Identification. The word "Afghan" historically has been used to designate the members of an ethnic group also called the Pashtuns, but Afghanistan is multicultural and multiethnic.
The international terms "Albania" and "Albanian" are based on the root *alb-, *arb-, which also is the source of the word Arberesh, which is used to describe the Italo-Albanians of southern Italy. That root also appears as *lab- in Labëria, referring to the southern Albanian region from Vlorë southward to the Greek border, and *rab- in early Slavic, as in raban, rabanski ("Albanian").
In Arabic, the country is known as Al-Jaza'ir, which is short for Al-Jumhuriyal Al-Jaza'iriyah ad-dimuqratiyah ash-sha'biyah.
An early explorer, Louis de Bougainville called the Samoan islands the Navigator's Islands, and some early government reports may refer to American Samoa as Eastern Samoa.
Identification. The first reference to Andorra appears in the writings of the Greek historian Polybius (c.
Identification. The word "Angola" derives from the title used by the rulers of the Ndongo state.
Location and Geography. Anguilla is the most northern of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean Sea.
Identification. The culture of Antigua and Barbuda (local creole pronunciation, Antiga and Barbueda) is a classic example of a creole culture.
National culture, ser nacional (national being), cultura rioplatense, cultura gauchesca, cultura criolla (creole culture). In Argentina the word creole often has a different connotation than in the rest of Latin America.
Identification. The designation "Armenia" applies to different entities: a "historical" Armenia, the Armenian plateau, the 1918–1920 U.S.
Identification. Aruba is a multicultural island society, with Caribbean and Latin American features.
"Aussie" is a colloquialism that was used during World War I to refer to Australian-born people of British or Irish ancestry. Initially used to describe a happy-go-lucky character capable of battling through hard times, the term was employed after World War II to distinguish those born domestically from "new" immigrants from western and southern Europe.
Identification. The origins of present-day Austria can be traced back to prehistoric times.
Azerbaijani Turkish, Azeri Turkish. The country name also is written Azerbaidzhan, Azerbaydzhan, Adharbadjan, and Azarbaydjan in older sources as a transliteration from Russian.
Identification. The name Bahamas derives from the Spanish baja ("shallow") and mar ("sea").
Identification. In ancient times, Bahrain was part of an empire known as Dilmun.
Identification. "Bangladesh" is a combination of the Bengali words, Bangla and Desh, meaning the country or land where the Bangla language is spoken.
Identification. Barbadians are people born on Barbados and people born elsewhere who have at least one Barbadian parent and maintain cultural ties to the nation.
Republic of Belarus, Respublika Belarus; before 1991, the country was known as the Belorussian (also spelled Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic. Sometimes called White Russia or alternatively White Ruthenia, especially in relation to the pre-1918 history of the region.
Identification. Gallia Belgica was the Romans' name for the northern part of Gaul, the northern limit of their empire.
Identification. Previously called British Honduras, the country now known as Belize derives its name from one of two historical sources: Maya root words or the surname of the Scottish buccaneer Peter Wallace, who maintained a camp near present-day Belize City in the seventeenth century.
Identification. Before 1975, the Republic of Benin was known as Dahomey, its French colonial name.
Identification. Bermuda is named after Juan de Bermudez, a Spanish explorer who first sighted the uninhabited islands probably in 1503.
Identification. Druk-yul means "Land of the Thunder Dragon." Most Bhutanese refer to their homeland as Druk-yul, the original and still official name.
Identification. Bolivia is named after Simón Bolívar, a leader in the nineteenth-century wars of independence against Spain.