List of countries named after people

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This is a list of countries and dependent territories named after people.

Sovereign countries named after people

Country	Source of name
Bhārat Gaṇarājya (Republic of India)	Bharata
Bolivia	Simón Bolívar
Cambodia	Sage Kambu Swayambhuva
Colombia	Christopher Columbus
Czech Republic	Forefather Czech, the legendary ancestor of the Czechs
Djibouti	"Djibouti" means "Land of Tehuti" or "Land of Thoth", after the Egyptian Moon God
Dominican Republic	Saint Dominic
El Salvador	Jesus (literally, The Savior)
Georgia	Saint George
Kiribati (Gilbert Islands)	Thomas Gilbert ("Kiribati" is the Gilbertese rendition of "Gilberts")
Hellenic Republic (Greece)	Hellen
Ireland	Éire (Ériu), a Celtic fertility goddess
State of Israel	Jacob, who was also called Israel in the Bible
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan	Hashemite dynasty
Laos	possibly after Lava
Liechtenstein	Princely Family of Liechtenstein
Marshall Islands	John Marshall
Mauritius	Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange
Mozambique	Mussa Mbiki
Nicaragua	Nicarao
Philippines	King Philip II of Spain
Rhodesia	former name of Zimbabwe, from Cecil Rhodes
Romania	from "Roman", which possibly comes from Romulus
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Saint Christopher
Saint Lucia	Saint Lucy
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Saint Vincent of Saragossa
San Marino	Saint Marinus
São Tomé and Príncipe	Saint Thomas and Prince of Portugal to whom duties on the island's sugar crop were paid
Saudi Arabia	Muhammad bin Saud
Seychelles	Jean Moreau de Séchelles
Solomon Islands	King Solomon of Israel
Swaziland	King Mswati II
Trinidad and Tobago	Trinidad is named after Holy Trinity
Tunisia	possibly from the Phoenician goddess Tanith
United States of America	Disputed: Amerigo Vespucci or Richard Amerike (see Naming of America)
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela	Simón Bolívar

Dependent territories named after people

Territory	Source of name
Baker Island	Michael Baker
Bermuda	Juan de Bermúdez
Bouvet Island	Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier
Clipperton Island	John Clipperton
Cocos (Keeling) Islands	Captain William Keeling
Cook Islands	Captain James Cook
Falkland Islands	Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount Falkland
Jarvis Island	Edward, Thomas, and William Jarvis
Johnston Atoll	Captain Charles J. Johnston
Juan de Nova	João da Nova
Kingman Reef	Captain W.E. Kingman
Isle of Man	Manannán mac Lir
Martinique	Martin of Tours
Norfolk Islands	Wife of Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk
Northern Mariana Islands	Mariana of Austria
Pitcairn Islands	Major Pitcairn of the Marines
Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)	Cecil Rhodes
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	Saint Helena of Constantinople, Tristão da Cunha
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Saint Peter and Saint Michael
Sint Maarten	Martin of Tours
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	George III of the UK, and the John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
Tromelin Island	Chevalier de Tromelin
Virgin Islands	Saint Ursula and her 11,000 virgins
Wake Island	William Wake
Wallis and Futuna	Samuel Wallis

See also

• List of country name etymologies
• List of country subdivisions named after people