Other etymological hypotheses have been postulated for the ancient name "Africa":
The 1st-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (Ant. 1.15) asserted that it was named for Epher, grandson of Abraham according to Gen. 25:4, whose descendants, he claimed, had invaded Libya.
Isidore of Seville in Etymologiae XIV.5.2. suggests "Africa comes from the Latin aprica, meaning "sunny".
Massey, in 1881, stated that Africa is derived from the Egyptian af-rui-ka, meaning "to turn toward the opening of the Ka." The Ka is the energetic double of every person and the "opening of the Ka" refers to a womb or birthplace. Africa would be, for the Egyptians, "the birthplace."[15]
Michèle Fruyt proposed[16] linking the Latin word with africus "south wind", which would be of Umbrian origin and mean originally "rainy wind".
Robert R. Stieglitz of Rutgers University proposed: "The name Africa, derived from the Latin *Aphir-ic-a, is cognate to Hebrew Ophir."[17]"
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ETYMOLOGICAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE WORD "AFRICA"- Part I (A-K)
From
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country-name_etymologies
List of country-name etymologies
"This list covers English language country names with their etymologies. Some of these include notes on indigenous names and their etymologies. Countries in italics are endonyms or no longer exist as sovereign political entities.
A
Algeria
Main articles: Etymology of Algeria and Etymology of Algiers
"Land of Algiers", a Latinization of French colonial name l'Algérie adopted in 1839.[26] The city's name derives from French Alger, itself from Catalan Aldjère,[27] from the Ottoman Turkish Cezayir and Arabic al-Jazāʼir (الجزائر, "the Islands"). This was a truncated form of the city's older name, Jazā’ir Banī Māzghānna (جزائر بني مازغان, "Islands of the sons of Mazgḥannā"), which referred to four islands off the city's coast which were held by a local Sanhaja tribe.[28][29] (These islands joined the mainland in 1525.) An alternate theory traces the Arabic further back to a transcription of the Berber Ldzayer in reference to Ziri ibn Manad, founder of the Zirid dynasty, whose son Buluggin ibn Ziri resettled the city.[30] In Berber, ziri means "moonlight".
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Angola
Main article: Etymology of Angola
"Land of Ndongo", from the Portuguese colonial name (Reino de Angola),[36] which erroneously derived a toponym from the Mbundu title ngola a kiluanje ("conquering ngola", a priestly title originally denoting a "chief smith",[37][38] then eventually "king") held by Ndambi a Ngola (Portuguese: Dambi Angola) as lord of Ndongo, a state in the highlands between the Kwanza and Lukala Rivers.
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B
Benin
Main article: Etymology of Benin
"[Land beside] the Bight of Benin", the stretch of the Gulf of Guinea west of the Niger delta, a purposefully neutral name chosen to replace Dahomey (see below) in 1975. The Bight itself is named after a city and a kingdom in present-day Nigeria having no relation to the modern Benin. The English name comes from a Portuguese transcription (Benin) of a local corruption (Bini) of the Itsekiri form (Ubinu) of the Yoruba Ile-Ibinu ("Home of Vexation"), a name bestowed on the Edo capital by the irate Ife oba Oranyan in the 12th century
An alternate theory derives Bini from the Arabic bani (بني, "sons" or "tribe").
Dahomey or Dahomy, a former name: "Belly of Dã" in Fon (Dã Homè),[54] from the palace of the ahosu Akaba, traditionally built over the entrails of a local ruler.[106] In Fon, the name "Dã" or "Dan" can also mean "snake" or the snake-god Damballa. Upon the restoration of independence, the name was deemed no longer appropriate since the historic kingdom comprised only the southern regions and ethnicities of the modern state.
Abomey, a former name: "Ramparts" in Fon (Agbomè), from the palace of the ahosu Houegbadja.
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Botswana
"Country of the Tswana" in Setswana, after the country's dominant ethnic group. The etymology of "Tswana" is uncertain. Livingstone derived it from the Setswana tshwana ("alike", "equal"),[116] others from a word for "free".[117] However, other early sources suggest that while the Tswana adopted the name, it was an exonym they learned from the Germans and British.[118]
Bechuanaland, a former name: from "Bechuana", an alternate spelling of "Botswana".
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Burkina Faso
"Land of Honest Men", from an amalgam of More burkina ("honest", "upright", or "incorruptible men") and Dioula faso ("homeland"; literally "father's house"), selected by President Thomas Sankara following his 1983 coup to replace Upper Volta.
Upper Volta, a former name: "Land of the Upper Volta River", whose main tributaries originate in the country. The Volta itself (Portuguese: "twist", "turn") was named by Portuguese gold traders exploring the region.[
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Burundi
"Land of the Rundi speakers" in Rundi, adopted upon independence from Belgian-occupied Ruanda-Urundi in 1962.[140]
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C
Cameroon
"Shrimp", from the singular French Cameroun derived from the German Kamerun, from the anglicized "Cameroons" derived from the Portuguese Rio de Camarões[149] ("Shrimp River") bestowed in 1472 on account of a massive swarm of the Wouri River's ghost shrimp.[149]
Kamerun, a former name: The German name for their colony there between 1884 and the end of World War I, as above. Formerly also known simply as German Cameroon.
Cameroun, a former name: The French name for their colony there between World War I and 1960, as above. Formerly also known simply as French Cameroons.
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Cape Verde
"Green Cape", from the Portuguese Cabo Verde, from its position across from the mainland cape of that name since its discovery in 1444. The cape is located beside Gorée Island in the modern nation of Senegal and is now known by its French form "Cap-Vert".[citation needed]
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Central African Republic
Self-descriptive, from its French name République centrafricaine. For further etymology of "Africa", see List of continent-name etymologies.
Ubangi-Shari, a former name: From the French Oubangui-Chari, from the Ubangi and the Chari Rivers, which ran through the territory.
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Chad
"Lake", from Lake Chad in the country's southwest, whose name derives from the Kanuri tsade ("lake").[citation needed]
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Comoros
"Moons", from the Arabic Jazā'ir al-Qamar (جزر القمر, "Islands of the Moon").
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Republic of the Congo
"[Land beside] the Congo River", adopted by the country upon independence in 1960 from the previous French autonomous colony Republic of the Congo (French: République du Congo) established in 1958, ultimately from the name of the original French colony French Congo (Congo français) established in 1882. The river itself derived its name from Kongo, a Bantu kingdom which occupied its mouth around the time of its discovery by the Portuguese in 1483[179] or 1484[180] and whose name derived from its people, the Bakongo, an endonym said to mean "hunters" (Kongo: 'mukongo', nkongo).[181]
French Congo, a former name: As above, with the inclusion of its occupier to distinguish it from the Belgian-controlled Congo to its south. For further etymology of "France", see below.
Middle Congo, a former name: From its position along the river, a translation of the French Moyen-Congo, adopted as the colony's name between 1906 and 1958.
Congo (Brazzaville): As above, with the inclusion of the country's capital to distinguish it from Congo (Léopoldville) or (Kinshasa) to its south. Brazzaville itself derives from the colony's founder, Pierre Savorgnan de Brazzà, an Italian nobleman whose title referred to the town of Brazzacco, in the comune of Moruzzo, whose name derived from the Latin Brattius or Braccius, both meaning "arm".[182]
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Democratic Republic of the Congo
As above, adopted upon independence in 1960 as Republic of the Congo (French: République du Congo).
Congo Free State, a former name: As above, a translation of the French État indépendant du Congo ("Free State of the Congo"), formed by Leopold II of Belgium in 1885 to administer the holdings of the International Congo Society acknowledged as separate from the country of Belgium at the 1884 Berlin Conference.
Belgian Congo, a former name: As above, following the Free State's union with Belgium in 1908, whose name was often included to distinguish the colony from the French-controlled Congo to its north. For further etymology of "Belgium", see above.
Congo (Léopoldville) and Congo-Léopoldville, former names: As above, with the inclusion of the country's capital to distinguish it from Congo (Brazzaville) to its north. This usage was especially common when both countries shared identical official names prior to Congo-Léopoldville's adoption of the name "Democratic Republic of the Congo" (République démocratique du Congo) in 1964.[183] Léopoldville itself was named for Leopold II of Belgium upon its founding in 1881. Leopold's own name derives from Latin leo ("lion") or Old High German liut ("people") and OHG bald ("brave").
Congo (Kinshasa) and Congo-Kinshasa, alternate names: As above, following the renaming of Léopoldville after the nearby native settlement of Kinshasa or Kinchassa[184] to its east[185] as part of the Mobutist Authenticity movement.
Zaire or Zaïre, a former name: "[Land beside] the Congo River", a French form of a Portuguese corruption of the Kongo Nzere ("river"), a truncation of Nzadi o Nzere ("river swallowing rivers"),[186] adopted for the river and the country between 1971 and 1997 as part of the Authenticity movement.
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Côte d'Ivoire
See also: Côte d'Ivoire § Name
"Ivory Coast" in French, from its previous involvement in the ivory trade. Similar names for Côte d'Ivoire and other nearby countries include the "Grain Coast", the "Gold Coast", and the "Slave Coast".
Ivory Coast, an alternate name: Self-descriptive, the English translation of the above.
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D
Djibouti
Etymology unknown, named for its eponymous capital Djibouti, founded in 1888 by the Catalan Eloi Pino and the capital of the previous French colonies French Somaliland and Afars & Issas. "Land of Tehuti", after the ancient Egyptian moon god.
French Somaliland, a former name: From its position near today's Somaliland, distinguishing it from British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland. For the further etymology of France and Somalia, see below here and here.
Afars and Issas, a former name: From the country's two main ethnic groups, the Afars and Issas.
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Egypt
The Egyptian name Km.t appearing on the Luxor Obelisk in the Place de la Concorde, Paris.
Main article: Etymology of Egypt
"Home of the ka of Ptah", from Latin Ægyptus, from Greek Aígyptos (Αἴγυπτος), from Mycenean Akupitiyo or *Aiguptiyós[citation needed] (Linear B Syllable B008 A.svgLinear B Syllable B081 KU.svgLinear B Syllable B039 PI.svgLinear B Syllable B037 TI.svgLinear B Syllable B036 JO.svg). Possibly derived from Egyptian Gebtu (Coptos, modern Qift),[54] although now more often derived from Egyptian Ḥwt kȝ Ptḥ (Hwt k3 Pth.jpg, proposed reconstructions *Ħāwit kuʔ Pitáħ or *Hakupitah[citation needed]), an alternate name for Memphis, the capital of the Egyptian empire, by metonymy from the cult and temple of Ptah there. Ptah's name itself meant "opener", both in relation to his creation of the world and his role in the opening of the mouth ceremony.[208]
Strabo recorded the Greek folk etymology that it derived from the Greek Aigaíou hyptíōs (Αἰγαίου ὑπτίως, "[land] below the Aegean").
Miṣr or Maṣr, the local endonym: "City" in Arabic (مصر),[citation needed] ultimately from Akkadian.
*Kemet, a former endonym: "Black Land", reconstructed from Egyptian kmt, distinguishing the Nile flood plain from the "Red Land" of the desert, later becoming Coptic Kīmi (Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ). A previous folk etymology related the name to the Biblical Ham.
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Equatorial Guinea
Self-descriptive. Although the country's territory does not touch the equator, it straddles the line: the island Annobon lies to the south while the mainland is to the north. For further etymology of "Guinea", see below.
Spanish Guinea, a former name: See Spain and Guinea below.
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Eritrea
"Land of the Red Sea", adopted in 1993 upon independence from Ethiopia, from the Italian colony established in 1890, named by Francesco Crispi on the suggestion of Carlo Dossi, Italicized from the Latin transcription Mare Erythræum of the Greek Erythrá Thálassa (Ἐρυθρά Θάλασσα, "Red Sea").
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Ethiopia
Main article: Etymology of Ethiopia
"Land of the Blacks", from Latin Æthiopia, from the Ancient Greek Αἰθιοπία (Aithiopía), "land of the Burnt-Faced" (Ancient Greek: Αἰθίοπας), originally in reference to all Sub-Saharan Africa.[54]
An Ethiopian folk etymology recorded in the Book of Aksum traces the name to an "'Ityopp'is", supposed to be a son of Cush.
Dʿmt or Damot, a former name: Unknown etymology, reconstructed from the proto-Ge'ez Himjar dal.PNGHimjar ajin.PNGHimjar mim.PNGHimjar-ta2.svg and Ge'ez Dmt (Ge'ez: ዳሞት).
Kingdom of Aksum or Axum, a former name: Uncertain meaning, from the capital Axum (Ge'ez: አክሱም) of unknown etymology.
Abyssinia, a former name: Uncertain meaning. Latinized in 1735 from a Portuguese corruption Abassia[54] of the Arabic al-Ḥabašah (الحبشة),[211] from Ge'ez Ḥabbaśā (ሐበሻ) or Ḥabaśā (ሐበሣ), first attested in 2nd- or 3rd-century engravings as Ḥbś or Ḥbštm (ሐበሠ),[212] of unknown origin. Possibly related to the 15th-century-BC Egyptian Ḫbstjw, a foreign people of the incense-producing regions.
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G
Gabon
"Cloak", Anglicized from the Portuguese Gabão, bestowed on the Komo River estuary for its supposed resemblance to a gabão, a kind of pointy-hooded overcoat whose name derives from the Arabic qabā’ (قباء).
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The Gambia
"Kaabu", selected upon independence in 1965 from the name of the former British colony, named for the Gambia River, from a corruption of the Portuguese Gambra and Cambra first recorded in 1455 by Alvise Cadamosto,[217] a corruption of a local name Kambra or Kambaa (Mandinkan: "Kaabu river") or Gambura, an amalgam of Mandinkan Kaabu and Wolof bur ("king").[218]
A folk etymology traces the word from the Portuguese câmbio ("trade", "exchange"), from the region's extensive involvement in the slave trade.
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Ghana
Main article: Etymology of Ghana
"Warrior King",[231] adopted at J. B. Danquah's suggestion upon the union of Gold Coast with British Togoland in 1956 or upon independence on 6 March 1957, in homage to the earlier Malian Ghana Empire, named for the title of its ruler.[citation needed] Despite the empire never holding territory near the current nation, traditional stories connect the northern Mande of Ghana – the Soninke, Dyula, Ligby, and Bissa – to peoples displaced following the collapse of the old Ghana.[citation needed]
Togoland and British Togoland, former names: See Togo below.
Gold Coast, a former name: Self-descriptive. Compare the names Europeans gave to nearby stretches of shore, as Côte d'Ivoire above.
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Guinea
Main articles: Etymology of Guinea and Gulf of Guinea § Name
Etymology uncertain. Anglicized from Portuguese Guiné, traditionally derived from a corruption of Ghana above, originally in reference to the interior and applied to the coast only after 1481.[241] Alternate theories include a corruption of Djenné[242] and the Berber ghinawen, aginaw, or aguinaou ("burnt one", i.e. "black").[241]
French Guinea, a former name: As above, from the French Guinée française, a renaming of Rivières du Sud in 1894. For further etymology of "France", see above.
Rivières du Sud, a former name: "Southern Rivers" in French.
Guinea-Conakry, an alternate name: As above. Conakry, the capital, is traditionally derived from an amalgam of Baga Cona, a wine producer,[clarification needed] and Sosso nakiri ("other side" or "shore").[243]
Guinea-Bissau[edit]
Etymology of Guinea uncertain. The Portuguese name of República da Guiné-Bissau was adopted officially upon independence in 1973.
Portuguese Guinea, a former name: As above.
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K
Kenya
Main articles: Etymology of Kenya, Etymology of Mount Kenya, and List of names on Mount Kenya
After Mount Kenya, probably from the Kikuyu Kere Nyaga ("White Mountain").[249]
British East Africa (former name): after its geographical position on the continent of Africa and the former colonial power, (Britain).
See also Britain, above, and Africa on the Place name etymology page.
From the Kikuyu word Kirinyaga a contraction of Kirima nyaga "Ostrich mountain," so called because the dark shadows and snow-capped peak resemble the plumage of a male Ostrich. The neighbouring Kamba tribe do not have the "R" and "G" sound in their language and called it "Keinya" when acting as guides to a German explorer. It is often erroneously believed it comes from Kirima Ngai "Mountain of God" "
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L
Lesotho
"Land of the Basotho" or "of the Sesotho-speakers".[251] Basotho itself is formed from the plural prefix ba- and Sotho of uncertain etymology, although possibly related to the word motho ("human being").[252]
Basutoland: "Land of the Basotho", from an early anglicization of their name
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Liberia
From the Latin liber "free", so named because the country was established as a homeland for freed (liberated) African-American slaves.
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Libya
Main articles: Etymology of Libya, Ancient Libya, and Libu
After an ancient Berber tribe called Libyans by the Greeks and Rbw by the Egyptians. Until the country's independence, the term "Libya" generally applied only to the vast desert between the Tripolitanian Lowland and the Fazzan plateau (to the west) and Egypt's Nile river valley (to the east). With "Tripoli" the name of new country's capital, and the old northeastern regional name "Cyrenaica" having passed into obsolescence, "Libya" became a convenient name for the country, despite the fact that much of the desert called the Libyan desert is Egyptian territory.
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M
Madagascar
Main article: Etymology of Madagascar
From Madageiscar, a corruption of Mogadishu popularized by Marco Polo.
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Malawi
Possibly based on a native word meaning "flaming water" or "tongues of fire," believed to have derived from the sun's dazzling reflections on Lake Malawi. But President Hastings Banda, the founding President of Malawi, reported in interviews that in the 1940s he saw a "Lac Maravi" shown in "Bororo" country on an antique French map titled "La Basse Guinee Con[t]enant Les Royaumes de Loango, de Congo, d'Angola et de Benguela" and he liked the name "Malawi" better than "Nyasa" (or "Maravi"). "Lac Marawi" does not necessarily correspond to today's Lake Malawi. Banda had such influence at the time of independence in 1964 that he named the former Nyasaland "Malawi", and the name stuck.
Nyasaland (former name): Nyasa literally means "lake" in the local indigenous languages. The name applied to Lake Malawi, formerly Lake Nyasa (Niassa).
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Mali
After the ancient West African kingdom of the same name, where a large part of the modern country is. The word mali means "hippopotamus" in Malinké and Bamana.
French Sudan (former colonial name). In French Soudan français. The term Sudan (see below) stems from the Arabic bilad as-sudan (البلاد السودان) ("land of the Blacks").
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Mauritania
Latin for "land of the Moors". Misnamed after the classical Mauretania in northern Morocco, itself named after the Berber Mauri or Moor tribe.
Mauritius[edit]
Named Prins Maurits van Nassaueiland in 1598 after Maurice of Nassau (1567–1625), Stadtholder of Holland and Prince of Orange (1585–1625).
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Morocco
Main article: Etymology of Morocco
from "Marrakesh", the south region's former capital, from Portuguese Marrocos. Form of the Berber name Mərrakəš (ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ), probably from mur [n] akush (ⵎⵓⵔ ⵏ ⴰⴽⵓⵛ, "Land of God").
Al-Maghrib, a native name: Arabic for "the West" (المغرب), although note that in English use, the Maghreb typically refers to all of northwest Africa, not Morocco in particular.
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Mozambique
Main article: Etymology of Mozambique
From the name of the Island of Mozambique, which in turn probably comes from the name of a previous Arab ruler, the sheik Mussa Ben Mbiki.
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Namibia
From the coastal Namib Desert. Namib means "area where there is nothing" in the Nama language.
South-West Africa, a former name: location on the continent. For Africa, see List of continent-name etymologies.
German Southwest Africa, a former name: As above. For Germany, see Germany above.
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Niger
In English, Niger may be pronounced /ˈnaɪdʒər/ or /niːˈʒɛər/.
Named after the Niger River, from a native term Ni Gir or "River Gir" or from Tuareg n'eghirren ("flowing water").[276] The name has often been misinterpreted, especially by Latinists, to be derived from the Latin niger ("black"), a reference to the dark complexions of the inhabitants of the region.
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Nigeria
After the Niger river that flows through the western areas of the country and into the ocean and Area. See Niger above.
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R
Rwanda
"Land", from the Kinyarwanda kwanda ("expand"),[296] as eventually applied to the Tutsi Nyiginya mwamis descended from Ruganzu Ndori[297] or the speakers of Kinyarwanda.
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S
Senegal
Main article: Etymology of Senegal
From the Senegal river. After a Portuguese variant of the name of the Berber Zenaga (Arabic Senhaja) tribe, which dominated much of the area to the north of modern Senegal, i.e. present-day Mauritania.
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Sierra Leone
"Lion Mountains". Adapted from Sierra Leona, the Spanish version of the Portuguese Serra Leoa. The Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra named the country after the striking mountains that he saw in 1462 while sailing the West African coast. It remains unclear what exactly made the mountains look like lions. Three main explanations exist: that the mountains resembled the teeth of a lion, that they looked like sleeping lions, or that thunder which broke out around the mountains sounded like a lion's roar.
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Somalia
Main article: Etymology of Somalia
"Land of the Somali", an ethnic group. Somali itself is of uncertain etymology, although some have proposed a derivation from sac maal ("cattle herders") or a legendary patriarch named Samaale.
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South Africa
Main article: List of continent-name etymologies
Self-descriptive, from its location in Africa. For the etymology of Africa, see list of continent-name etymologies.
Suid-Afrika, a local endonym: "South Africa" in Afrikaans
Azania (alternative name): some opponents of the white-minority rule of the country used the name Azania in place of "South Africa" . The origin of this name remains uncertain, but the name has referred to various parts of sub-Saharan East-Africa. Recently, two suggestions for the origin of the word have emerged. The first cites the Arabic `ajam ("foreigner, non-Arab"). The second references the Greek verb azainein ("to dry, parch"), which fits the identification of Azania with arid sub-Saharan Africa.
Mzansi, an alternative endonym: a popular, widespread nickname among locals, used often in parlance but never officially adopted. (uMzantsi in isiXhosa means "south".)
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South Sudan
Self-descriptive, from its former position within Sudan prior to independence. For the etymology of Sudan, see Sudan below.
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Sudan
"Land of the Blacks", from the Arabic bilad as-sudan (البلاد السودان), which originally[citation needed] referred to most of the Sahel region.
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Swaziland
"Land of the Swazi", an ethnic group. The name Swazi itself derives from Mswati I, a former king of Swaziland.
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T
Tanzania
"Land of Tanganyika and Zanzibar", a blend and simplification of the original name – "United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar" – assumed upon independence in 1964
Tanganiyika was named for its lake, of uncertain etymology. Sir Richard Francis Burton derived it from the local tou tanganyka, "to join" in the sense "where waters meet." Henry Stanley derived it from tonga ("island") and hika ("flat").
Zanzibar was an Arabic name meaning "Black Coast" (Arabic: زنجبار, Zanjibār, from Persian: زنگبار, Zangibar[304][305])
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Togo
"By the water"[308] or "behind the sea",[309] derived from Ewe to ("water") and go ("shore"). Originally it just referred to the town of Togo (now Togoville), later the Germans extended the name to the whole nation.[309]
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Tunisia
Main articles: Etymology of Tunisia and Etymology of Tunis
"Land of Tunis", its capital.[311] Tunis's name possibly derives from the Phoenician goddess Tanith,[312] the ancient city of Tynes,[313] or the Berber ens, meaning "to lie down" or "to rest".[314]
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U
Uganda
"Buganda" in Swahili, adopted by the British as the name for their colony in 1894. Buganda was the kingdom of the 52 clans of the Baganda. Baganda ("Brothers and Sisters" or "Bundle People") is itself short for Baganda Ba Katonda ("Brothers and Sisters of God"), a reference to an indigenous creation story.
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Z
Zambia
Main articles: Etymology of Zambia and Name of Rhodesia
"Land of the Zambezi", which flows through the east of the country and also forms its border with Zimbabwe.
Northern Rhodesia, a former name: From the division of Rhodesia, Neo-Latin for "Land of Rhodes", the British South African minister and businessman who helped found the colony through his involvement with the British South Africa Company.
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Zimbabwe
Main articles: Etymology of Zimbabwe and Name of Rhodesia
"House of Stones", Dzimba-dze-mabwe in Shona,[citation needed] in reference to Great Zimbabwe.
Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia, former names: see Zambia above. The country was also briefly known as Zimbabwe Rhodesia between 1979 and 1980"
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