Name Games Countries Play

What's in a name, did you wonder? Plenty, it would seem, going by the name change carried out by various nations.

Most changes have been cosmetic, like dropping/adding a term like 'republic of' and/or extension (like Turkey becoming Turkiye), while some have been wholesale, like Ceylon becoming Sri Lanka.

As India seems to be picking 'Bharat', at least in official communication, here are some interesting name changes from the past.

Czechia

How many of you know which country adopted this name in 2016?

Chechenya, did you say?

Wrong.

The Czech Republic went for a name change in 2016, but wonder why the name quite didn't catch on?

Could it be because it's almost unpronounceable and, hey, what cannot be said cannot be said, right?

Or could it be that the name has an uncanny resemblance to another country in the Caucasus?

Chechenya, maybe?

Turkey

Another strong leader in another civilisational country decided that his country's name didn't reflect its ancient ethos and values.

And thus a name the West associates chiefly with a bird on Thanksgiving was dumped for Turkiye in 2022.

Here's looking at you, Canary Islands.

Libya

What do you mean, Libya? Wasn't the north African nation always named so?

When Colonel Muammar Gaddafi seized power in 1969 in the poor little rich nation, one of the first things he did was to change its name to the Libyan Arab Republic.

In 1977 he changed it again to the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, and to the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

After Gaddafi was deposed violently in 2011, the country became known as, well, Libya, and from 2017 onwards as the State of Libya.

Myanmar

If your name is what others call you, what if the biggest kid on the block continues to use your old name?

That must be the dilemma among many confronting the military junta (pronounced hoonta) ensconced in Yangon (Rangoon in the Burmese language)in the country that calls itself Myanmar (formal version of Burma in the local language).

But why the name change, did you ask?

See, that's the strange part. The name change is in English, but not in Burmese. Confused? Washington, DC, sure is, for despite the name change in 1989, refuses to acknowledge the name change and continues to use Burma.

Zaire

The former Belgian Congo on independence in 1960 became the Republic of Congo, and then the Democratic Republic of Congo four years later. When Mobutu Sese Seko seized power in 1965, he changed the name to Zaire.

Laurent Kabila, who took over after Mobutu was deposed in 1996, announced the country reverted to its earlier name, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A slight problem, though.

Its smaller neighbour is the Republic of the Congo (formerly, the People's Republic of the Congo), which gained freedom from France -- and is situated across the river, also known as the Congo.

DRC, or the former Zaire, has its capital in Kinshasa.

Its namesake's capital is at Brazzaville, and for convenience's sake is referred to as Congo-Brazzaville.

And yes, the former Zaire is also referred to as Congo-Kinshasa. Just to set it apart, you know, in case anyone's confused.