There are overall 195 countries in the world to date. Many countries changed their names for many reasons. Reasons such as boundary change, war, and independence, to honor a leader or any personality, to modernize, to language dominance, splitting of countries, or any political motivation make countries change their name. Most countries changed their name to erase their past, while some do to attract tourism.
Do you know it is not a simple process to change the name of the country? It cost millions of dollars or equivalent to the local currencies to change its name. The country changing its name has to change its flag, the currency, the government letterhead, the license plates, military uniforms, national sports, and many other things to change the whole process. It also takes time. Here is the list of 13 countries that changed their name.
1. Siam To Thailand
Thailand was called Siam. In 1939, the king who ruled the country changed its name after it became a constitutional monarchy. It is pronounced as Prathet Thai in its local language, which means “the country of free people.”
2. Holland To Netherlands
From January 2020, Holland unified to the Netherlands. It has two regions South Holland and North Holland. One of the reasons was also the marketing move. There were many modifications involved. They have changed the name of their soccer team as well.
3. Irish Free State To Ireland
In 1937, the Irish Free State changed to Ireland to remove all ties with the United Kingdom. The country has a fierce war with the United Kingdom for 2 years.
4. Czech Republic To Czechia
In April 2016, the Czech Republic shortened its name to Czechia. It is done to make it easier the naming the country at sporting events. However, still, its official name is the Czech Republic. After 20 years of discussions, it finally changed and was also done for the easier pronunciation of country six languages such as English, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, French, and Arabic.
