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In this lesson, you will be introduced to the Japanese names of the countries, nationalities, and languages found in the world. We will also learn about the diversity found in Japanese dialects. There is no need to learn the name of every country, nationality, or language mentioned. Use this opportunity to improve upon your transliteration skill of foreign place names so that you may become better able to describe yourself in Japanese.

Currently, there are 197 recognized independent states in the world. Each country has a Japanese name, many of which come from transliterations of their true names. As such, you will be able to recognize many country names without having to necessarily study them. To refer to nationality (kokuseki 国籍), all you need to do is add the suffix -jin 人 to the name of the country in question. To refer to the language of said country, simply add the suffix -go 語. These suffixes are also used regardless if a group of people has its own country or not. Because there are far more languages than there are countries, we will first go over the names of countries and nationalities.

Spelling Note: Most country names are written in Katakana カタカナ. Only a handful, those typically found in Asia, have spellings in Kanji 漢字. Although all country names have Kanji 漢字 spellings, only a handful are used. In this lesson, we will only concern ourselves with the standard spelling of each country name. After all, you have plenty of countries to go over.

Countries of Eurasia

Eurasia in Japanese is Yūrashia(-tairiku) ユーラシア（大陸）. In America, Europe (Yōroppa(-tairiku) ヨーロッパ（大陸）) and Asia (Ajia-(tairiku) アジア（大陸）) are typically treated as separate continents, but in Japan they are viewed as one. In Japanese, the six continents are either referred to as rokudaishū 六大州 or rokutairiku 六大陸. The difference between taishū 大州 and tairiku 大陸 is that the former refers to all landmasses on a continental plate whereas the latter refers solely to the continents. The -tairiku 大陸 seen after the name of the continents is only used when referring to the continents in the sense of geography. In everyday speech, the continents simply go by their names.  

Chart Notes: 

1. Kokumei 国名 ＝ Country name; kokuseki 国籍 ＝ Nationality. 
2. Tsūshō 通称 means “popular name” and refers to the fact that the names listed are not the full-length names every nation has. These names are the ones that are used in actual conversation. 
3. Romanization will not be provided in the country name charts of this lesson for brevity and conciseness. Use this opportunity to practice Katakana カタカナ.

Word Notes:

1. In formal situations, 日本 is read as Nippon. 

2. Kokumin 国民 means “citizen” and is a more appropriate word to refer to the citizens of Vatican City, who are all associated with the religious establishment of the nation itself.
3. Some countries of Eurasia are abbreviated to single-character Kanji 漢字 spellings in writing, especially in news reports or non-fiction literature. Europe itself can also be abbreviated as Ō 欧. This is because another name for Europe is Ōshū 欧州, which is usually used in the written language. Asia may also be abbreviated as A 亜. This comes from the Kanji 漢字 spelling 亜細亜.

Chart Notes: 

Usage Notes:

1. 中 is the typical abbreviation for China, but 華 can also be seen every so often, especially in various terminology.
2. The use of 和 to stand for Japan is ancient. Japan was once called Wa in antiquity, and this name still lives on in many situations. The use of 和 is typically limited to compounds such as wayaku 和訳 (translating into Japanese).
3. 蒙古 is the old name for Mongolia and is read as Mōko.
4. 老 for Laos comes from the Chinese name of the country; however, in other parts of Asia, the country is referred to as 寮國, and it is because of this that 寮 is also used in Japan.
4. Abbreviations tend to be added together, especially in news headlines. For instance, China-Korea will be abbreviated as Chūkan 中韓. Japan-Korea will be abbreviated as Nikkan 日韓. Another example is Nichiryō 日寮 (Japan-Laos). For other nation combinations, a nakaguro 中黒 (・) is usually inserted between the abbreviations. For example, 伊・仏stands for “Italy-France.”
5. Although some of these are not frequently used, those in this list are at least widely known. You will still see many of these used.

Countries of the Americas

North America, Central America, and South America are Kita Amerika 北アメリカ, Chūō Amerika 中央アメリカ, and Minami Amerika 南アメリカ respectively. They also go by the shortenings Hokubei 北米, Chūbei 中米, and Nambei 南米 respectively. In fact, these shortenings are used the most in conversation. The continents North America and South America are called Kita-Amerika-tairiku 北アメリカ大陸 and Minami-Amerika-tairiku 南アメリカ大陸 respectively. Below are the nations that can be found on these two continents:

Word Notes:

1. Beikoku 米国 and Beikokujin 米国人 are typically only used in the written language. The full name of the United States in Japanese is Amerika Gasshūkoku アメリカ合衆国.
2. Furansu-ryō フランス領 means “French controlled.”
3. For nations that aren’t well known, the suffix -jin 人 may frequently be seen replaced with no hito の人.
4. Because both the nationalities for the Dominican Republic and Dominica are rendered as Dominikajin ドミニカ人, to distinguish the two, you can refer to people of the Dominican Republic as Dominika Kyōwakoku no hito ドミニカ共和国の人 and people from Dominica as Dominika-koku no hito ドミニカ国の人. Dominika-koku ドミニカ国 is the full name for Dominica.
5. Just as was the case with Eurasian countries, there are several countries in the Americas whose names can be abbreviated to single-character spellings based on their Kanji 漢字 spellings. Below are the most common abbreviations:

Usage Note: Of these, the only ones important to remember are those for the United States and Canada.

Countries of Africa

Africa in Japanese is Afurika(-tairiku) アフリカ（大陸） and is composed of the following nations:

Word Note:
1. The nationalities for both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo are rendered as Kongojin コンゴ人. To distinguish, you can refer to people of the former nation as Kongo Minshu Kyōwakoku no hito コンゴ民主共和国の人 and people of the latter nation as Kongo Kyōwakoku no hito コンゴ共和国の人.
2. Unlike other continents, very few country names have commonly known single-character spellings. The ones that do seldom get used are below. Although the continent and not a country, Africa is also listed as there are so few examples.

Chart Note: Chimei 地名 ＝ Place name.

Usage Note: Neither of these examples are commonly used.

Countries of the Pacific

Oceania in Japanese is Oseania オセアニア. The Pacific Ocean is called Taiheiyō 太平洋. Within Oceania is Australia, which is called Ōsutoraria(-tairiku) オーストラリア（大陸）. Below are the nations that can be found in this region of the world:

Word Notes:
1. The two examples of single-character spellings for the Pacific are as follows:

Usage Note: Of these, Gō 豪 for Australia is the most commonly used. 

Below are some of the world’s most spoken and/or important languages. With few exceptions, they all end in the suffix -go 語.

Chart Notes:

1. For languages not listed here that happen to be the national language of a certain nation, simply add -go 語 to the name of that nation and it is most likely the Japanese name for that language.
2. Many of the languages in this list are spoken in India. India has the second largest population in the world and is very linguistically diverse.
3. In many aspects of life such as education, Japanese is referred to as Kokugo 国語, meaning “national language.” However, this word can be used in context of any nation to refer to its national language(s).
4. Futsugo 仏語 is an outdated word for “French” which is seldom used.

Usage Notes:
1. Chinese is perhaps the most controversial language on this list. Although it is still the most spoken language in the world, there are many Chinese languages. Mandarin Chinese is either referred to as Chūgokugo 中国語 or Futsūwa (Pūtonfa) 普通話. The latter name comes from the actual name for the language in Mandarin Chinese. The other Chinese languages that were neglected in the chart above that are worth noting include the following:

・Kantongo 広東語 - Cantonese
・Gogo 呉語 – Wu Chinese
・Hakkago 客家語 -  Hakka

2. Korean is typically referred to as Kankokugo 韓国語. However, linguistically speaking, it is referred to as Chōsengo 朝鮮語. Some speakers prefer Koriago コリア語 to be politically neutral. Some speakers erroneously call it Hanguru ハングル, which is the name of the Korean alphabet.

Languages & Dialects of Japan

Other languages that are important to know about are those spoken in Japan. These include the following:

Word Note: Uchināguchi ウチナー口 is Okinawan for the name of the language itself. 

Of these languages, all of them are related to Japanese except Ainu. For those related to Japanese, the Japanese government has tried over the past century to claim that they are dialects (hōgen方言). However, they are all mutually unintelligible to Japanese and vice versa. Generally speaking, dialects end in either hōgen 方言 or -ben 弁. Dialects in Japan can be very divergent from one another. It is merely that their accents (namari 訛り) are different. Vocabulary and grammar will also be different. For the most part, any area of Japan will have its own dialect which may or may not be like those around it.

【Kagoshima-ben 鹿児島弁】
ゆ来たね！→　よく来たね！
Yu kita ne!　　  Yoku kita ne!
How good it is you came!

【Ōsaka-ben 大阪弁】
どないしたん？　→　どうしたの？
Donai shita n?　→　  Dō shita no?
What’s wrong?

【Kyōto-ben 京都弁】
お豆腐(とふ)さん用意(ようい)しといて。　→　豆腐(とうふ)を用意(ようい)しておいて。
O-tofu-san yōi shitoite. 　　　　  Tōfu wo yōi shite oite.
Prepare the tofu.

【Nagasaki-ben 長崎弁】
昨日(きのう)何(なん)ばしよったと？　→　昨日何(きのうなに)をしていたの？
Kinō nam ba shiyotta to?　　Kinō nani wo shite ita no?
What were you doing yesterday?

【Kōbe-ben 神戸弁】
これ、知っとお？　→　これ、知ってる？
Kore, shittō?　　　　　 Kore, shitteru?
Did you know this?

Curriculum Note: Dialect coverage will continue to be limited to the most essential knowledge that is known by speakers of Japanese at large. This is because the lingua franca of Japan is overwhelmingly Standard Japanese.