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Country Names in Chinese Mandarin

Ninchanese December 9, 2020

A pretty useful sentence to know how to answer in Chinese is “where are you from?” Do you know how to say your country in Chinese? Are you curious to know all the country names in Chinese? Read more to discover what your country is called in Chinese!

The Chinese language can have very meaningful country names like 美国 (the US) which means “beautiful country” or 法国 (France) which means “Lawful country”. That sounds cool, right? But why is America called beautiful country in Chinese? And by that logic, what’s the name of your country?

How foreign countries get their name in the Chinese language

Country names in Chinese are formed usually in three ways:

  • Element of description of the country + 国 (which means country).
    Usually it’s a characteristic of the country that’s chosen, along with, if possible, a character that is phonetically close to the country’s name.
    美国 (which is the name in Chinese for the US, with 美 resembling the “mer” in America)， 德国 (Germany’s country name in Chinese)，法国 (France in Chinese) and 英国 (Great Britain’s name in Chinese) are all formed that way.
  • Phonetically:
    The other way of naming foreign countries in Chinese is by transliterating the name into Chinese, purely based on sound. As such, a lot of country names in Chinese are based on the phonetic pronunciation of countries. They try to be as close as possible to the name of the country originally, but that’s not always possible.
    Some are pretty easy to guess, however! Can you guess which countries are 澳大利亚 and 古巴?
    Meaning-wise, most country names in Chinese won’t have a literal meaning that makes a lot of sense, but sound-wise, they’ll be close!
  • Literal names:
    Lastly, a few foreign names got quite literal names. South Africa is “南非” with 南 for the South, and 非 from 非洲which means Africa in Chinese. Iceland is another great example. Its name is literally the “Ice island” 冰岛. Cool, no?

All the world’s country names in Chinese

Here’s the list of Chinese names of countries, organized alphabetically, with their name in Mandarin Chinese, English name, and pinyin pronunciation. Just pick out your country from the list of country names in Chinese below, read this article on how to talk about your nationality and you’ll be good to go!

List of Countries in Chinese A

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Afghanistan 阿富汗 ā fù hàn
Albania 阿尔巴尼亚 ā ěr bā ní yà
Algeria 阿尔及利亚 ā ér jí lì yà
Andorra 安道尔 ān dào ěr
Angola 安哥拉 ān gē lā
Antigua and Barbuda 安提瓜和巴布达 ān tí guā hé bā bù dá
Argentina 阿根廷 ā gēn tíng
Armenia 亚美尼亚 yà měi ní yà
Australia 澳大利亚 ào dà lì yà
Austria 奥地利 ào dì lì
Azerbaijan 阿塞拜疆 ā sài bài jiāng

List of Countries B

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Bahamas 巴哈马 bā hā mǎ
Bahrain 巴林 bā lín
Bangladesh 孟加拉国 mèng jiā lā guó
Barbados 巴巴多斯 bā bā duō sī
Belarus 白俄罗斯 bái é luó sī
Belgium 比利时 bǐ lì shí
Belize 伯利兹 bó lì zī
Benin 贝宁 bèi níng
Bhutan 不丹 bù dān
Bolivia 玻利维亚 bō lì wéi yà
Bosnia and Herzegovina 波斯尼亚 – 黑塞哥维那 bō sī ní yà – hēi sè gē wéi nà
Botswana 博茨瓦纳 bó cí wǎ nà
Brazil 巴西 bā xī
Brunei 文莱达鲁萨兰国 wén lái dá lǔ sà lán guó
Bulgaria 保加利亚 bǎo jiā lì yà
Burkina Faso 布基纳法索 bù jī nà fǎ suǒ
Burma 缅甸 miǎn diàn
Burundi 蒲隆地 pú lóng dì

List of Countries C

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Cambodia 柬埔寨 jiǎn pǔ zhài
Cameroon 喀麦隆 kà mài lóng
Canada 加拿大 jiā ná dà
Cape Verde 佛得角 fó dé jiǎo
The Central African Republic 中非共和国 zhōng fēi gòng hé guó
Chad 乍得 zhà dé
Chile 智利 zhì lì
China 中国 zhōng guó
Colombia 哥伦比亚 gē lún bǐ yà
Comoros 科摩罗 kē mó luó
Congo, the Democratic Republic 刚果民主共和国 gāng guǒ mín zhǔ gòng hé guó
Congo, Republic of 刚果共和国 gāng guǒ gòng hé guó
Costa Rica 哥斯达黎加 gē sī dà lí jiā
Croatia 克罗地亚 kè luó dì yà
Cuba 古巴 gǔ bā
Cyprus 塞浦路斯 sè pǔ lù sī
The Czech Republic 捷克共和国 jié kè gòng hé guó

List of Countries D

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Denmark 丹麦 dān mài
Djibouti 吉布提 jí bù tí
Dominica 多米尼克 duō míng ní jiā
The Dominican Republic 多米尼加共和国 duō mǐ ní jiā gòng hé guó

List of Countries in Chinese E

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
East Timor 东帝汶 dōng dì wèn
Ecuador 厄瓜多尔 è guā duō ěr
Egypt 埃及 āi jí
El Salvador 萨尔瓦多 sà ěr wǎ duō
Equatorial Guinea 赤道几内亚 chì dào jǐ nèi yà
Eritrea 厄立特里亚 è lì tè lǐ yà
Estonia 爱沙尼亚 ài shā ní yà
Ethiopia 埃塞俄比亚 ǎi sài é bǐ yà

List of Country Names F

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Fiji 斐济 fěi jì
Finland 芬兰 fēn lán
France 法国 fǎ guó

List of Countries G

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Gabon 加蓬 jiā péng
Gambia 冈比亚 gāng bǐ yà
Georgia 格鲁吉亚 gé lǔ jí yà
Germany 德国 dé guó
Ghana 加纳 jiā nà
Greece 希腊 xī là
Grenada 格林纳达 gé lín nà dá
Guatemala 危地马拉 guā dì mǎ lā
Guinea 几内亚 jī nèi yà
Guinea-Bissau 几内亚比绍 jǐ nèi yǎ bǐ shào
Guyana 圭亚那 guī yà nà

List of Countries H

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Haiti 海地 hǎi dì
Honduras 洪都拉斯 hóng dū lā sī
Hungary 匈牙利 xiōng yá lì

List of Countries in Mandarin Chinese I

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Iceland 冰岛 bīng dǎo
India 印度 yìn dù
Indonesia 印度尼西亚 yīn dù ní xī yà
Iran 伊朗 yī lǎng
Iraq 伊拉克 yī lā kè
Ireland 爱尔兰 ài ěr lán
Israel 以色列 yǐ sè liè
Italy 意大利 yì dà lì
Ivory Coast 科特迪瓦 kē tè dí wǎ

List of Countries J

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Jamaica 牙买加 yá mǎi jiā
Japan 日本 rì běn
Jordan 约旦 yuē dàn

List of Countries K

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Kazakhstan 哈萨克斯坦 hā sà kè sī tǎn
Kenya 肯尼亚 kěn ní yà
Kiribati 基里巴斯 jí lǐ bā sī
Korea (North) 北朝鲜 běi cháo xiǎn
Korea (South) 韩国 hán guó
Kuwait 科威特 kē wēi tè
Kyrgyzstan 吉尔吉斯斯坦 jí ěr jí sī sī tǎn

List of Country Names L

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Laos 老挝 lǎo wō
Latvia 拉脱维亚 lā tuō wéi yà
Lebanon 黎巴嫩 lí bā nèn
Lesotho 莱索托 lái suǒ tuō
Liberia 利比里亚 lì bǐ lǐ yà
Libya 利比亚 lì bǐ yà
Liechtenstein 列支敦士登 liè zhī dūn shì dēng
Lithuania 立陶宛 lì táo wǎn
Luxembourg 卢森堡 lú sēn bǎo

List of Countries in Mandarin Chinese M

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Macedonia 马其顿 mǎ qí dùn
Madagascar 马达加斯加 mǎ dá jiā sī jiā
Malawi 马拉维 mǎ lā wéi
Malaysia 马来西亚 mǎ lái xī yà
Maldives 马尔代夫 mǎ ěr dài fū
Mali 马里 mǎ lǐ
Malta 马耳他 mǎ ěr tā
The Marshall Islands 马绍尔群岛 mǎ shào ěr qún dǎo
Mauritania 毛里塔尼亚 máo lǐ tǎ ní yà
Mauritius 毛里求斯 máo lǐ qiú sī
Mexico 墨西哥 mò xī gē
Micronesia 密克罗尼西亚 mì kè luó ní xī yà
Moldova 摩尔多瓦 mó ěr duō wǎ
Monaco 摩纳哥 mó nà gē
Mongolia 蒙古 měng gǔ
Montenegro 黑山 hēi shān
Morocco 摩洛哥 mó luò gē
Mozambique 莫桑比克 mò sāng bǐ kè

List of Country Names N

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Namibia 纳米比亚 nà mǐ bǐ yà
Nauru 瑙鲁 nào lǔ
Nepal 尼泊尔 ní bó ěr
Netherlands 荷兰 hé lán
New Zealand 新西兰 xīn xī lán
Nicaragua 尼加拉瓜 ní jiā lā guā
Niger 尼日尔 ní rì ěr
Nigeria 尼日利亚 ní rì lì yà
Norway 挪威 nuó wēi

List of Countries O

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Oman 阿曼 ā màn

List of Country Names in Chinese P

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Pakistan 巴基斯坦 bā jī sī tǎn
Palau 帕劳 pà láo
Palestine 巴勒斯坦 bā lè sī tǎn
Panama 巴拿马 xbā ná mǎ
Papua New Guinea 巴布亚新几内亚 bā bù yà xīn jǐ nèi yà
Paraguay 巴拉圭 bā lā guī
Peru 秘鲁 bì lǔ
Philippines x菲律宾 fēi lǜ bīn
Poland 波兰 bō lán
Portugal 葡萄牙 pú táo yá

List of Countries Q

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Qatar 卡塔尔 qiǎ tǎ ěr

List of Countries R

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Romania 罗马尼亚 luó mǎ ní yà
Russia 俄罗斯 é luó sī
Rwanda 卢旺达 lú wàng dá

List of Countries S

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Saint Kitts and Nevis 圣基茨和尼维斯 shèng jī cí hé ní wéi sī
Saint Lucia 圣卢西亚 shèng lú xī yà
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 圣文森特和格林纳丁斯 shèng wén sēn tè hé gé lín nà dīng sī
Samoa 萨摩亚 sà mó yà
San Marino 圣马力诺 shèng mǎ lì nuò
São Tomé and Príncipe 圣多美普林西比 shèng duō měi pǔ lín xī bǐ
Saudi Arabia 沙特阿拉伯 shā tè ā lā bó
Senegal 塞内加尔 sè nèi jiā ěr
Serbia 塞尔维亚 sāi ěr wéi yà
Seychelles 塞舌尔 sāi shé ěr
Sierra Leone 塞拉利昂 sāi lā lì áng
Singapore 新加坡 xīn jiā pō
Slovakia 斯洛伐克 sī luò fá kè
Slovenia 斯洛文尼亚 sī luò wén ní yà
Solomon Islands 所罗门群岛 suǒ luó mén qún dǎo
Somalia 索马里 suǒ mǎ lǐ
South Africa 南非 nán fēi
South Sudan 南蘇丹 nán sū dān
Spain 西班牙 xī bān yá
Sri Lanka 斯里兰卡 sī lǐ lán kǎ
Sudan 苏丹 sū dān
Suriname 苏里南 sū lǐ nán
Swaziland 史瓦济兰 shǐ wǎ jì lán
Sweden 瑞典 ruì diǎn
Switzerland 瑞士 ruì shì
Syria 叙利亚 xù lì yà

List of Countries T

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Tajikistan 塔吉克斯坦 tǎ jí kè sī tǎn
Tanzania 坦桑尼亚 tǎn sāng ní yà
Thailand 泰国 tài guó
Togo 多哥 duō gē
Tonga 東加 dōng jiā
Trinidad and Tobago 特立尼达和多巴哥 tè lì ní dá hé duō bā gē
Tunisia 突尼斯 tū ní sī
Turkey 土耳其 tǔ ěr qí
Turkmenistan 土库曼 tǔ kù màn
Tuvalu 吐瓦鲁 tǔ wǎ lǔ

List of Countries U

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Uganda 乌干达 wū gān dá
Ukraine 乌克兰 wū kè lán
The United Arab Emirates 阿拉伯联合酋长国 ā lā bó lián hé qiú cháng guó
The United Kingdom 英国 yīng guó
The United States 美国 měi guó
Uruguay 乌拉圭 wū lā guī
Uzbekistan 乌兹别克斯坦 wū zī bié kè sī tǎn

List of Countries V

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Vanuatu 瓦努阿图 wǎ nǔ ā tú
Vatican City 梵帝冈 fàn dì gāng
Venezuela 委内瑞拉 wěi nèi ruì lā
Vietnam 越南 yuè nán

List of Countries Y

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Yemen 也门 yě mén

List of Countries in Chinese Z

English Name
Chinese Name
Pinyin
Zambia 赞比亚 zàn bǐ yà
Zimbabwe 津巴布韦 jīn bā bù wéi

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NinchaneseCountry Names in Chinese Mandarin