[Ironic]

This has struck me over the last week watching the Olympics and I need to see what other people think.

OK I as an English person call England...erm... England.

I call Greece Greece.

Yet the greeks call Greece Hellas. So why am I so arrogant to think that Hellas isnt a good enough name for the country. The same for France. Germany etc etc

And the greeks dont call England England. Neither do the germans or the french.

Its very confusing.

SUrely we should respect the name given to a country by the people that come from there, shouldnt we?

[Penny]

I'm glad someone else is confused too... I was like "HUH?!?" when all the countries were coming in. I would have thought a country would just get called by whatever they call themselves, but apprentley it is not so.

[Sparklechick]

Wouldn't that be like if we were to hold the Olympics and we called all the countries by their Maori names? For instance, New Zealand would come in the front of the pack "Aotearoa" .... do we even have Maori names for some of the other countries?

So, if the Greeks call their country Hellas then we should to? That could work, unless there's a country out there who's language is pretty unpronouncable so that's why the English have come along and given them a name we can actually pronounce.

[Ironic]

Originally Posted by Sparklechick

Wouldn't that be like if we were to hold the Olympics and we called all the countries by their Maori names? For instance, New Zealand would come in the front of the pack "Aotearoa" .... do we even have Maori names for some of the other countries?

So, if the Greeks call their country Hellas then we should to? That could work, unless there's a country out there who's language is pretty unpronouncable so that's why the English have come along and given them a name we can actually pronounce.

Just cos we cant pronounce it doesnt mean we shouldnt try...

[Sparklechick]

Fair enough.

There are some pretty difficult languages to pronounce though ... like those guys who click their tongues ....

*imagines everyone trying to pronounce "clickclucktobalobalagoatalaclickclock"* ... I'm not sure where this country is ....... but it could be in Africa somewhere.

[kall]

Here's a list I found through Google:

Common Name	Local Name
Afghanistan	Afghanestan
Albania	Shqiperia
Algeria	Al Jaza'ir
Andorra	Andorra
Angola	Angola
Antigua and Barbuda	Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina	Argentina
Armenia	Hayastan
Australia	Australia
Austria	Oesterreich
Azerbaijan	Azarbaycan Respublikasi
The Bahamas	The Bahamas
Bahrain	Al Bahrayn
Bangladesh	Bangladesh
Barbados	Barbados
Belarus	Byelarus
Belgium	Belgique (French) or Belgie (Flemish)
Belize	Belice
Benin	Benin
Bhutan	Drukyul
Bolivia	Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosna i Hercegovina
Botswana	Botswana
Brazil	Brasil
Brunei	Brunei
Bulgaria	Republika Bulgariya
Burkina Faso	Burkina Faso
Burundi	Burundi
Cambodia	Kampuchea
Cameroon	Cameroon or Cameroun (French)
Canada	Canada
Cape Verde	Cabo Verde
Central African Republic	Republique Centrafricaine
Chad	Tchad
Chile	Chile
China	Zhong Guo
Colombia	Colombia
Comoros	Comores
Congo, Republic of the	Republique du Congo
Congo, Democratic Republic of the	Republique Democratique du Congo
Costa Rica	Costa Rica
Cote d'Ivoire	Cote d'Ivoire
Croatia	Hrvatska
Cuba	Cuba
Cyprus	Kypros (Greek) or Kibris (Turkish)
Czech Republic	Ceska Republika
Denmark	Danmark
Djibouti	Djibouti
Dominica	Dominica
Dominican Republic	Republica Dominicana
Ecuador	Ecuador
Egypt	Misr
El Salvador	El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea	Guinea Ecuatorial
Eritrea	Ertra
Estonia	Eesti
Ethiopia	YeItyop'iya
Fiji	Fiji
Finland	Suomi
France	France or Republique Francaise
Gabon	Gabon
The Gambia	The Gambia
Georgia	Sak'art'velo
Germany	Deutschland
Ghana	Ghana
Greece	Ellas
Grenada	Grenada
Guatemala	Guatemala
Guinea	Guinee
Guinea-Bissau	Guine-Bissau
Guyana	Guyana
Haiti	Haiti
Honduras	Honduras
Hungary	Magyarorszag
Iceland	Island
India	India
Indonesia	Indonesia
Iran	Iran
Iraq	Al Iraq
Ireland	Ireland or Eire
Israel	Yisra'el
Italy	Italia
Jamaica	Jamaica
Japan	Nippon
Jordan	Al Urdun
Kazakhstan	Qazaqstan
Kenya	Kenya
Kiribati	Kiribati
Korea, North	Choson or Choson-minjujuui-inmin-konghwaguk
Korea, South	Taehan-min'guk
Kuwait	Al Kuwayt
Kyrgyzstan	Kyrgyz Respublikasy
Laos	Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao
Latvia	Latvija
Lebanon	Lubnan
Lesotho	Lesotho
Liberia	Liberia
Libya	Libya
Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein
Lithuania	Lietuva
Luxembourg	Luxembourg
Macedonia	Makedonija
Madagascar	Madagascar
Malawi	Malawi
Malaysia	Malaysia
Maldives	Dhivehi Raajje
Mali	Mali
Malta	Malta
Marshall Islands	Marshall Islands
Mauritania	Muritaniyah
Mauritius	Mauritius
Mexico	Mexico
Federated States of Micronesia	Federated States of Micronesia
Moldova	Moldova
Monaco	Monaco
Mongolia	Mongol Uls
Morocco	Al Maghrib
Mozambique	Mocambique
Myanmar (Burma)	Myanma Naingngandaw
Namibia	Namibia
Nauru	Nauru
Nepal	Nepal
Netherlands	Nederland
New Zealand	New Zealand
Nicaragua	Nicaragua
Niger	Niger
Nigeria	Nigeria
Norway	Norge
Oman	Uman
Pakistan	Pakistan
Palau	Belau
Panama	Panama
Papua New Guinea	Papua New Guinea
Paraguay	Paraguay
Peru	Peru
Philippines	Pilipinas
Poland	Polska
Portugal	Portugal
Qatar	Qatar
Romania	Romania
Russia	Rossiya
Rwanda	Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia	Saint Lucia
Samoa	Samoa
San Marino	San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe	Sao Tome e Principe
Saudi Arabia	Al Arabiyah as Suudiyah
Senegal	Senegal
Serbia and Montenegro (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)	Srbija-Crna Gora
Seychelles	Seychelles
Sierra Leone	Sierra Leone
Singapore	Singapore
Slovakia	Slovensko
Slovenia	Slovenija
Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands
Somalia	Somalia
South Africa	South Africa
Spain	Espana
Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka
Sudan	As-Sudan
Suriname	Suriname
Swaziland	Swaziland
Sweden	Sverige
Switzerland	Schweiz (German), Suisse (French), Svizzera (Italian)
Syria	Suriyah
Taiwan	T'ai-wan
Tajikistan	Jumhurii Tojikistan
Tanzania	Tanzania
Thailand	Muang Thai
Tolo	Togo
Tonga	Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago	Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia	Tunis
Turkey	Turkiye
Turkmenistan	Turkmenistan
Tuvalu	Tuvalu
Uganda	Uganda
Ukraine	Ukrayina
United Arab Emirates	Al Imarat al Arabiyah al Muttahidah
United Kingdom	United Kingdom
United States	United States
Uruguay	Uruguay
Uzbekistan	Uzbekiston Respublikasi
Vanuatu	Vanuatu
Vatican City (Holy See)	Santa Sede (Citta del Vaticano)
Venezuela	Venezuela
Vietnam	Viet Nam
Yemen	Al Yaman
Zambia	Zambia
Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe

[Penny]

Thanks for that Kall, I need more space in my hard disk of a head to commit it all to memory though. But its quite an interesting read.

[Sparklechick]

Srbija-Crna Gora .... how on earth would you pronounce that?

I think Serbia is a much easier option

[edshuck]

How about Helvetia for Switzerland? It is on all their stamps.

[kall]

Originally Posted by edshuck

How about Helvetia for Switzerland? It is on all their stamps.

I like it, and it would make things easier for the typesetter too.