The process of modifying a country’s name isn’t simple, much less economical. But despite it all, various parts of the world have dared to do it.
UNIQ found 11 countries that changed their names and we’ll tell you the story behind their resolutions.
Due to land divisions, wars, changes in government, independence, or simply to facilitate pronunciation abroad, some countries have decided to change their name. In some cases, they did it many years ago, and we know these countries by their current name. But others did it very recently, and we still find it challenging to call them by their new name.
Remember to read all the way through to the last country’s story — you’ll find a bonus that explains how much it costs to make this modification.
8. Czech Republic changed to Czechia
In order to facilitate the naming of the country at sporting events, as a part of companies’ marketing efforts, and in the rest of the world, the Czech Republic shortened its name to Czechia in April 2016. The measure had been discussed for 20 years until, finally, it was decided to shorten the name so that pronunciation would be easier in each of the country’s 6 official languages: English, French, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic. Although the official name will still be the Czech Republic, Czechia has become the shortened official name of the country.
