Why Do Zambia & The Gambia Have Such Similar Names?

HELP SUPPORT NAME EXPLAIN ON PATREON: / nameexplain
BUY MY BOOK: bit.ly/originofnames
TWITTER: / nameexplainyt
Thank you to all my Patrons for supporting the channel!
SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
Countries That Start With Z: www.worldometers.info/geograph...
List Of African Countries By Area: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
A Short History Of Zambia: www.localhistories.org/zambia....
Why the Name Zimbabwe?: afrolegends.com/2015/04/08/wh...
Cecil Rhodes: www.britannica.com/biography/...
Zambezi Etymology: books.google.co.uk/books?id=q...
Zambia And It’s Place Named: anthony1956.blogspot.com/2015/...
The True History of the Gambia’s Bizarre Origin Story: www.atlasobscura.com/articles...
The Republic of The Gambia - Introduction: www.globalsecurity.org/milita...
Gambia vs The Gambia: theculturetrip.com/africa/the...
Why Do We Put ‘The’ In Front Of Gambia?: www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-a...
Digya Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

[@NameExplain]

So immediately after writing this video I remembered The Congo, the shortened name for the countries of Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of the Congo and the primary reason I didn’t mention it was because I forgot about it being a dumb dumb. But this shortened name has a definite article, isn’t a plural, and doesn’t represent a collection of things. Why doesn’t it sound odd? Well maybe it’s because I already knew it referred to the river Congo, so in my head calling it just The Congo makes sense. Before making this video I didn’t know The Gambia was named after the Gambia River. And maybe The Gambia does seem so odd to us (well me anyway) because it does sound like Zambia, a name not with a definite article. Hence why they wanted that “The” at the start of The Gambia. Anyway this all all just my personal ramblings and thought I’d leave it down here to give you guys something extra, and it’s likely someone else will mention it. Any other countries with definite artless that seem weird? Peace! Patrick

[@NameExplain]

Too much American television and I find it funny when people get angry about it.

[@halfasleeptypist8823]

you also forgot The Netherlands lol.

[@dimdagreekdimdagreek4097]

Name Explain when i cant buy the book because i cant understand amazon im stupid i know Love your videos keep up the great work

[@teddyboragina6437]

I think the X in xu is usually pronounced more like "sh". but I'm not an expert on this sort of thing.

[@andreluismarin8095]

No love for The Netherlands or The United States of America (or Mexico) ..... or even The Ukraine

[@newmono7341]

why are names called names?

[@artemiostriantafyllou7986]

From latin nomen, and then that probably comes from some PIEmy-whimy wibbly-wobbly words.

[@josephstalin2776]

@@abdallabissar I havent heard adout it

[@cv4809]

@@abdallabissar suffering

[@billysanpidro]

Because it is 42 and the Chinese-French border near Lake Titicaca is discovered by Rosalind Franklin

[@josh-ch9sm]

The explanation of the name name's name

[@darryljones3009]

Why do Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Papua New Guinea, and the Guinea Pig all have "Guinea" in their names?

[@Ggdivhjkjl]

How could you forget Guinea fowl? They're noisy enough!

[@TheRazorTongue]

That's a good question. @Darth Cynicus does the hate flow through you?

[@ethanpreis413]

I'm quite sure "Guinea" came from the Portuguese word for black people, but that doesn't really explain the Guinea pig eh?

[@ossi_2429]

Guinea means ‘south’ (I think) and used to be used as a name for Africa as a whole.

[@TheRenegade...]

Guinea = Western Africa

[@johnaarson]

As for Rhodesia, it wouldn't really make sense to call it Celopolis, since that would be literally, "City of Cecil" and not "Country of Cecil".

[@GumSkyloard]

Ceciland? Cecilia? (no wait.. that's a portuguese given name)

[@termeownator]

@@GumSkyloard And a killer tune...

[@WaterShowsProd]

Cecilstan.

[@ryand7832]

Whoosh

[@onasiszm66]

Proudly Zambian (Zedian) 🇿🇲here watching.

[@SultanZay]

Yesaaiii!!!!!

[@justbluemartin9346]

I like the Zedian vibe you've been going on

[@binakotouray7669]

That's my blessed country. The smiling coast of Africa 🌍 The Gambia 🇬🇲

[@marymagnificat8567]

binako touray.... yeah your country is blessed. I’m a Filipina based in USA... I used to work as Personal Assistant to His Excellency John Bojang, Gambian Ambassador to the USA in Washington , DC.... He’s a wonderful and intelligent boss. God bless you🙏

[@binakotouray7669]

@@marymagnificat8567👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

[@mustaphajaiteh8462]

Love from The Gambia 🇬🇲 ❤️

[@trunakampa8269]

Love from Zambia

[@LuchoCastle_11]

Why do Uruguay and Paraguay have such similar names?

[@zeneljosha7516]

He "Did"

[@CogitoEdu]

Guay means from water in Guaraní. So Uruguay is the river(guai) of the painted birds (uru) for example.

[@uhoy1488]

SigmaTV no u

[@LuchoCastle_11]

@@uhoy1488 yea me

[@bradlemmond]

He already did it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bGSqcoaMqNOqis0

[@SimonTodd1]

I just bought your book with the link in hardback. I'm excited to read it and to support this channel!

[@NameExplain]

Thank you Simon, I hope you enjoy!

[@shoomingday]

Just ordered your book! Can’t wait to read it!

[@twalu_x]

It's pronounced Zam_bay_zi

[@termeownator]

I have that same feeling of weirdness when hearing/saying The Hague, which I think is singular as well Edit: course The Hauge's not a country, but I felt it followed the same principle

[@NameExplain]

termeownator very good example.

[@pedrosampaio7349]

Try its official Dutch name: 's Gravenhage, which is an archaic way of saying 'the count's bush' in Dutch. Eventually the actual name became such a chore to say, even to us Dutch folk, so we started saying 'Den Haag' or just 'the bush' (with a weird obsolete case ending on the article). The same happened to another relatively large city in the Netherlands, Den Bosch (in English 'the forest'), whose full name is longer ( ' 's Hertogenbosch' or 'the Duke's forest')

[@jamescook2412]

In Spanish is "La Habana" but in English is just "Havana".

[@masterimbecile]

Still doesn't beat Truth or Consequences (a town in New Mexico, US) in wierdness. How often do you see "or" in a name, eh?

[@stormcloudtheory]

@@masterimbecile Or King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Just outside of Philadelphia.

[@dilosalty]

Your videos are so good!!

[@Student_Of_Life09]

Yes it's true my country got it's name from the Zambezi River, Zambezi is a compound word in the Lunda language comprising of the words Zambe or zambi meaning God and Ezi meaning water, so in a rough translation Zambezi means Water of God.

[@9NineVolt]

Woah I've never been this early! Great vid btw

[@NameExplain]

Lavender Sheep thank you!

[@jacoby3070]

What your here

[@best_soap641]

Here is an interesting one. I think it would be great if you made it: *Why do Thessaly and Thessaloniki have such similar names?*

[@joebowden4065]

Alex The Nationalist named after Phillip II daughter who was named after a victory where the Thessalian cavalry were important

[@riskitforthetriscuitt2548]

Thessaly and Sicily also are similar

[@christiaankuc9400]

Proud zambian here! This vid was really nice

[@helloworld0911]

As an English person, why do you pronounce "Z" as "zee" and not "zed"?

[@k3nz1e73]

I do too we have been westernized lol

[@MC_TravelAdventures]

There is actually more than just the country names . We also have one name that is both in Gambia and Zambia. That name Is KUNDA.

[@sirgheorghe963]

"Zambia and the Gambia" Sounds like the coolest rock band name ever

[@masterimbecile]

X in Chinese is like "Sh" in sheet. So Xu sounds very roughly like shoe (if you ignore the fact that the u is more like ü in German). Other "odd" ones you may see are Q ("ch" in cheese) vs. Ch ("tr" in train), as well as Z ("ds" in hands) vs. Zh (rhymes with orange) vs. C ("ts" in bats).

[@hoangkimviet8545]

Wonderful video :-0

[@korean_empire157]

I was always curious...why are the maps have bad quality? I recommend you to search good maps in 'the blank atlas' as a mapper.

[@mehrheitler]

It’s a style.

[@NoSlaying]

Hi, im really sorry but i cant afford patron, i watch all of your videos and love your channel, but I really want to know how "Qatar" got its name, its the only country that starts with the letter Q and why is that?

[@marlineharrold1937]

Thanks lots. 💖

[@MichaelSidneyTimpson]

Hint, if you want to know how to pronounce a foreign word, go to google translate, select English and convert to the language you want to pronounce in. So if you put "Xu" into English, and select translate into Chinese, hit the speaker in Chinese and it will say it for you properly (it sounds a little like "Shoe" in this case, but with a very short vowel.)

[@omarnyang4392]

I’m from The Gambia but I don’t thinks it’s shape is at all weird there are plenty of countries around the world with much weirder borders

[@jenniphersharz4868]

Am Zambian to be honest I don't see the similarity abt these two countries But I hv owes wished to visit the Gambia ever since I found out that my country has a similar country name on the Atlas

[@Manofloveandpeace]

No similarities at all completely different cultures I hope people don’t confuse that am from Zambia too. hope to visit maybe as well

[@JarrodBaniqued]

“I forgot I don’t have thumbs” -Patrick Foote, 2018

[@lancechimese1715]

im from Zambia thanks for this!!!!

[@xitvono]

Also don't forget that El Salvador has a definite article. I remember that my teacher said in spanish that it is part of the name and you can't contract it by saying "Soy del Salvador." The correct way to say it is "Soy de El Salvador."

[@whaianne]

Etymology comparisons for the following, please? 1. Nassau & Bissau 2. Guinea-Bissau & Papua New Guinea 3. Papua Island & Papua New Guinea 4. Switzerland & Swaziland 5. Togo & Tonga Thanks ahead! 😉

[@imperialhistory6120]

nice suggestions but Swaziland changed it's name in order to not sound like Switzerland

[@SuicideBunny6]

Here's something I've always wondered, what's the link between 'cancer' (the disease) and a crab (like constellation)?

[@pleasant_asymmetry]

I think of it as "The Republic of The Gambia [River]"

[@nikanikuradze7437]

i never noticed that.

[@boyjanneh7013]

That's my beautiful home the Gambia

[@KMFBA]

You should do Zambia and Nambia too! ;)

[@lutelechinyanta3565]

It's Namibia

[@jenniphersharz4868]

No similarity there dear it's Namibia and not Nambia

[@babsjob8729]

No such thing as Nambia

[@NikhileshSurve]

"The" seems to be in country's names that has an adjective or common noun like United, Federal, French, Czech, Kingdom, Republic, etc.

[@melodykazoka4759]

Love from Zambia

[@Barc112]

1:12 You said the names don't share an ETYMOLOGICAL root, but I misheard you and thought you were saying they are not connected at all. But they do. Zambia was Northern Rhodesia, while Zimbabwe was Southern Rhodesia. The two Rhodesias (until their dissolution in the late 20th century) were one of those few countries named after a person, and more specially, Cecil Rhodes and Simon Bolivar were the only TWO people with TWO countries named after them). VIDEO SUGGESTION: Which countries are named after people?

[@petergeramin7195]

3:21 El Salvador also uses the article 'the"

[@Keziahhadebe]

Interesting

[@wilsonmubanga5985]

Zambia here watching

[@TIMBOWERMAN]

I always remember a school master (school teacher) called Mr Beret (sounds like a cap) who left to be a missionary and I could not remember whether he went to The Gambia or Zambia, I think it was the latter.

[@thomasatkinson7319]

At 1:11 I don't know why it annoys me so much, but my God, you are British, 'z' is pronounced 'zed' not 'zee'. But otherwise, great video.

[@chisechetembo2813]

Zambezi means River of God in the Lunda language. Zambia is a short cut given by our founding father Kenneth Kaunda.

[@devvynully]

Wouldn't "The Gambia" be the plural of "The Gambium", so would match the other countries you said were groups of things.

[@Shesfantaa]

Devvy Nully tf is gambium you pissed me of, is Gambia or gambian or gambie or gambien😤🙄😂

[@howtubeable]

So what's a gambium? How many are there?

[@sannacham7881]

@@Shesfantaa hahaha is Gambian

[@mmmmmmok5292]

I was never confused about theses

[@cossaizy6309]

About the definate article in the Gambia, it is worth to note that other languages tend to use "The" in their name while dropping it in the official english name... i know arab countries tend to do this, especially if the name refers to things or the name is arabic in origin: Al-ardon = the Jordan, also named after the Jordan river Al-iraq = the Iraq, origins debatable Al-morroco = the morroco, lit the west lands Al-ajazaer = the algeria, lit the islands And suadi arabia is generally refered to as El-suadia (the suadi) in informal speech Could this be the case for the gambia?

[@ebrimajawneh6918]

Char zy That's not the case with The Gambia. To begin with Gambia isn't even Arab country.

[@ethanoffenbacher4829]

There are a few other places that have "the" in their name, at least unofficially, and aren't plural. Like the Yukon, the Congo, the Hague, the Bronx and sometimes, the Sudan, the Ukraine, and the Crimea. The Yukon and Congo are also rivers too, if that has any relation.

[@nicholasmalata9531]

I am the great son of Zambia

[@aisha538]

As a Gambian I always wondered why my country was called THE GAMBIA

[@bonecanoe86]

I still want to know why dab is both a dance move and a drug thing!

[@VIVABELLAVIVAHERMANO]

You would think, he would do an explain on Zambia and Zimbabwe (next to each other)

[@vitormelomedeiros]

Fake etymology just for fun: "ambia" means river and G and Z at the start of a word mean "north" and "south" respectively, so the countries would be North River and South River :)

[@DirtyYert]

My home town is named "The Dalles" i would love to hear how that fits in. I will also say it is not prodounced dallas like a lot unfamilliar people think.

[@masterimbecile]

1:53 We also have a Zambeze river between Texas and Mexico.

[@liam-man7265]

Don’t forget Namibia, too! 🇳🇦

[@rodrigotorres7068]

El Salvador also has a definitive article in its short name, "El".

[@scrambled5948]

"Z" is pronounced as "zed" (you should know this man, you're British)

[@termeownator]

Figure he looked at his viewing figures and has enough of a higher percentage of US viewers to warrant just saying "zee". I had to look it up myself a good while back after hearing it multiple times in shows and films and asking, "Zed? Who's Zed?" And then Bruce Willis answered back, "Zed's dead, baby".

[@zeroeffortmemes]

I'll never understand zed. That'd be like calling the letter S "sed".

[@termeownator]

@@zeroeffortmemesBelieve it's a holdover from the Latin ¿and Greek? Zeta, therefore it makes more sense than "zee", in my opinion at least...

[@termeownator]

@b phillip I was under the impression that every English speaking country other than the US, and as you pointed out, sometimes Canada, use "zed" and not "zee", and that we Americans are fairly unique in that regard...

[@timemachinezambia]

If you are on Twitter checkout the Hashtag #MeetZambia and Fall in Love with the Country!

[@micahho3151]

Why do cow meat, pig meat or lamp meat have different names (beef, pork, mutton etc.)? Where does this comes from?

[@malte1984]

Actually in german, a lot of countrys have an article in their Name (beside official names like "The Republic of....... etc."). The german articles are: - "Der" (male) it's pronounced like "Dare" - "Die" (female) it's pronounced like "Dee" - "Das" (neutral) it's pronounced like "Duss" There is: - Die Schweiz (Switzerland) - Der Kosovo (Kosovo) - Die Niederlande (The Netherlands) - Der Iran (Iran) - Der Irak (Iraq) - Der Jemen (Yemen) - Die Türkei (Turky) - Der Kongo (Congo) - Der Libanon (Lebanon) - Die Mongolei (Mongolia) - Die Antarktis (Antarctica) and these are just to name a few...

[@sheldoncedwardthibault3599]

I'm Canadian, we have provinces and territories should we be called The Canada or The Canadas/The Canada's.

[@gelgamath_9903]

You should do the etymology of etymology

[@Anthony-qo1sb]

Love my country zambia 🇿🇲

[@ironiccookies2320]

why do i have that feeling i've seen this video already

[@EvilParagon4]

Putting a The in front of things often works when something is a one and only thing, like you couldn't possibly be talking about something else. Subsequently, all areas named after those iconic things adopt the definitive article too. The Yukon, The Ukraine, etc. The Gambia is named after *The* Gambia.

[@Saikomac]

I have not watched the video but judging from his previous videos, I am going to assume these two names have no etymological connection between them. And now I will watch the video to see whether I am right or wrong.

[@joemarmer4125]

I see Zambia 🇿🇲 I click!

[@joshuataylor3550]

ZEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!

[@pelekani]

Zambezi name might have originated from the word nzambi a word for God in Lunda who are situated in the area where the source of the river is..

[@gabriellecrawford9856]

You said zee? I hate the sound of zed, which I thought you'd say because you mentioned you live in the UK, but you said zee, like me. I live in the US, and I got lucky. I even said "Lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, ZEE!" and it worked. I must have powers. It worked for other things too. In a game, I wanted the dice to land on a 6, so I sad "lucky" 7 times (because 7 is the most common lucky number), and than said 6. Sucess!! Edit: Z is the best letter.

[@ismailanjie8476]

U got i the gambia wrong , i am from the gambia. the gambia come from one Surname Call kambi, when the White people came to the gambia they found one and asked what is the name of this place the answered kambiaya ,this is how the name gambia came out.i can't explain everything true text message.

[@JeremyWS]

That was an interesting video, but I'm tired.

[@Lutra47]

Do the etymology of The Bahamas!!

[@randomtanker4355]

I also have one thought in my mind

[@compactsaturn3641]

I live near a town in england that is is called rhodesia

[@potatojo9013]

what's the connection with latvia and latin? and i know that you won't read this because you only take inspiration from patrion.

[@TheRugbyClubHQ]

Zee..... zed

[@arslayah3169]

1:37 you know who he looks like YOU KNOW WHO HE LOOKS LIKE

[@AvailableUsernameTed]

There was The Flambia, but it was annexed by Wakanda.

[@josh-ch9sm]

Pipe2DevNull Wakambia

[@eggy543]

That's fake.

[@AvailableUsernameTed]

Busted

[@musik350]

3:20 What avout the Netherlands?

[@renevercautere3105]

It's name is singular (and thus without the "the") in Dutch, so I guess it's not really the same

[@AbiGail-ok7fc]

@Its AFakeMun The name wasn't always singular, and the full name still isn't. The full name is "Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden" ("The Kingdom of the Netherlands"). In the 17th and 18th century (between the independence from Spain, and the France occupancy), it was called "De Republiek de Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden" ("The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands"). I bet the current English name for the country was derived from the old name.

[@thephidias]

Etymologically speaking - no connection at all and no "similarities" at all. Period. The rest is coincidence or convention, both defying logic by definition. You should reserve your energy for more important things.

[@jenniphersharz4868]

So then what's the similarity abt them

[@l.rgabriel2372]

They both got their names from the river , zambia go its name from zambezi while Gambia from the Gambia

[@466chalk]

Do Uruguay and Paraguay, please.

[@AZ-lu7ep]

Is there a focus on Africa/African Names because it's Black History Month? If so, awesome :D

[@jasonfire3434]

I thought Black History Month was in February.

[@AZ-lu7ep]

In the UK it's in October.

[@jasonfire3434]

@@AZ-lu7ep ah ok that makes sense then.

[@cute47477]

Gambia 🇬🇲🇬🇲🇬🇲🇬🇲🇬🇲🇬🇲🇬🇲🇬🇲🇬🇲🇬🇲❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@Manofloveandpeace]

No similarity about the two countries at all, no links or same culture or language connection at all. Hope people don’t confuse the two at all. I’m from Zambia 🇿🇲 and love Africa!

[@ju20366]

🇿🇲❤️!

[@TheBah19]

A lot of wrongs. I am a Gambian. The main reason why we have the definite articles is: when packages were sent to the Gambia, it was mistakenly sent to Zambia. hence they introduced "The" in the name of our country just to distinguish it from Zambia.

[@peterwilliams6289]

The Netherlands also has "The". But plural etc as you say.

[@peterwilliams6289]

Speaking of which, why is the country called The Netherlands and Holland but the people there are Dutch?

[@cosminblk8359]

Why does Mauritius and Mauritania similar names ?

[@johnferaren7851]

Please do the bible city name of Philippians and the country of the Philippines. Thanks :)

[@whaianne]

John Feraren Philippians are the Christian people of Philippi (named after Philip II of Macedon) while yung Philippines is from King Philip II of Spain.

[@aquawoelfly]

I heard rhodisian ridgebacks were breed to defend villiages agsinst lions but was unfamilia with where "rhodesia" was. If it was a city provence or extinct country.

[@PockASqueeno]

The United Kingdom isn’t multiple kingdoms though. It’s multiple countries within a single kingdom.

[@kaumbasakayi6801]

Zambezi came from the Luvale word Yambeji which means land of water.

[@awisithemba7905]

Zambia is derived from the Zambezi river which means The Waters of God. GOD in Zambian languages is NZAMBE, NZAMBI, NYAMBE Water in Zambian languages is Menzi, Manzi , Amenshi In actual sense Zambians means Children of God

[@Chomii_White]

I am from Zambia...🇿🇲

[@IndonesiaMajapahitNDPCA]

*_names_*