For decades, there has been a dispute over the name of Macedonia. After the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the resulting country chose to name itself Macedonia, much to the dismay of Greece, which has a historical region called Macedonia. As part of the dispute, Greece blocked Macedonia's entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) unless it changed its name — which it finally did in 2019, adding the word "North.”

In 2018, to celebrate Swaziland's 50th anniversary of independence, King Mswati III officially renamed the country Eswatini. The name change is a break from the country's British colonial past — the country was known as Eswatini before Europeans started calling it Swaziland. Though the name change cost a lot of money, as government agencies, passports, and ID cards had to be replaced across the country, many locals applauded the decision as a return to the country's African roots.

You may know the world’s country names by now, but what about their national capitals? It might be easier to start with the letter "Z" rather than "A," since only one nation’s capital begins with "Z" — Croatia. Lying on the Sava River in the northwest part of the country, Zagreb is also Croatia’s largest city, home to more than 800,000 people.

There are eight countries whose names start with the letter “E,” including Ethiopia and Ecuador. The letter “I” also lays claim to eight nations around the world, including India, Ireland, and Italy. The letter “U” only has seven, but still leads off Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and the United States. “O,” on the other hand, is the first letter for only one sovereign state in the world: Oman.

According to most authoritative sources, there are only two countries whose shorthand names should officially begin with "the" — the Bahamas and the Gambia. Most other countries that habitually begin with "the" prefer not to be mentioned that way or have declared their official name without it. The Bahamas accepts its leading article because it is an archipelago of many islands, and the Gambia starts with "the" because the country is named after the river that flows through its center.

There are several Guineas all over the world. There's Guinea and Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, Papua New Guinea near Australia, and Equatorial Guinea on the coast of Africa's Gulf of Guinea. There's also the similarly named Guyana and French Guiana in South America. This common name most likely has its roots in colonialism, with Portuguese sailors naming West Africa "Guiné" and the rest of Europe following suit.

Jordan, Japan, and Jamaica all begin with "J"; Qatar starts with "Q"; and Yemen begins with "Y"; but no sovereign state in the world starts with the letter "W." The only other letter in the world that doesn't begin the name of any country is "X." Also, though no U.N. countries begin with "W," there are two exceptions: The British country of Wales and the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

According to its constitution, the official name for the South American country of Bolivia is the Plurinational State of Bolivia — named for its variety of local peoples and spoken languages. As a plurinational state, Bolivia’s national government recognizes the multiple political communities that make up its population, and the nation’s name reflects this multi-ethnic nature. The landlocked country is the only one in the world that officially claims this status.

Instead of their official long-form name, many countries have a more colloquial short one for English speakers. The Czech Republic formed in 1993 when the country formerly known as Czechoslovakia split up into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In an effort to simplify its name for English speakers, the Czech Republic registered “Czechia” as the new alternative name for the country in 2016.

There are 17 countries whose names start with B and 18 who begin with C and M, but there are 25 whose names start with S — at least in the English language. They range from tiny Seychelles and San Marino to larger nations like Spain, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia. The names of S countries also range in length from the shorter Syria and Samoa, to a real mouthful — St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Luxembourg is truly unique: Not only is it one of Europe’s smallest countries, but it’s also the only country where the head of state is a Grand Duke. That is reflected in its official name, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Since 2000, the role has been fulfilled by Grand Duke Henri of the Nassau-Weilburg family.

The only country in the world whose name ends in H in English is Bangladesh. Surrounded on both sides by India, Bangladesh was known as East Pakistan until 1971, which doesn't work nearly as well for trivial purposes. In the same linguistic vein, the Central African Republic is the only country that ends in C, Luxembourg is the only one that ends in G, and Denmark is the only one that ends in K.

The official name of Mexico is the United Mexican States, referencing the North American country’s 31 culturally and geographically diverse states. The long-form name was first implemented upon the ratification of the country's first-ever constitution as an independent nation in 1824, though today it is rarely used. In fact, former Mexican President Felipe Calderón attempted to persuade the Mexican Congress of the Union to change the name to simply Mexico in 2012, though legislation died upon the end of his term later that year.

Most people refer to it as the U.K. or the United Kingdom, but the full official name of this European country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The nations included in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are England, Scotland, Wales, and, of course, Northern Ireland. It’s the first three that make up the island of Great Britain, while Northern Ireland sits across the Irish Sea.

In 1822, during the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire, the burgeoning country founded the First Hellenic Republic, marking the first time in modern Greek history that the country was not ruled by a monarch. Today, the country is in the midst of the Third Hellenic Republic, and its official name in the United Nations is the Hellenic Republic. The word "Hellenic" comes from an ancient Greek word simply meaning, "Greek."

Taiwan was known as Formosa until the early 20th century and is now usually referred to as Taiwan abroad, but its official name is the Republic of China. This is linked to the controversial One-China Policy, which asserts that the RoC is not a sovereign state from mainland China (officially named the People’s Republic of China). Because of this, Taiwan also uses the deliberately ambiguous name of Chinese Taipei when competing in the Olympics.

While the most common word found in the world's official country names is "of," which makes 157 appearances, "republic" is a close second with 128 mentions. There are the well-known republics such as the Dominican Republic and the Republic of the Congo, but there are also dozens of lesser-known republics in the official names of countries, such as the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

The United Nations recognizes nearly 200 sovereign states across the world, but only one of those countries is named after a woman. The tiny Caribbean island of St. Lucia stands alone in this regard, having been named for St. Lucy of Syracuse, a Christian martyr. Beyond its unique feminine name, St. Lucia is also known for its iconic twin mountains, the Pitons, which are by far the country’s most famous landmark.

There's North Korea and North Macedonia; South Africa, South Sudan, and South Korea; and East Timor, but there are no countries whose names have "West" in them. Perhaps one day the desolate region of Western Sahara will become its own sovereign nation, but until then, west remains the only cardinal direction without a nation.

In the English language, the only country whose name ends with a K is Denmark. Located in northern Europe, Denmark is believed to get its name from German words meaning "flatland" and "woodland,” possibly referring to the country's border forests. The first use of the word Denmark within Denmark itself is on the Jelling Stones, which are runestones erected around 1000 CE. While Sri Lanka comes close with a K near the end, and in the ancient Berber language, Morocco is called “Amerruk,” Denmark is the only correct answer in English.