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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
Philippinesx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