75 Countries in Chinese 🌏 What Are Their Literal Translations?

75 Country Names in Chinese 🌏 PLUS Bonus States Names

Have you ever wondered what your country’s name looks like in Chinese and what its meaning is?

The literal Chinese translations of country names often results in some funny interpretations.

Many of the Hanzi writings of foreign countries are supposed to reflect a nice meaning and also be phonetically similar (trans-literation) to the original.

However, when translated from one language to Chinese and then to English, the meaning may be lost in translation and changed to something completely different.

I tried to choose some of the most interesting literal translations, but as with all translations there is a multitude of meanings and understandings, hence results may vary from translation to translation.

So, to be clear, these are not “literal translation of the Chinese names”, rather they are literally translations of characters used phonetically.

Chinese + English = Chinglish : You Must See To Believe Chinglish – The Ones You Have to See to Believe The equation is simple : Chinese + English = Chinglish But what is Chinglish? Let’s get a dictionary definition: Chinglish – A Dictionary Definition In a nutshell it’s a form…

Countries in Chinese – Europe

France in Chinese

France: 法国, faguo. Fa mimics “france”, and has connotations of lawfulness, orderliness.

Germany: 德国, deguo. De mimics “Deutsch” (of Deutschland), and means virtue, righteousness.

Netherlands/Holland: 荷兰, helan. Lotus Orchid, Helan sounds vaguely like Holland.

United Kingdom: 英国, ying guo. Either “Brave land” or “Great country” however “英” is now a character associated with England/UK.

Also worth noting the UK translates to 联合王国 which is literally – United King Country – not far off!

Russia: 俄国 e guo. This one is an exception as the first character just means Russian now, and doesn’t correspond to the phonetic in any way.











Belgium: 比利时, bi li shi. “Time to compare profits”. Let the games begin!

Iceland: 冰岛, bing dao. Same as its native etymology – “ice island”

Belarus: 白俄罗斯, bai e luo si. “white Russia” convenient as Belarus means white Russia in Belarus as well.

Montenegro: 黑山, hei shan. Black mountain which is the same as its native etymology

Switzerland: 瑞士, rui shi “Lucky gentleman”. This is one of the names that gets people asking about the etymology of place names. The Chinese name for Switzerland, comes from the ancient Roman province of Raetia (also spelled Rhaetia).

Chinese Humour = Italy “Expecting Big profits”

Hungary: 匈牙利, xiong ya li. “Hun teeth profit”. In Cantonese, 匈 is pronounced as “hung” and 牙 is pronounced as “nga”.

Could also be a reference to the myths that the Hungarians are descended from the Huns and the Xiongnu, a perennial northern rival of ancient Chinese dynasties, are the same as the Huns.

Italy: 意大利 , yi da li. “Hoping for/expecting big profits”. Sounds like 一大粒, “one big lump”.

Spain: 西班牙, xi ban ya. “Western class teeth” the sound is supposed to mimic Hispania.

Greece: 希腊, xi la. “Hope for BBQ”. Well, no, but “longing for cured meat” doesn’t sound as snappy. 腊 can also refer to the twelfth month of the Chinese calendar, so “hoping for the 12th month of the year” is another possibility.

Ireland: 爱尔兰, Ài’ěrlán. “Love your Orchid”. This is based on the sound of ‘Ireland’.







If you like funny translations, check out our blog all about Chinglish:

Countries in Chinese – The Americas

Canada: 加拿大, jia na da. “Add grab big”

Mexico: 墨西哥, mo xi ge. “Ink west older brother”.

Haiti: 海地, hai di. “Sea land”.

Guatemala: 危地马拉, gua di ma la. “In the land of danger, the horse pulls”. This is the transliteration used in Mainland China. The Taiwanese use “瓜地马拉”: “In the land of melons, the horse pulls”.

Brazil: 巴西, ba xi. “Next to the West”

Chile: 智利, zhi li. “Favourable Wisdom”

Peru: 秘鲁, bi lu. “Unfriendly Secret”

America in Chinese

Mexico in Chinese

Brazil in Chinese

Chile in Chinese

Peru in Chinese

Canada in Chinese

America: 美国, meiguo. Beautiful country, first character means “beauty” on its own, that Chinese think America is a beautiful country, but again, don’t be fooled, its only because of the sound “mer” in “America”.

Now we all know America is big so here’s the translations of each and every single state for you as well, aren’t we good to you!

















Countries in Chinese – Asia + The Pacifics

China: 中国, Zhong guo. “Middle kingdom” Through out Chinese history China and its people believed that they were the middle kingdom of earth.

Japan: 日本, ri ben. “Land of the Rising Sun” or “The suns origin”

Korea: 高丽, gao li. “Goryeo” This was the dynasty that ruled Korea from 900 AD to 1400

South Korea: 韩国, han guo. This is the name that Koreans call themselves

韩国, han guo. This is the name that Koreans call themselves North Korea: 北朝鲜, bei chao xian. “North Joseon” Joseon was the dynasty that ruled Korea from 1400’s-1910

Australia: 澳大利亚, ao da li ya “Big bay, inferior profits”.

ANOTHER BONUS – Who knew Australia was also a monster of a country!

So here’s the states of Oz for you as well!









India: 印度 , yin du. “The degree of printing”

Singapore: 新加坡, xin jia po. “Newly added slope”

Vietnam: 越南, yue nan. “More south” Due to Vietnamese position to China and their long history.

Yemen: 也门, ye men. “Also door”.

Israel: 以色列, yi se lie. “According to color, list”, or “list according to color”.

Bhutan: 不丹, bu dan “Not red”

Cambodia: 柬埔寨, jian pu zhai. “Letter to the plain of the stronghold”

Malaysia: 马来西亚, ma lai xi ya.”Horse comes to West Asia”. Which is funny, because they are in Southeast Asia.

Thailand: 泰国 tài guó. Literally means “Country of peace”.

New Zealand: 新西兰 xīn xī lán. “New west orchid” or “New west orchid flowers”.

Indonesia: 印度尼西亚 yìn dù ní xī yà. “Print degrees Buddhist nun West Asia”. It’s a bit of a mouthful, so sometimes it’s simply shortened to 印尼 (yìn ní). “Print Buddhist nun”.

Philippines: 菲律賓 Fēi lǜ bīn “Fragrant law guest”









Countries in Chinese – Africa

Gabon in Chinese

South Africa: 南非, nan fei. Fei is from the name for Africa ‘feizhou’, means literally south Africa.

Chad: 乍得 Zhàdé ” Sudden Morality”.

Egypt: 埃及, ai ji. “Catching up to dust”.

Central African Republic: 中非共和国 Zhōng fēi gònghéguó. This one is a direct translation. 中 means central, 非 means Africa, and 共和国 is Republic.

Cape Verde: 佛得角 Fó dé jiǎo. “Buddha’s Virtuous Horn” or “Buddha’s Virtuous Cape” – Cape here as in promontory or headland rather than the garment.

Namibia: 纳米比亚, na mi bi ya. “Comparing extremely small profits”.

Djibouti: 吉布提 Jíbùtí. ” Carry the lucky cloth”

Gabon: 加蓬 Jiāpéng. “Add Fleabane” or “Add daisies”. Fleabane is a type of plant in the daisy family.







WANT MORE? How about checking out some city names in Chinese next?

Quick Conversation: 你是哪国人?

nǐ shì nǎ guó rén? 你是哪国人？ What country are you from?

wǒ shì xīn xī lán rén. 我是新西兰人。 I am from New Zealand.

Interested in Learning Chinese in China? Check out our language courses or get a head start and study Chinese online!

Countries in Chinese – FAQ’s

How do you say China in Chinese? China in Chinese is 中国, zhong guo. This literally means Middle Kingdom.

How do you say the UK in Chinese? United Kingdom in English is 英国, ying guo. This actually translates to great country or brave land! To delve deeper: England is 英格兰 Scotland is 苏格兰 Wales is 威尔士 Northern Ireland is 北爱尔兰

How do you say USA in Chinese? America in Chinese is 美国, mei guo which translates to beautiful country.

How do you say Germany in Chinese? Germany in Chinese is 德国, de guo.

How do you say Russia in Chinese? Russia in Chinese is 俄国 e guo. This has no literal translation and just means Russia!

How do you say South Africa in Chinese? South Africa in Chinese is 南非, nan fei. Fei is from the name for Africa ‘feizhou’, means literally south Africa.

How do you say Brazil in Chinese? Brazil in Chinese is 巴西, ba xi. Literally it’s “Next to the West”.

How do you say Vietnam in Chinese? Vietnam in Chinese is 越南, yue nan. Literally this is “More south”. It’s due to Vietnams position to China and their long history.

Want more from LTL?

If you wish to hear more from LTL Mandarin School why not join our mailing list.

We give plenty of handy information on learning Chinese, useful apps to learn the language and everything going on at our LTL schools!

We also offer Online Mandarin classes for all ages, all levels and all nationalities!

Sign up below and become part of our ever growing community!