Things that are unexpectedly the same, part 4

4. Names of countries

At some point growing up, you learn that the names you use for countries aren't the same as the names those countries use for themselves. I was very surprised when I first learned that Japan, Spain, and Germany all had different names than the ones we used for them.

When I first moved to Japan, I was surprised that people called Spain Supein instead of España. People also call Cuba Kyuuba, like Americans, instead of Cuba (koo-bah), which Cubans call themselves. Did Japan learn these words from Americans? I wonder what Spanish people think about this!

There are some cases where the Japanese word for a country is closer than the American version. Germany, for example, is Deutschland, closer to the Japanese Doitsu than the English Germany. Switzerland, too, is Suisse in French, Suisu in Japanese, but Switzerland in English. I think the Japanese name is closer.

Actually, Japan's name has changed again since then, too. When I was in high school, we learned that Japan was really called Nihon in Japanese, but people usually call it Nippon now.