Ceylon was the name widely used for the island during British colonial rule. In 1972, the country adopted Sri Lanka as its official name when it became a republic. The name is derived from Sanskrit and is generally associated with meanings such as resplendent island.
The country formerly known as Rhodesia became Zimbabwe in 1980 after independence from British colonial rule. The new name was taken from Great Zimbabwe, the famous ancient stone city and archaeological site.
Before independence, Ghana was known as the Gold Coast, a name associated with the region’s historic gold trade. It became Ghana in 1957. The name was inspired by the ancient Ghana Empire, although the empire was located farther west than modern Ghana.
The West African country changed its name from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso in 1984 under Thomas Sankara. The name combines words from two major languages and is commonly translated as “land of upright/honest people.”
In 2018, King Mswati III announced that the country would officially be known as Eswatini. The name means roughly “land of the Swazi.” The change also restored a name used in the local language rather than the colonial-era English name, Swaziland.
Burma’s official English name was changed to Myanmar by the military government in 1989. The change remains controversial in some contexts, with some governments and organisations historically continuing to use “Burma.”
The country known historically as Siam adopted Thailand in 1939, although it briefly reverted to Siam after World War II before officially returning to Thailand. “Thailand” is commonly understood as “land of the Thai.”
The West African country formerly called Dahomey changed its name to Benin in 1975. The new name was chosen from the historic Kingdom of Benin, although modern Benin and the ancient kingdom were geographically distinct.
The country was known as Zaire from 1971 until 1997 under Mobutu Sese Seko. After Mobutu was overthrown, the country reverted to the name Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo).
In 2019, the country officially changed its name from Republic of Macedonia to Republic of North Macedonia following an agreement with Greece. The dispute had lasted for decades because Greece has a region called Macedonia and objected to the country’s previous name.
