Top 10 Countries with the Weirdest Names

The Top Ten
1 Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Somaliland in the south, Ethiopia in the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in the east. Across the Gulf of Aden is Yemen. The country has a total area of 23,200... read more

When I was six, I could not even pronounce it.

I'm coming for you, thick Djibouti.

2 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a country in the Transcaucasian region, situated at the crossroads of Southwest Asia and Southeastern Europe. It is a part of the Caucasus region, and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia... read more

I first heard about this country from the game Splinter Cell.

Learned about this country from Geography Now.

I wonder who came up with that name...

3 Niger Niger or the Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state bordered by Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, Benin and Burkina Faso to the southwest, Mali to the west, and Algeria to the northwest. It covers a land... read more

This is the weirdest name ever and the grossest.

It's like you just copied the name of Nigeria.

It is pronounced like niz-air, not the word I know you're laughing about.

4 Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in northern Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon to the south-west, Nigeria to the southwest (at Lake Chad), and Niger to the west. It has a population... read more

When I was a little kid, I thought the name was so funny. I mean, here we have all these countries with names that sound a lot more thought-out, like the United States of America, China, Russia, India, Pakistan (you know what I mean, right?). And then you have just Chad.

Chad is a pretty weird name for a country. It's literally a name. Imagine calling your son named Chad in Chad.

Its name is after Giga Chad, so yeah, it's weird.

5 Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country located in West Africa, bordered by Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Côte d'Ivoire. The capital and largest city is Ouagadougou. The country is known for its rich cultural heritage, which includes a vibrant music scene and traditional crafts. It has a primarily... read more

I think this country's name is just so bloody weird.

Sounds like an African first and last name. It's also sadly very poor.

6 Zimbabwe Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked sovereign state located in southern Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers.

Chose this country for a country project in geography.

It's fun to say, though. Zimbabwe.

7 Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, formerly known as Kirghizia, is a landlocked country located in Central Asia.

Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and China to the east. Its capital and largest city is Bishkek. Ethnic... read more

At first, I couldn't pronounce this name because of the Y's and the Z. It wasn't until months later that I could pronounce the name correctly, and that's just because someone told me.

So weird and hard to pronounce the first time you see it.

Interesting name and spelling. What do they do here, kidnap women and horses?

8 Uganda
9 Singapore Singapore, officially known as the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It is situated approximately one degree of latitude (137 kilometers or 85 miles) north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It borders the Strait of Malacca... read more

The name makes me think of blocked, oily pores (on your skin). So uncomfortable.

Wow, this is so true, and I love all these comments so much that I am about to cry, mate. Fair dinkum.

It's bloody amazing, mate. You gotta love it, bloody hell.

10 Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries with Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia,... read more

I got confused once because my friend was talking about turkey in Turkey.

Saying the word turkey makes me hungry, not gonna lie.

Why the hell would you name your country after food?

The Contenders
11 Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the largest country in the Central American isthmus.
12 Lesotho Lesotho, officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is an enclaved, landlocked country in southern Africa completely surrounded by South Africa. It is by far the largest of the world's three independent states completely surrounded by the territory of another country, with Vatican City and San Marino being... read more

I've never heard of this country.

13 Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital and most populous... read more
14 Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a mountainous, landlocked country in Central Asia with an estimated 8 million people in 2013, and an area of 143,100 km2 (55,300 sq mi) and an estimated population of 9,537,645 people. Its capital and largest city is Dushanbe. It is bordered by Afghanistan... read more
15 Swaziland Eswatini, officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland (officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its north, west, south, and southeast. At no more than 200 kilometres (120 mi) north to... read more

Weird name, especially since it doesn't exist anymore.

16 Pakistan Pakistan was established in 1947 and is located in South Asia. Islamabad is the capital city of Pakistan. Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar are other major cities of Pakistan. Urdu and English are the official languages of Pakistan. The world's second-highest peak (K-2) and ninth highest peak (Nanga Parbat)... read more

I love the flag, though! The country's great, but the name's weird.

17 Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a sovereign country located in Southwest Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

This is the weirdest because of the English language. It should be Qatar in English, but in this, there's no I after the Q.

I thought this would be number one.

18 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially known as the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country in northern Central Asia, with a sliver of its territory west of the Ural River extending into Eastern Europe.

It has so many silent letters, I think.

19 Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is an Arab country in the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

The joke, oh man, the one made in there was so funny, but I have a better one. Oh man, dude, that stinks.

Oman probably isn't a strange country. It's just a name that is different from the norm.

20 Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia in the Pacific Ocean. It lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland (east of China, Korea, Russia) and stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and near Taiwan in the southwest... read more
21 Bahrain

It sounds like Ebenezer Scrooge was forced to give charity because of rain or something. Like "Bah! Rain."

22 Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over 1,240,000 square kilometres (480,000 sq mi). The population of Mali is 19.1 million. 67% of its population was estimated to be under the age of 25 in 2017... read more

Sounds just like Molly, as in Molly Quinn.

23 Hungary Hungary is a sovereign state in Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Romania to the east, Serbia to the south, Croatia to the southwest, Slovenia to the west, Austria to the northwest, and Ukraine to the northeast.

If you are Hungary, grab a Turkey and bake it in Greece!

24 Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. It is part of the Southern... read more

First, because it sounds like you're gay.

25 India India, officially known as the Republic of India, is a country located in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area and the most populous country, with over 1.4 billion people. Additionally, it is the most populous democracy in the world... read more
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