Rows Of Countries That Have Changed Their Names, From Europe To Asia Including Indonesia

Illustration of countries in the world (Unsplash)

YOGYAKARTA Several countries from Europe to Asia are included in the series of countries that have changed their names. The change was not done without reason. However, the most common reason that underlies the name change country is an attempt to break away from colonialism, quoted from the Economist.

Please note that changing the name of the country is a natural thing and can be done. The following is a list of countries that have changed their names.

In 2019, the Republic of Macedonia announced the country was changing its name to the Republic of North Macedonia. This was done because of a dispute with Greece in Athens regarding the use of the name Macedonia which is the name of the ancient Greek kingdom.

This name change didn't happen long ago. In January 2020, Holland officially joined the Netherlands. Despite changing names, the Neteherlands government is still making various adjustments.

Cabo Verde is a country in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The country released its previous name, Cape Verde, in 2013. The name change was made because historically, Portuguese sailors called the country's forerunner according to the current name.

This name change was carried out by King Mswatini III in April 2018, from all Swazilan to Eswatini. This name change was carried out as a symbol of self-isolation from colonialism. In addition, Swazilan's name is also often equated with Switzerland.

This country has made several renamings. In 1885 to 1908 the country was called the Congo-Free Congo Free State, which turned again into the Belgian Congo. The change did not stop there, this country changed its name again to Congo-Leopoldville and then changed its name again when independence in 1960 became the Republic of the Congo. The change was again made to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Czech government in 2016 announced the name change of their country to Czech. This name change was carried out as an effort to rebrand the country. Even the name Czecha is said to be more appropriate to be attached to products produced by the country.

Historically, Iran was indeed referred to as Persia. Emphasis on the change to Iran itself began in 1935, at that time the Iranian government directed other countries with diplomatic relations with them not to use Persia anymore, but Iran.

This country has also changed its name several times. They have used the names of the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Republic of Khmer. Even in 1975 to 1979, the name used was the Democratic Kampuchea. However, under the UN transition authority, the country finally used the name Cambodian State.

In English, Myanmar has two names, namely Myanmar and Burma. Then in 1989, the military junta removed the Burmese name so that it used the Myanmar name under the official name of the United Republic of Myanmar.

From 1815 to 1948, Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon, which is a transliteration of the name Cilao, a country under Portuguese rule. In order to encourage the country's independence, it was finally changed to Sri Lanka.

Reporting from the Indonesia good page, the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands which controlled Indonesian territory during the colonialism era used the name Nederlandsch-Indie or Hinda-Dutch for Indonesia.

However, because many people think that the name is often exchanged with other regions, finally two British James Richardson Logan and George Samuel Windsor Earl use the Indonesian name which was later popularized by the Indonesian Merdeka newspaper belonging to the Indonesian Association until it continued during the Youth Pledge.

In addition to the series of countries that have changed names, visit VOI.id to get other interesting information.