What's Behind the Name? - Country Etymologies

When we think of a name, we generally also think of its origin, its etymology. For the next three days, we are going to see similar lists of 10 countries and their name etymologies, totaling to 30 countries. The list for today is as follows:

1. Australia: Comes from Latin 'Terra Australis Incognita' meaning 'Unknown Southern Land'.

2. Bahamas: From Spanish 'Baja Mar' which roughly means "Shallow Sea" or "Low Tide". The islands were named by the Spanish Conquistadors after the waters around them.

3. Cuba: From Taino Indian Cubanacan meaning "centre place". It it also possible that the name comes from the Arabic word "Ka'bah." meaning "Shrine".

4. Dominica: From Medieval Latin "Dies Dominica" meaning "Sunday": the day of the week on which Christopher Columbus first landed on the island.

5. England: Derived from the Old English name Englaland, literally translatable as "land of the Angles".

6. Fiji: From the Tongan name for the islands 'Viti'.

7. Guyana: From the indigenous peoples who called the land "Guiana", meaning "land of many waters", in reference to large number of rivers in the area.

8. Honduras: Christopher Columbus named the country "Honduras", Spanish for "depths", referring to the deep waters off the northern coast.

9. India: Derived from 'Sindhu', the original name of the Indus River which gave its name to the land of Sindh. The word 'Hind' was later applied prior to the separation of India.

10. Jamaica: From Taino/Arawak Indian Xaymaca or Hamaica, "Land of wood and water" or perhaps "Land of springs".