Isn't it fascinating, and a bit ludicrous, how countries, cities, and towns around the world – each with a single real, original name – end up with so many other names in different languages? As an example, did you know that "United Kingdom" has more than 30 different names worldwide?
Wouldn't it be a good idea if places around the world were called only by their actual names? Imagine a simpler, more unified world, where "London" was just "London" everywhere and "United Kingdom" had just one name. Here's a look at the diversity in names for "United Kingdom" across various languages, illustrating the complexity that translations bring to place names worldwide. Now add in all the other country, town and city names that are unnecessarily called by a multitude of names that hardly anyone understands.
It's time that children in schools around the world were taught the actual names instead of names that only make sense in their language. Maps and globes need to show real names too. Do you agree?
How can governemnts be forced to implement this?
| Country | Language | Name for "United Kingdom" |
|---|---|---|
| France | French | Royaume-Uni |
| Spain | Spanish | Reino Unido |
| Portugal | Portuguese | Reino Unido |
| Italy | Italian | Regno Unito |
| Germany | German | Vereinigtes Königreich |
| Netherlands | Dutch | Verenigd Koninkrijk |
| Greece | Greek | Ηνωμένο Βασίλειο (Inoméno Vasílio) |
| Turkey | Turkish | Birleşik Krallık |
| Russia | Russian | Соединённое Королевство (Soyedinónnoye Korolévstvo) |
| Poland | Polish | Zjednoczone Królestwo |
| Czech Republic | Czech | Spojené království |
| Slovakia | Slovak | Spojené kráľovstvo |
| Hungary | Hungarian | Egyesült Királyság |
| Finland | Finnish | Yhdistynyt kuningaskunta |
| Estonia | Estonian | Ühendkuningriik |
| Latvia | Latvian | Apvienotā Karaliste |
| Lithuania | Lithuanian | Jungtinė Karalystė |
| Romania | Romanian | Regatul Unit |
| Japan | Japanese | イギリス (Igirisu), 連合王国 (Rengō Ōkoku) |
| China | Mandarin | 英国 (Yīngguó), 联合王国 (Liánhé Wángguó) |
| Taiwan | Taiwanese | 英國 (Ing-kok), 聯合王國 (Liân-ha̍p Ông-kok) |
| South Korea | Korean | 영국 (Yeongguk), 연합 왕국 (Yeonhap Wang-guk) |
| Thailand | Thai | สหราชอาณาจักร (Saharacha-anachak) |
| Vietnam | Vietnamese | Vương quốc Liên hiệp Anh |
| Iran | Persian | پادشاهی متحده (Pādshāhi-ye Motahed) |
| Israel | Hebrew | הממלכה המאוחדת (Ha-Mamlakha Ha-Me’uchedet) |
| Saudi Arabia | Arabic | المملكة المتحدة (Al-Mamlakah Al-Muttaḥidah) |
| Iceland | Icelandic | Bretland |
| Greenland | Greenlandic | Kunngeqarfik Tuluit Nunaat |
| Basque Country | Basque | Erresuma Batua |
| Catalonia | Catalan | Regne Unit |
| Philippines | Cebuano | Hiniusang Gingharian |
| Indonesia | Javanese | Karajan Manunggal |
| Madagascar | Malagasy | Fanjakana Mitambatra |