King Mswati III of Swaziland proclaims that his country shall henceforth be called eSwatini. It means “land of the Swati” in the siSwati language that predominates in the southern African kingdom. The king has reigned for 32 years over one of the poorest countries in the world. He’s tired of his country being confused with Switzerland.
Nearby Lesotho and Botswana are also countries that renamed themselves using the template “land of” followed by an ethnic linguistic designation.
On another renaming front, the article says the Czech Republic is now officially Czechia. I didn’t know that.
(Max Bearak, Washington Post, 4-20-18)
(Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)
About JMN
I live in Texas and devote much of my time to easel painting on an amateur basis. I stream a lot of music, mostly jazz, throughout the day. I like to read and memorize poetry.
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Adventures in Toponymy
King Mswati III of Swaziland proclaims that his country shall henceforth be called eSwatini. It means “land of the Swati” in the siSwati language that predominates in the southern African kingdom. The king has reigned for 32 years over one of the poorest countries in the world. He’s tired of his country being confused with Switzerland.
Nearby Lesotho and Botswana are also countries that renamed themselves using the template “land of” followed by an ethnic linguistic designation.
On another renaming front, the article says the Czech Republic is now officially Czechia. I didn’t know that.
(Max Bearak, Washington Post, 4-20-18)
(Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)
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About JMN
I live in Texas and devote much of my time to easel painting on an amateur basis. I stream a lot of music, mostly jazz, throughout the day. I like to read and memorize poetry.