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Countries' names in Japanese - World Map

Today we will increase our vocabulary by knowing the names of countries in Japanese. The names of most countries are written in katakana, but they can also be written with kanji characters. In this article you can check the complete list of the world map.

The word for country in Japanese is called "kuni" [国], an ideogram that can also refer to regions, states, governments, and other places. For example, a country's language is called "kokugo" [国語]. Now that you know this, shall we look at some countries in Japanese?

World map - countries in Japanese

Tairiku - Continents in Japanese

The continents in the Japanese language are called tairiku [大陸] and you can see the list of them below:

Continent Kanji Rōmaji
Africa アフリカ大陸 afurika tairiku
Antarctica 南極大陸 nankyoku tairiku
Asia アジア大陸 / 亜細亜大陸 ajia tairiku
Oceania オセアニア大陸 oseania tairiku
Europe ヨーロッパ大陸 / 欧州 yooroppa tairiku / ōshū
North America 北アメリカ大陸 / 北米 kita amerika tairiku / hokubei
South America 南アメリカ大陸 / 南米 minami amerika tairiku / nambei

国名一覧(アフリカの国)

Africa in Japanese is afurika [アフリカ] and [阿弗利加] but can also be referred to as godaishuu [五代集]. Below is a list of African countries in Japanese:

Country Kanji Kana Rōmaji
Egypt エジプト エジプト Egypt
Algeria アルジェリア / アルジェリア民主人民共和国 アルジェリア / アルジェリアみんしゅじんみんきょうわこく Arujería / Arujeria People's Democratic Republic
Chade チャド / チャド共和国 チャド / チャド共和国 Chado / Chado Republic
Libya リビア / 社会主義人民リビアアラブ国 リビア / しゃかいしゅぎじんみんリビアアラブこく Ribia / Shakaishugi jinmin Ribia-arabukoku
South Africa 南アフリカ / 南アフリカ共和国 みなみアフリカ / みなみアフリカきょうわこく Minami Afurika / Minami Afurika Kyouwakoku

Asian Countries in Japanese

Below we will see a list of countries in 日本語 located in Asia and the East. The names of these continents are in Katakana in each subtitle.

Far East [東アジア]

Note that some countries in Asia usually have their writing in Kanji, as they are closer to Japan and have unusual meanings. At the end of this article we will talk about the meaning of some of these countries.

Country Japanese Romaji
China 中国 China
Hong Kong 香港 Hong Kong
Japan 日本 Nihon / Nippon
Macau 澳門 Macau
Mongolia モンゴル Mongori
North Korea 北朝鮮 Kitachousen
South Korea 韓国 Kankou
Taiwan 台湾 Taiwan
  • Japan classifies Mongolia as a country of the Far East (Mongolia is considered a country of Central Asia)
    • Mongolia is also known as mouku [蒙古]
  • China is also called [チャイナ] or [シナ]
  • Japan is also called ジャパン
  • The two Koreas are also known as chousen [朝鮮] or koria;
    • The Korean peninsula is also called chousenhantou [朝鮮半島];

Southeast Asia - Tounanajia [東南アジア]

Portuguese Japanese Romaji
Brunei ブルネイ brunei
Cambodia カンボジア kanbojia
Timor-Leste 東ティモール higashi tiimooru
Indonesia インドネシア indonesia
Laos ラオス raosu
Malaysia マレーシア maraashia
Myanmar ミャンマー Myanmar
Philippines 比律賓 fiiripin
Singapore 新嘉坡 shingapore
Thailand tai
Vietnam 越南 betonama

Indian Subcontinent - Minamiajia [南アジア]

Portuguese Japanese Romaji
Bangladesh バングラデシュ bannguradeshu
Bhutan ブータン buutan
India インド indo
Maldives モルディブ marudiibu
Nepal ネパール nepaaru
Pakistan パキスタン pakisutan
Sri Lanka スリランカ suriranka

Central Asia - Chuuouajia [中央アジア]

Portuguese Not official Official name
Afghanistan アフガニスタン Afghanistan
Kazakhstan カザフスタン kazafusutan
Kyrgyzstan キルギスタン kirigisutan
Tajikistan タジキスタン Tajikistan
Turkmenistan トルクメニスタン torukumenisutan
Uzbekistan ウズベキスタン uzubekisutan

European countries in Japanese

Europe in Japanese is eeroppa [ヨーロッパ] and [欧羅巴] or it can also be oushuu [欧州] and oubei [欧米]. Below we will see a list of countries in Japanese located on the European continent:

Country Kanji Kana Rōmaji
Iceland アイスランド アイスランド loving
Ireland 愛蘭 アイルランド airurando
Albania アルバニア アルバニア arubania
Andorra アンドラ アンドラ andora
UK
- England
- Scotland
- Wales
- Northern Ireland
英吉利 / 英国
- 英蘭
- 蘇格蘭
- ウェールズ
- 北愛蘭
イギリス / えいこく
- イングランド
- スコットランド
- ウェールズ
- きたアイルランド
England / United Kingdom
- "ingurando" is not a recognizable Portuguese word. It seems to be a misspelling or a form of a word from another language. Could you please provide more context or clarify the word?
- sukottorando
- weruzu
- kita airurando
Italy 伊太利 イタリア Italy
Ukraine 烏克蘭 ウクライナ Ukraine
Estonia エストニア エストニア Estonia
Austria 墺太利 オーストリア oosutoria
Netherlands 阿蘭陀 オランダ Holland
Greece 希臘 ギリシア / ギリシャ Greece / Girisha
Croatia クロアチア クロアチア Kuroachia
Switzerland 瑞西 スイス suisu
Sweden 瑞典 スウェーデン sweden
Slovakia スロバキア スロバキア surobakia
Slovenia スロベニア スロベニア surobenia
Spain 西班牙 スペイン Spain
Czech Republic 捷克 チェコ cheko
Denmark It seems that the input "丁抹" is in Japanese kanji. However, without additional context, it's challenging to provide a meaningful translation. If you have more details or a different string in Portuguese to translate, please share! デンマーク denmaku
独逸 ドイツ
Turkey 土耳古 トルコ Turkey
Norway 諾威 ノルウェー norway
Hungary 洪牙利 ハンガリー Hangari
Finland 芬蘭 フィンランド finrando
仏蘭西 フランス
Belarus 白ロシア ベラルーシ berarushi
Bulgaria 勃牙利 ブルガリア Bulgaria
Belgium 白耳義 ベルギー berugi
Bosnia and Herzegovina ボスニア・ヘルツェゴビナ ボスニア・ヘルツェゴビナ bosunia herutsegobin
Poland 波蘭 ポーランド porando
Portugal 葡萄牙 ポルトガル Portuguese
Malta マルタ マルタ maruta
Moldova モルドバ モルドバ morudoba
Serbia and Montenegro セルビア・モンテネグロ セルビア・モンテネグロ Serubia Monteneguro
Latvia ラトビア ラトビア ratobia
Lithuania リトアニア リトアニア ritoania
Luxembourg ルクセンブルク ルクセンブルク rukusenburuku
Romania 羅馬尼亜 ルーマニア Romania
Russia 露西亜 ロシア roshia

North American Countries in Japanese

North America in Japanese is kitaamerica [北アメリカ] or hokubei [北米]. Below is a list of countries in Japanese from North America:

Country Kanji Kana Rōmaji
Canada 加奈陀 カナダ Canada
United States 亜米利加 - 米国 アメリカ - べいこく America - United States
Mexico 墨西哥 メキシコ Mexico
Panama 巴奈馬 パナマ Panama
Cuba 玖馬 キューバ kyuba
Jamaica 牙買加 ジャマイカ Jamaica
Dominican Republic ドミニカ国 ドミニカこく dominika koku
Haiti ハイチ ハイチ haichi

南アメリカの国々

South America in Japanese is minami amerika [南アメリカ] or nanbei [南米]. Below we have a list of South American countries in Japanese:

Country Kanji Kana Rōmaji
Brazil 伯剌西爾・伯国 ブラジル Brazil
Argentina 亜爾然丁 アルゼンチン aruzenchin

Oceania countries in Japanese

Oceania in Japanese is pronounced oseania [オセアニア] taiyoushyu [大洋州]. Below we have a list of countries in Oceania in Japanese:

Country Kanji Kana Rōmaji
Australia 豪州 オーストラリア Australia
New Zealand 新西蘭 ニュージーランド nyuu jiirando

Abbreviation and Kanji of Countries in Japanese

The list below has the ideogram of each country and also a kanji that serves as the abbreviation of the country in Japanese. ing that despite the ideograms, most countries still pronounce using the katakana reading, even written in kanji.

This happens because of the Ateji [当て字]; before Katakana existed, countries already had such pronunciations, but ideograms that had these pronunciations were used for that, even though most of the time the ideograms had no relation to the characteristics of the country.

Country Romaji Kanji Abv
Argentina Arugenchina 亜爾然丁 The string "亜" does not have a direct translation in English as it represents a kanji character used in the Japanese language. It often means "Asia" or is used in compounds to denote "sub-" or "secondary." Therefore, it remains "亜" in the translation.
Australia Australia 豪斯多剌里亜 The term "豪" translates to "magnificent" or "luxurious" in English, depending on the context. If you're looking for a specific usage or context, please provide more details.
Austria The translation of "O-sutoria" is "The Story." 墺太利
Belgium Berugi- 白耳義
Bolivia Boribia 波利美亜
Brazil Brazil 伯剌西爾 The string "伯" does not have a direct translation to English as it's a Chinese character (haku) often used in names or titles. It could mean "lord," "uncle," or a similar respectful title depending on the context. If you provide context, I can offer a more precise translation.
Bulgaria Bulgaria 布爾加利亜
Canada Canada 加拿大
Chile Chiri 智利
China People's Republic of China (China) 中華人民共和国
Democratic Republic of Congo Kongo Minshu Kyou Wakoku 公果
Denmark Denma-ku 丹麦
Egypt Egypt 埃及多
England England 英吉利西
Finland Finrando 芬蘭土
仏蘭西
独逸
Greece Girisha 希臘 The string "希" translates to "hope" in English.
Hungary Hangari- 匈牙利
Iceland Aisurando 氷島
India Indo 印度
Indonesia Indonesia 印度尼西亜 The provided string "尼" translates to "nun" in English.
Ireland Airurando 愛蘭土
Italy Italy 伊太利亜
Japan Japan 日本
Kazakhstan Kazafusutan 香佐富斯坦
Laos Raosu 老檛
Latvia Ratobia 良都美野
Malaysia Maree-shiya 馬来西亜
Mexico Mexico 墨西哥
Mongolia Mongoru 蒙古 The term "蒙" can be translated into English as "Meng," which is a Chinese surname and also means "to cover" or "to be ignorant." However, without additional context, a direct translation would simply render it as "Meng." If you have more specific context in mind, please provide it for a more nuanced translation.
Myanmar Myanmaa 緬甸
Netherlands Holland 阿蘭陀
New Zealand New Zealand 新西蘭土
North Korea Chousen Minjujugi Jinmin Kyouwakoku (North Korea) 朝鮮民主主義人民共和国
Norway Norway- 那威
Panama Panama 巴拿馬 The string "巴" does not have a direct translation in English and may refer to a specific concept or name in certain contexts. If you can provide more context, I would be glad to help further.
Peru Peru- 秘魯
Philippines Fuiripin 比利賓
Poland Po-rando 波蘭土
Portugal Portugal 葡萄牙 It seems you have entered a single character, "葡", which is often associated with "grape" in Chinese. If this was intended as a placeholder or part of a larger context, please provide additional text for translation.
Congo Republic Kongo Kyou Wakoku 公果
Romania Ru-mania 羅馬尼亜 Loosely translated, "羅" refers to "net" or "gauze" in English. If this is meant to refer to a specific context or meaning, please provide more details for a more accurate translation.
Russia Roshia 露西亜
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 沙地亜剌比亜
Singapore Singapore 星嘉波
South Africa Minami Afurika 南阿弗利加 南阿
South Korea Taikanminkoku (Kankoku) 大韓民国
Spain Spain 西班牙 西
Sri Lanka Suriranka 錫蘭
Sweden Suuei-den 瑞典 The character "瑞" translates to "auspicious" or "good omen" in English, but it is often used in specific cultural contexts that involve good fortune or blessings.
Switzerland Suisu 瑞士 The character "瑞" translates to "auspicious" or "good omen" in English, but it is often used in specific cultural contexts that involve good fortune or blessings.
Syria Shiriya 叙利亜
Taiwan Chuuka Minkoku 中華民国
Tajikistan Tajikistan 塔吉克斯坦
Thailand Tai
Tunisia Chunisha 突尼斯
Peru Turkey 土耳其
Ukraine Ukraine 烏克蘭
USA America 亜米利加
Venezuela Good morning 委内瑞拉 The string "委" translates to "Commission" in English.
Vietnam Vietnam 越南

Meaning of the names of countries in Japanese

China called chuukoku [中国] literally means central country, central part, or central region. Japan called nippon [日本] literally means origin of the sun, or land of the rising sun as some say.

Thailand comes from the ideogram tai [泰] which means peaceful, calm, easy, and extreme. Korea is written as kankoku [韓国] which, despite having commonly used ideograms, currently conveys nothing beyond the idea of a country of Korea.

North Korea is called kitachousen [北朝鮮], consisting of the ideograms North and another ideogram that conveys the idea of dynasty, period, and regime. The last ideogram conveys the idea of fresh, vivid, clear, and bright.

It is worth ing that ideograms do not have meanings, they only convey ideas and concepts that can be easily broken down into a given word. Don't think of North Korea as a bright, vivid land.

Video of countries in Japanese

Below I will leave a video summarizing the article, in case you want to watch: