Names of countries in Japanese – World Map

Today we will increase our vocabulary by knowing the names of countries in Japanese. The names of most countries are written in katakana, but they can also be written with kanji characters. In this article you can check the complete list of the world map.

Country in Japanese is called "kuni" [国] ideogram that can also refer to regions, states, governments and other places. For example, the language of a country it is called "kokugo" [国語]. Now that you know that, let's look at some countries in Japanese?

World map - countries in Japanese

Tairiku - Continents in Japanese

The continents in the Japanese language are called tairiku [大陸] and you can see their list below:

ContinentKanjiRōmaji
Áfricaアフリカ大陸afurika tairiku
Antarctica南極大陸nankyoku tairiku
Ásiaアジア大陸 / 亜細亜大陸ajia tairiku
Oceaniaオセアニア大陸oseania tairiku
Europeヨーロッパ大陸 / 欧州yooroppa tairiku / ōshū
North America北アメリカ大陸 / 北米kita amerika tairiku / hokubei
South America南アメリカ大陸 / 南米minami amerika tairiku / nambei

African countries in Japanese

Africa in Japanese is afurika [アフリカ] and [阿弗利加] but can also be called godaishuu [五代集]. Below is a list of African countries in Japanese:

CountryKanjiKanaRōmaji
EgyptエジプトエジプトEjiputo
Algeriaアルジェリア / アルジェリア民主人民共和国アルジェリア / アルジェリアみんしゅじんみんきょうわこくArujeria / Arujeria minshujinmin kyouwakoku
Chadチャド / チャド共和国チャド / チャド共和国Chado / Chado kyouwakoku
Libyaリビア / 社会主義人民リビアアラブ国リビア / しゃかいしゅぎじんみんリビアアラブこくRibia / Shakaishugi jinmin Ribia-arabukoku
South Africa南アフリカ / 南アフリカ共和国みなみアフリカ / みなみアフリカきょうわこくMinami Afurika / Minami Afurika Kyouwakoku

Asian Countries in Japanese

Below we will see a list of countries in Japanese located in Asia and the East. The name of these continents is in Katakana in each subtitle.

Far East [東アジア]

Note that some countries in Asia usually have their writing in Kanji, as they are closer to Japan and have unusual meanings. At the end of this article we will talk about the meaning of some of these countries.

CountryJapaneseRomaji
China中国Chuugoku
Hong Kong香港Honkon
Japan日本Nihon / Nippon
Macao澳門macao
Mongólia モンゴルMongori
North Korea北朝鮮Kitachousen
South Korea韓国Kanko
Taiwan台湾Taiwan
  • Japan classifies Mongolia as a country in the Far East (Mongolia is considered a country in Central Asia)
    • Mongolia is also known as mouku [蒙古]
  • China is also called [チャイナ] or [シナ]
  • Japan is also called ジャパン
  • The two Koreas are also known as chosen [朝鮮] or koria;
    • The Korean Peninsula is also called the mocked [朝鮮半島];

Southeast Asia - Tounanajia [東南アジア]

PortugueseJapaneseRomaji
Brunei ブルネイburunei
Cambodia カンボジアkanbojia
East Timor東ティモールhigashi tiimooru
Indonésia インドネシアindonesian
Laos ラオスraosu
Malaysia マレーシアmaraashia
Myanmar ミャンマーmyanmaa
Philippines比律賓fiiripin
singapore新嘉坡shingapuura
thailandtai
Vietnam越南screed

Indian Subcontinent - Minamiajia [南アジア]

PortugueseJapaneseRomaji
bangladeshバングラデシュbanguradeshu
Bhutanブータン buutan
Índiaインドgoing
Maldivesモルディブmarudiibu
Nepal ネパールnepaaru
Pakistan パキスタンpakisutan
Sri Lankaスリランカ suriranka

Central Asia - Chuuouajia [中央アジア]

PortugueseNot officialOfficial name
Afghanistanアフガニスタンafghanisutan
Kazakhstanカザフスタンkazafusutan
kyrgyzstanキルギスタンkirigisutan
Tajikistanタジキスタンtajikisutan
Turkmenistanトルクメニスタンtorukumenisutan
uzbekistanウズベキスタンuzubekisutan

The article is still halfway through, but we recommend also reading:

European countries in Japanese

Europe in Japanese is eeroppa [ヨーロッパ] and [欧羅巴] or can also be oushuu [欧州] and heard [欧米]. Below we will see a list of countries in Japanese located on the European continent:

CountryKanjiKanaRōmaji
Icelandアイスランドアイスランドaisurando
Ireland愛蘭アイルランドairing
Albâniaアルバニアアルバニアarubania
Andorraアンドラアンドラandora
UK
- England
- Scotland
- Wales
- Northern Ireland
英吉利 / 英国
- 英蘭
- 蘇格蘭
- ウェールズ
- 北愛蘭
イギリス / えいこく
- イングランド
- スコットランド
- ウェールズ
- きたアイルランド
igirisu / eikoku
- ingesting
- sukottorando
- weruzu
- kita airurando
Italy伊太利イタリアit would
Ukraine烏克蘭ウクライナUkuraina
EstóniaエストニアエストニアEsutonia
Austria墺太利オーストリアsupervision
Netherlands阿蘭陀オランダOranda
Greece希臘ギリシア / ギリシャgyrisia / girl
CroatiaクロアチアクロアチアKuroachia
Switzerland瑞西スイスsuisu
Sweden瑞典スウェーデンsuweden
Slovakiaスロバキアスロバキアsurovakia
Sloveniaスロベニアスロベニアsurobenia
Spain西班牙スペインSpain
Czech Republic捷克チェコcheck
Denmark丁抹デンマークdenmaku
Germany独逸ドイツdoitsu
Turkey土耳古トルコtoruko
Norway諾威ノルウェーnorwe
Hungary洪牙利ハンガリーHangari
Finland芬蘭フィンランドending
France仏蘭西フランスFuransu
Belarus白ロシアベラルーシberarushi
Bulgaria勃牙利ブルガリアshop
Belgium白耳義ベルギーberugi
bosnia-herzegovinaボスニア・ヘルツェゴビナボスニア・ヘルツェゴビナbosunia herutsegobin
Poland波蘭ポーランドporing
Portugal葡萄牙ポルトガルporutogaru
Maltaマルタマルタmaruta
Moldovaモルドバモルドバmorudoba
Serbia and Montenegroセルビア・モンテネグロセルビア・モンテネグロSerubia Monteneguro
latviaラトビアラトビアratobia
Lithuaniaリトアニアリトアニアritoany
Luxembourgルクセンブルクルクセンブルクrukusenburuku
Romania羅馬尼亜ルーマニアrumania
Rússia露西亜ロシアroshia

North American Countries in Japanese

North America in Japanese is kitaamerica [北アメリカ] or hokubei [北米]. Below is a list of Japanese-language countries in North America:

CountryKanjiKanaRōmaji
Canada加奈陀カナダkanada
United States亜米利加 - 米国アメリカ - べいこくamerica - beikoku
Mexico墨西哥メキシコmekishiko
Panamá巴奈馬パナマpanama
Cuba玖馬キューバkyuba
Jamaica牙買加ジャマイカjamaika
Dominican Republicドミニカ国ドミニカこくdominika koku
Haitiハイチハイチhaichi

South American countries in Japanese

South America in Japanese is minami america [南アメリカ] or nanbei [南米]. Below is a list of South American countries in Japanese:

CountryKanjiKanaRōmaji
Brazil伯剌西爾・伯国ブラジルburajiru
Argentina亜爾然丁アルゼンチンaruzenchin

Oceania countries in Japanese

Oceania in Japanese is pronounced oseania [オセアニア] taiyoushyu [大洋州]. Below is a list of Oceania countries in Japanese:

CountryKanjiKanaRōmaji
Austrália豪州オーストラリアwould authorize
New Zealand新西蘭ニュージーランドnyuu jiirando

Abbreviation and Kanji of Countries in Japanese

The list below has the ideogram of each country and also a kanji that serves as the abbreviation of the country in Japanese. Remembering that despite the ideograms, most countries still pronounce using the katakana reading, even written in kanji.

This happens because of Ateji [当て字], before Katakana existed, countries already had such pronunciations, but for that, ideograms that had these pronunciations were used, although in most cases the ideograms are not related to the country characteristics.

CountryRomajiKanjiAbv
ArgentinaArugenchina亜爾然丁
AustráliaOsutoraria豪斯多剌里亜
Austriao-support墺太利
BelgiumBerugi-白耳義
BolíviaBoribia波利美亜
BrazilBrazil伯剌西爾
BulgariaBulgaria布爾加利亜
CanadaCanada加拿大
ChileChiri智利
ChinaChuuka Jinmin Kyouwakoku (Chuugoku)中華人民共和国
Democratic Republic of CongoKongo Minshu Kyou Wakoku公果
DenmarkDenma-ku丹麦
EgyptEjiputo埃及多
EnglandIgirisu英吉利西
FinlandFinland芬蘭土
FranceFuransu仏蘭西
GermanyDoitsu独逸
Greecegirl希臘
HungaryHangari-匈牙利
IcelandAisurando氷島
ÍndiaIndo印度
IndonésiaIndonesia印度尼西亜
IrelandAirurando愛蘭土
ItalyItaly伊太利亜
JapanJapan日本
KazakhstanKazafusutan香佐富斯坦
LaosRaosu老檛
latviaRatobia良都美野
MalaysiaMaree-shiya馬来西亜
MexicoMexico墨西哥
MongóliaMongoru蒙古
MyanmarMyanmaa-緬甸
NetherlandsOranda阿蘭陀
New ZealandNyuu-ji-rando新西蘭土
North KoreaChousen Minjujugi Jinmin Kyouwakoku (North Korea)朝鮮民主主義人民共和国
Norwaynorwei-那威
PanamáPanama巴拿馬
PeruPeru-秘魯
PhilippinesFuiripin比利賓
PolandPo-rando波蘭土
PortugalPortuguese葡萄牙
Congo RepublicKongo Kyou Wakoku公果
RomaniaRu-mania羅馬尼亜
RússiaRussia露西亜
Saudi ArabiaSaujiarabia沙地亜剌比亜
SingaporeShingapo-ru星嘉波
South AfricaMinami Afurika南阿弗利加南阿
South KoreaTaikanminkoku (Kankoku)大韓民国
Spaintop西班牙西
Sri LankaSri Lanka錫蘭
SwedenSuuei-den瑞典
SwitzerlandSuisu瑞士
SyriaShiriya叙利亜
TaiwanChuuka Minkoku中華民国
TajikistanTajikistan塔吉克斯坦
thailandTai
TunísiaChunisha突尼斯
PeruTurkey土耳其
UkraineUkuraina烏克蘭
USAAmerica亜米利加
VenezuelaBenejuera委内瑞拉
VietnamBetonamu越南

Meaning of country names in Japanese

China called chuukoku [中国] literally means central country, central part or central region. Japan called nippon [日本] literally means origin of the sun, or land of the rising sun as some say.

Thailand comes from the ideogram tai [泰] which means peaceful, calm, easy and extreme. Korea is spelled kankoku [韓国] which despite having commonly used ideograms, the ideograms currently convey nothing more than the idea of a country in Korea.

North Korea is called kitachousen [北朝鮮] being composed of the North ideograms and another ideogram that conveys the idea of dynasty, period and regime. The last ideogram conveys the idea of fresh, vivid, clear and bright.

It is worth remembering that ideograms do not have meanings, they only convey ideas and concepts that can be easily broken down into a given word. Don't think of North Korea as a bright, vivid land.

Video of countries in Japanese

Below I will leave a video summarizing the article, in case you want to watch:

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