There are, surprisingly, very few nations in the world named after an actual person.
Among those are Bolvis, for Simon Bolivar;
Columbia, for Christopher Columbus;
Nicaragua, for Chief Nicarao,
Liechtenstein, for Johann von Liechtenstein;
Saudi Arabia, for King Saud
Philippines, named after King Philip.
The United States of America got its name from Amerigo Vespucci.
Countries |
and Names |
Aberdeen | The Granite City |
Africa | The Dark Continent |
Alappuzha | The Venice of the East |
Allahabad | The City of God |
Amritsar | The City of the Golden Temple |
Andalusia | The Granary of Spain |
Arizona | The Copper State |
Athens | The Eye of Greece |
Atlantic Ocean | Herring Pond |
Australia | The Land of the Eucalyptus |
Australia | The Land of the Golden Fleece |
Australia | The Land of the Kangaroo |
Azores | The Island of the Hawks |
Bab-el-Mandab | Gate of Tears |
Baghdad | City of the Arabian Nights |
Bahrain | Island of Pearls |
Barbados | The Land of the Flying Fish |
Belgium | Cockpit of Europe |
Belgium | The Battlefield of Europe |
Belgrade | White City |
Bhutan | The Land of Thunderbolt |
Boston | The Hub of the Universe |
British Colombia | The Sea of Mountains |
Canaan | The Land of Milk and Honey |
Canaan | The Promised Land |
Canada | Land of Lilies/Land of Maples |
Canada | Our Lady of Snow |
Canada | The Bread Basket of the Empire |
Chicago | The Meat Market of the World |
Chicago | Windy City |
China | The Celestial Empire |
China | The Land of Han |
Connecticut | The Nutmeg State |
Corrcgidor | The Gibraltar of the Pacific |
Costa Rica | Rich Coast |
County of Kent | The Garden of England |
Cuba | The Pearl of the Antilles |
Cuba | The Sugar Mill of the Antilles |
Damascus | The Pearl of the Orient |
Danube, Deep Gorge | The Iron Gates |
Delaware | Blue Hen State |
Denmark | The Dairy of Northern Europe |
Denmark | The Mother-in-law of Europe |
Detroit | The Automobile Capital of the World |
Dhaka | City of Mosques |
Edinburgh | The Athens of the North |
Egypt | The Gift of the Nile |
Finland | The Land of Thousand Lakes |
Gibraltar | Pillars of Hercules |
Gibraltar | The Key of the Mediterranean |
Grenada | The Spice Island of the West |
Haiti | Mountainous Country |
Hawaii | The Halfway House of the Pacific |
Hawaii | The Halfway House of the Pacific |
Holland | The Land of the Dykes |
Holland | The Land of the Tulips |
Holland | The Land of the Dykes |
Holland | The Land of the Tulips |
Hwang Ho River | Sorrow of China/Yellow River |
Ireland | Hibernia |
Ireland | The Emerald Isle |
Jaipur | Pink City |
Jamaica | The Isle of Springs |
Japan | The Land of the Rising Sun |
Jerusalem | The Holy City |
Johannesburg | The Golden City |
Juan Fernandez (Tobago) | Robinson Crusoe's Island |
Kent (England) | Garden of England |
Kerala | Spice Garden of India |
Kiev | The Mother City of Russia |
Kimberlcy | The Diamond City |
Kochi | Queen of the Arabian Sea |
Korea | Hermit Kingdom |
Korea | The Land of Morning Calm |
Lancashire | County Palatine |
Lapland | The Land of the Midnight Sun |
Le Havre | The Liverpool of France |
Leyden | Athens of the West |
Liege | The Birmingham of Belgium |
Lodz | The Manchester of Poland |
London | The Modern Babylon |
Madrid | Winter Icehouse and Summer Furnace |
Malta | The George Cross Island |
Mexico | The Storehouse of the World |
Moluccas | The Spice Islands |
Morocco, Algeria,Tunisia and Algiers | The Barbary States |
Mumbai | Gateway of India |
Mumbai | The Barbary States |
Myanmar | The Land of the Golden Pagoda |
Myanmar | Gateway of India |
Nevada | The Silver State |
Nevada | The Land of the Golden Pagoda |
New Haven | City of Elms |
New Haven | The Silver State |
New Jersey | The Garden State |
New Jersey | City of Elms |
New York | Citv of Skyscrapers |
New York | The Garden State |
New Zealand | City of Skyscrapers |
New Zealand | The Antipodes |
Nilgiri Hills | The Land of the Long White Cloud |
Norway | Blue Mountains |
Oxford (U.K.) | The Land of the Midnight Sun |
Palestine | City of Dreaming Spires |
Pamirs | Holy Land |
Philadelphia | Quaker City |
Prairies of North America | The World's Bread Basket |
Prairies of North Australia | The Never Never Land |
Puerto Rico | Rich Port |
Punjab | The Land of Five Rivers |
River Damodar | Bengal's Sorrow |
Rome | City of Seven Hills |
Rome | The Eternal City/The Holy City |
Rouen | The Manchester of France |
San Francisco | City of the Golden Gate |
San Francisco | Bengal's Sorrow |
Scotland | Caledonia |
Scotland | The Land of Oat Cakes |
Scotland | City of Seven Hills |
Siberia. | Land of Forrests (More than 25 percent of the world's forests are in Siberia) |
Spain and Portugal | The Iberian Peninsula |
St Kitts | The Mother Colony of the West Indies |
St Paul and Minneapolis | The Twin Cities of the Mississippi |
Stockholm | The Venice of the North |
Stromboli | The Lighthouse of the Mediterranean |
Sveaborg | The Gibraltar of the North |
Sweden | The Saw Mill of Europe |
Switzerland | The Playground of Europe |
Thailand | The Land of the White Elephants |
Thebes | Valley of Kings |
Tibet | The Roof of the World |
Trinidad | The Land of the Humming Bird |
Tristan da Cunha | World's Loneliest Island |
Tunisia and Algiers | The Barbary States |
Turkey | Sick Man of Europe |
Varanasi | The Holy City of the Hindus |
Venezuela | Little Venice |
Venice | The Bride of the Sea |
Venice | The Queen of the Adriatic |
Virginia | Garden of America |
Virginia | Old Dominion |
Washington DC | City of Magnificent Distance |
West Africa | The White Man's Grave |
Zanzibar | Island of Cloves |
There are two independent nations, both in Europe, that are smaller than Central Park in New York City. They are Vatican City and Monaco. Each is less than one square mile. The next three smallest countries are Bauru, eight square miles, in the western Pacific Ocean; Tuvalu, ten square miles, the Southwest Pacific; and San Marino, 24 square miles, in Europe.
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Cyprus has a map on it's flag.
Nepal is the only country without a rectangular flag (it looks like two pennants glued on on top of the other).
Libya has the only flag which is all one color with no writing or decoration on it.
Australia is the richest source of mineral sands in the world. Source: Benn Skender
Iowa is the only state bordered on both east and west entirely by rivers. (Mississippi on the east, Missouri and Big Sioux on the west.)
I, Q, and X are the only letters that don't start a city that ends in -ville in the state of Ohio. i.e. Brownsville, Zanesville, etc.
As oceanographers have known for many years—but now can “see”—the Atlantic Ocean is saltier than the Pacific and Indian Oceans. ... Near most coastlines and inland seas in the map, waters appear much fresher or saltier than in open-ocean locations.
In 1771 the kingdom of Poland was larger in area than any other European country except Russia, and had a bigger population of any other European country except France. But within 25 years it had vanished from the map.
In 1772, Russia, Prussia and Austria between them annexed about one-fifth of Poland. Twenty years later Russia took over half of what remained, and all three powers shared in the final carve-up in 1795. It was not until 1918, in the aftermath of the First World War, that an independent Poland surfaced again, to be overrun yet again in 1939. Source: "Reader's Digest Book of Facts"The bridge of Sighs, most famous of the 400 bridges in Venice, Italy, connects the Dodge's palace to the old state prisons and the place of execution. It was built in 1600 and is believed to have got its name from the sigh of the condemned. Source:
Today the federal government owns and manages roughly 640 million acres of land in the United States, or roughly 28% of the 2.27 billion total land acres.
The Philippine flag is displayed with its blue field on top in times of peace. When war is declared, it is flown with the red field on top. Source: "Selwyn Clyde Alojipan"
The capital of Portugal was moved to Rio de Jeneiro, Brazil (at the time a colony of Portugal) from 1807 until 1821 while Portugal was fighting france in the Napoleonic Wars. Source: "Knowledge in a Nutshell"
If the world's total land area was divided equally among the world's people, each person would get 8.5 acres.
Maine is the toothpick capital of the world.
Seoul, the South Korean capital, just means "the capital" in the Korean language.
Libya is the only country in the world with a solid, single-colored flag -- it's green.
Panama hats come from Ecuador not Panama.
Ogdensburg, New York is the only city in the United States situated on the St. Lawrence River.
St. Paul, Minnesota was originally called Pigs Eye after a man who ran a saloon there.
The Boston University Bridge (on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts) is the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane. Source: "Random Trivia" fact contributed by Jim Cobb
Rhode Island is the smallest state with the longest name. The official name, used on all state documents, is Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
The state of Maryland has no natural lakes.
Seattle, Washington, like Rome, was built on seven hills.
Kitsap County, Washington, was originally called Slaughter County, and the first hotel there was called the Slaughter House.
The coast line around Lake Sakawea in North Dakota is longer than the California coastline along the Pacific Ocean
Brooklyn is the Dutch name for "broken valley"
There are four states where the first letter of the capital city is the same letter as the first letter of the state: Dover, Delaware; Honolulu, Hawaii; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Lake Nicaragua boasts the only fresh-water sharks in the entire world.
The only city in the United States to celebrate Halloween on the October 30 instead of October 31 is Carson City, Nevada. October 31 is Nevada Day and is celebrated with a large street party.
Eleven square miles of southwest Kentucky (Fulton County) is cut off from the rest of the state by the Mississippi River. If you wish to travel from this cut off section to the rest of the state or vice-versa, you must first cross a bordering state.
For those students that presented work on English we gathered a lot of useful reference information that became a STUDENT's COMPENDIUM here are some samples of student work
Please note there are some excellent links to assist with these pages
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Please note there are some excellent links to assist with these pages
see at the end for the links for further information.
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