As part of my anthropology class this last semester, we had three geography quizzes. The last quiz involved the entire continent of African. The first two quizzes dealt with Latin American and Asia, including the Middle East. In studying for these quizzes I made a few observations on the names of certain countries. For example there are two countries that have the word equator in their name, in one form or another. In South America at the equator you have Ecuador and in Africa you have Equatorial Guinea. There are a total of four guinea countries, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Papua New Guinea, and the aforementioned Equatorial Guinea. I often get the guineas mixed up and confused with Ghana, French Guiana, and or Guyana. I wonder if the root for the name of these countries is the same. In Africa there are two countries whose names remind me of things I enjoy. The country of Togo reminds me of Togos, a fast food sandwich franchise, and the country of Djibouti reminds me of JLo's booty. Djibouti is pronounce similar to 'yo booty.'
Some countries are named after certain people. For example the Philippines is named after King Philip of Spain. Bolivia was named after Simon Bolivar, the Liberator. I want to know who Chad was named after. And who is this famous Stan in Central Asia? There are about seven countries named after this Stan dude. There is Kazakstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgystan. Well I learned something. I learned that the stan postfix is not a persons name but simply means land. So Pakistan simply means Pakiland, or the Land of the Paki. Turkmenistand would translate to the Land of the Turkey Men.
For a long time I thought that Micheal Jordan came from Jordan, that Gorgio Armani was from Arminia and that Cyprus Hill was from Cyprus. I also used to be confused about Turkey. Turkey reminds me of Thanksgiving. Hungary reminds me of being hungry. Now if the people of Turkey get together with the people of Hungary that would truly be a great Thanksgiving. Speaking about being confused, why does England have so many names? Is it England or Great Britain or the United Kingdom? Can they make up their mind? That is why the Pilgrims left, not for religious freedom but because they simply where confused. Another interesting thing that I heard about countries is that Greenland is not all that green, and that Iceland doesn't have as much ice as you would think. There should be a referendum for these two countries to exchange names.
I already mentioned Turkmenistan earlier. But I was wondering if this country is sexist. I think the country name for Turkmenistan and Yemen sound a bit sexist. A more politically correct name should be Turkpeoplestan and Yepeople. What is the plural for people from Oman? Omen? I would much rather be a tourist, visiting every secret palaces, and every back alley to a Woman than to Oman.
Overall I think that the best name for a country is Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso is the name of a country, but to me it is a destination into the unknown and exotic. I wish to travel the world, if not physically then by using my imagination.