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Countries in their Native Language

Given their native name, can you guess the English names of these countries?
Using one official languages of that country, not necessarily the most-spoken one
Native names have been converted to the Roman alphabet
Answer must correspond to highlighted box
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: July 23, 2019
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First submittedJune 19, 2012
Times taken156,161
Average score70.8%
Rating4.97
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Native
English
Deutschland
Germany
Hellas
Greece
Éire
Ireland
España
Spain
Polska
Poland
Nederland 
Netherlands
Hrvatska
Croatia
Schweiz
Switzerland
Native
English
Ísland
Iceland
Italia
Italy
Al-Jazā'ir
Algeria
Österreich
Austria
Kampuchea
Cambodia
Kypros
Cyprus
Česká Republika
Czech Republic
Miṣr
Egypt
Native
English
Ityop'ia
Ethiopia
Suomi
Finland
Magyarország
Hungary
Nihon
Japan
Mongol Uls
Mongolia
Aotearoa
New Zealand
Norge
Norway
Civitas Vaticana
Vatican City
106 Recent Comments
+7
Level 72
Sep 17, 2012
D: You have stolen my quiz idea!

http://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/25526/countries-by-official-name-1

http://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/25526/countries-by-official-name-2

http://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/25526/countries-by-official-name-3

+2
Level 69
Sep 17, 2012
Seriously, I thought I checked if there wasn't some similar quiz around, and I couldn't find anything when typing 'countries' in the search box. When you type 'official' in the search box though... Anyway, great minds think alike (and fools never differ)
+15
Level ∞
Sep 17, 2012
Agreed that great minds make alike. I made this quiz several months ago.
+7
Level 35
Sep 4, 2016
I live in NZ and Maori Is NOT our official language it's our second
+2
Level 24
Jun 3, 2024
I also live in New Zealand and Māori is our official language stay mad
+2
Level 62
Jan 28, 2017
Yeah, I was about to say that I respectfully disagree. Kiwis speak English and Maori is not the official language.
+10
Level 47
Oct 16, 2019
Good on the quiz master - I think you will find that New Zealand has three official languages - English, Maori (from 1987) and NZ sign language. English just happens to be the most commonly used. Haere rā (farewell in Maori)
+10
Level 76
Oct 16, 2019
Maori is an official language of New Zealand, and that is common knowledge in New Zealand as well. RedZombieAngel and jennywren21 must be the only two Kiwis who live here and don't know that.
+2
Level 41
Oct 25, 2019
Actually, just a quick interesting fact, but English isn't technically an official language in New Zealand. It's certainly the de facto language, but this meant it never required legislation to make the language official. This isn't only New Zealand, most countries have never put the de facto language into legislation, because it simply never needed to be made law. The term 'official' language really only applies to non-de facto languages that have been added later.

As of 2018, Clayton Mitchell has proposed a 'English an Official Language of New Zealand Bill', but this is in the process of becoming law.

+10
Level 75
Feb 20, 2021
The quiz doesn't mention official languages, it is about native languages. English most certainly isn't native to New Zealand!
+2
Level 42
Nov 24, 2021
To Karvey (since I couldn't directly reply to you), actually most countries 'do' mention their official languages in their constitutions, except for several countries like some major English-speaking countries. Their is no official languages designated in countries like the US, UK, Australia and NZ. But countries like France, Spain, Italy, etc. have their own designation of official languages in their constitutions.
+1
Level 34
Mar 13, 2017
I made one very similar on November 28, 2015; here it is: http://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/81707/countries-in-their-original-language
+1
Level 25
Sep 17, 2012
Woah, I made a quiz that's exactly the same as this a month and a half ago. If I had known this one existed I wouldn't have made it :( Seriously I don't remember seeing it in the tags!
+2
Level 14
Sep 20, 2012
can netherlands be netherland????

is it possible?

+2
Level 72
Apr 3, 2020
d and not th ;) But yea people apparently thought mongol couldn't possibly be mongolia, so who knows what goes on in their minds :)
+1
Level 51
Oct 3, 2012
Can't believe I didn't get Iceland. That should have been a no-brainer. :)
+4
Level 68
Apr 14, 2013
Few interesting suggestions: Crna Gora - Montenegro, Zhōngguó - China, Bharat - India, Myanmar - Burma and so on :-)
+2
Level 48
Oct 26, 2018
Crna Gora - Montenegro - black mountain....easy if you hail from that part of the world
+1
Level 60
Jun 25, 2013
cool quiz
+3
Level 69
May 2, 2014
If it wasn't for Olympic hockey I never would have known Finland.
+3
Level 62
Apr 3, 2020
ikr, the jerseys have a big fat SUOMI on the front lol
+1
Level 67
Jun 10, 2014
Cool quiz, 24/24.
+1
Level 41
Oct 4, 2014
If you want a harder quiz then try my one http://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/56111/places-in-their-native-celtic-languages
+1
Level 56
Apr 2, 2015
Got all of them except Egypt!
+1
Level 48
Oct 26, 2018
that is a sneaky one... i remember it from pub trivia games
+1
Level 66
Apr 2, 2015
24/24, 2:19 left :)
+3
Level 32
Apr 2, 2015
Finland and Hungary were really difficult. I guessed many.
+2
Level 27
Nov 10, 2023
Finland was easy as Finnish person
+1
Level 51
Apr 25, 2015
Mad at myself for missing Japan, 'cause I knew it.
+1
Level 23
Jun 12, 2024
same
+3
Level 34
Jul 5, 2015
Hellas is Greece in Ancient Greek. In Modern Greek it is called Ellada.
+1
Level 61
Nov 24, 2021
Exactly. I almost didn't get it because in Modern Greek "Ελλαδα" (Ellada) is Greece.
+2
Level 45
Mar 9, 2016
Got all except Algeria (and Egypt was a lucky guess).
+4
Level 65
Apr 24, 2016
Way too European centric.
+1
Level 80
Jul 4, 2016
De Nederlandes? That means the Netherlands not just Netherland
+2
Level 36
Sep 6, 2018
In Dutch the word for the country is Nederland (singular). Nederlanders (plural) means PEOPLE from Nederland.
+4
Level 83
Oct 4, 2016
Czech Republic should be just Česko in native language

https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8Cesko

+1
Level 81
Oct 8, 2016
Wonderful quiz! Liked it very much. Thank you
+1
Level 44
Jan 28, 2017
I like this because it helps me learn the countries in other languages. Fun quiz!
+1
Level 71
Jan 28, 2017
loved this quiz
+2
Level 64
Mar 13, 2017
Pretty easy, I would add Crna Gora, Sakartvelo, Hayastan, Zhongguo and Bharat.
+1
Level 23
Jun 12, 2024
the only one i know out of those 5 is bharat(india)
+1
Level 69
Mar 13, 2017
Great quiz, I missed Egypt.
+1
Level 32
Mar 13, 2017
Didn't know New Zealand
+3
Level 68
Apr 23, 2017
Aotearoa is Maori for "Land of the long white cloud", and yep, it's pretty cloudy here in New Zealand.
+1
Level 72
Jan 13, 2019
Nice extra info :) Hope I remember it!
+1
Level 59
Oct 17, 2019
because aotearoa is not maori for new zealand, Maori dont actually have a name for New Zealand even early European settlers (especially the british) didn't use new Zealand until the late 19th century.

It would be more correct to either use the regional Names (Tamaki Makarau etc) or Te Ika-a-Māui (fish of Maui - north island)Te Waipounamu (waka of Maui) or Niu Tireni (Maori translation of new zealand)

Aotearoa is a more colloqual term the gained priminance in the mid 20th century as the new zealand govt began recognising Maori rights and encourage the use of and protection of Maori languages and dilects.

Aotearoa initially was, according to some historians, only used in relation to the north island prior to the early 20th century

Even most Maori and Pakeha dont use the term, save for politicians some activist groups and tourist industries.

+1
Level 64
Mar 13, 2017
Try my first Jetpunk quiz, I think it's pretty fun if you like movies. And who doesn't? :)

http://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/212585/guess-the-name-surname-in-a-movie-title

+1
Level 57
Mar 13, 2017
got all 1:03 left
+1
Level 46
Mar 13, 2017
That is great - you must be really smart.
+1
Level 91
Mar 13, 2017
Was thinking for a moment that the Vatican was wrong - and then realised you used Latin instead of Italian. Good call!
+1
Level 70
Mar 15, 2017
On all Egypt's postage stamps for instance, the word Misr does not appear it is Egypt all the way apart from the Arabic.
+2
Level 44
Apr 23, 2020
In Indonesia, we call it Mesir.
+2
Level 51
Jan 14, 2022
Well it's the Arabic that says Misr (مصر). In English it'll nearly always be Egypt.
+2
Level 42
Mar 16, 2017
I studied stuff like this a while back, Hungary was by far the hardest to remember, but i still got 24/24 in first try. I thought that it was somewhat common knowledge that Misr was Egypt in arabic.
+1
Level 72
Jan 13, 2019
not that hard when you see the words. But other way around it is nearly impossible
+1
Level 75
Mar 17, 2017
I have just created a quiz with all the countries in their native language
+1
Level 32
Apr 17, 2018
I'm surprised more people didnt sound out Al-Jazā'ir. Al-Ja-za-ir
+8
Level 66
May 29, 2018
I tried, but my brain kept leaping to Al Jazeera.
+2
Level 48
Oct 26, 2018
i know... embarrassing after you hit give up...!!!!
+1
Level 46
May 29, 2018
21/24, missed New Zealand, Austria, and Finland.
+1
Level 72
Jan 13, 2019
Nice quiz! missed the lowest 4. Happened to remember the hungary one looked something like that. With an m and a y haha. Most I knew, some were obvious eventhough I had never heard about them, like mongolia. And some you might no see immediately but get as soon as you pronounce them, like ethiopia and kampuchea.
+1
Level 65
Oct 16, 2019
"Native names have been converted to the Roman alphabet". Language could be more accurate in this caveat, saying "transliterated into Roman alphabet" or simply "romanized".
+1
Level 76
Mar 5, 2023
That may be more technically precise, but it's hard to see how it would make any difference to anyone. Were you somehow misled by the current phrasing?
+1
Level 60
Oct 16, 2019
Please tell me I’m not the only that tried Netherlands for Hellas.
+2
Level 51
Oct 18, 2019
Probably since Holland in Dutch is also Holland (and it's actually a region of the Netherlands not the whole country). Greece is also known as the Hellenic Republic.
+1
Level 72
Apr 4, 2020
Why would hellas make you think of the netherlands?? There is no similarity whatsoever. It made me think of helenic, but already knew greece was the answer.
+1
Level 67
Dec 5, 2020
low iq
+3
Level 69
Oct 17, 2019
Wow this is the first time I've realized Algeria comes directly from Arabic 0_0
+2
Level 64
Oct 17, 2019
I keep seeing Hrv and thinking it must be the Ukraine... and I just can't get that out of my head.
+1
Level 51
Oct 18, 2019
Czech people call their country Česko
+1
Level 64
Oct 25, 2019
My high school physics teacher once made a test question that featured the planet "Zhongguo", I expected that one to be on here too ;D
+3
Level 75
Apr 9, 2020
Add Peru, that's tricky. In Peru they call it 'Perú'.
+2
Level 81
Aug 23, 2020
Not El Perú?
+3
Level 75
Feb 20, 2021
Actually, revisiting this I think it could be an interesting addition. In Quechua (probably what would be used as the native language) it's Piruw.
+3
Level 23
Mar 5, 2021
only 47% of people get hrvatska
+1
Level 69
Jun 1, 2021
Took me a few tries but not too difficult to come up with
+1
Level 69
Jun 1, 2021
Missed Egypt and New Zealand
+1
Level 61
Oct 14, 2021
Got Egypt!
+2
Level 65
Nov 24, 2021
pretty eurocentric
+1
Level 46
Nov 24, 2021
Nowadays, Greece in greek is "Elláda", not Hellas
+1
Level 61
Nov 24, 2021
EXACTLY! Ελλάδα!
+1
Level 61
Nov 24, 2021
It should be changed, or the answer should be "Ancient Greece".
+1
Level 53
Nov 24, 2021
What about Shqipëri for Albania?
+1
Level 40
Jan 23, 2023
i thought it was shiqperia, or maybe im missing something
+1
Level 20
Nov 24, 2021
kinda sad that aotearoa isnt well known as nz
+2
Level 53
Nov 24, 2021
I'm shocked that so many people didn't know that Aotearoa is New Zealand in Maori
+1
Level 36
Dec 2, 2021
Lovely Game, got 23/24!:)
+2
Level 47
Dec 20, 2021
I managed to miss Mongolia...
+1
Level 62
May 12, 2022
Como
+2
Level 64
Feb 14, 2022
Too europe centric
+1
Level 59
Feb 17, 2022
yeah cause it has the most known languages
+2
Level 62
May 12, 2022
15 of these are European countries, and Cyprus is in the EU as well if you wanna count that
+1
Level 56
Aug 14, 2022
Egypt should be Masr (Egyptian Arabic), not Misr (most other dialects)
+1
Level 68
Oct 5, 2022
Knowing arabic definitely helped me with a few of these lol
+1
Level 53
Oct 7, 2022
Doesn't New Zealand speak english? So the name for them would just be New Zealand still am I tripping?
+1
Level 40
Jan 23, 2023
new zealand has three official languages, english, maori(spoken by the maori tribe, Aeotearoa is in maori)and NZ sign language
+1
Level 50
Dec 15, 2022
Love it, would like it though if Switzerland was also written in the other official languages: French, Italian and Romansh
+1
Level 40
Jan 23, 2023
maybe you can put the countries in their native writing along with their native names, also, id like to see a quiz like this but for every country in the world, also, greece may be called hellas, but sometimes if you say greece in greek its actually Ελλάδα(ellada)
+1
Level 40
Jan 23, 2023
i only speak english but yet i know every country in their native name
+1
Level 40
Jan 23, 2023
if quizmaster doesnt really get my suggestion, ill make my own quiz on this, itll just take a while though
+1
Level 35
Mar 7, 2023
Mongol Uls ඞ
+1
Level 20
Mar 8, 2023
sus
+1
Level 28
Jun 28, 2023
that was really fun
+1
Level 85
Dec 9, 2023
Why has the s in Misr got a dot under it?
+1
Level 26
Oct 18, 2024
In arabic, it's spelt meem, saa3d, raah the sound that saa3d makes isn't present in english but with that inflcition in the phonetic alphabet you can properly make the pronunciation