Dozens of countries have changed their names, usually at independence, after a change of government, or to settle a dispute. The recent ones: Swaziland became Eswatini in 2018, Macedonia became North Macedonia in 2019, and Turkey asked the United Nations to call it Türkiye in 2022. A new name never changes your country count: it's the same country on the same ground, so you count it once, under whichever name you prefer.
Recent name changes
| Was | Now | When | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Czech Republic | Czechia (short name) | 2016 | A one-word short name; the Czech Republic stays the full name |
| Swaziland | Eswatini | 2018 | The king announced it at celebrations of 50 years of independence |
| Macedonia | North Macedonia | 2019 | The Prespa Agreement with Greece, ending a long dispute over the name |
| Turkey | Türkiye | 2022 | The government asked the UN and others to use the Turkish spelling |
The Czech case is unusual: nothing was renamed, a short form was added for everyday use. Türkiye is a request about the name in other languages; most English speakers still say Turkey. Côte d'Ivoire and Cabo Verde have likewise asked others to use those forms rather than translating them into "Ivory Coast" and "Cape Verde".
20th-century name changes
| Was | Now | When |
|---|---|---|
| Persia | Iran | 1935, in international use |
| Siam | Thailand | 1939 (Siam again from 1945 to 1949) |
| Gold Coast | Ghana | 1957, at independence |
| Nyasaland | Malawi | 1964, at independence |
| Northern Rhodesia | Zambia | 1964, at independence |
| Bechuanaland | Botswana | 1966, at independence |
| Ceylon | Sri Lanka | 1972 |
| British Honduras | Belize | 1973 |
| Dahomey | Benin | 1975 |
| Rhodesia | Zimbabwe | 1980, at independence |
| Upper Volta | Burkina Faso | 1984 |
| Burma | Myanmar | 1989 |
| Kampuchea | Cambodia | 1989 |
| South West Africa | Namibia | 1990, at independence |
| Zaire | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 1997 (it had been Zaire since 1971) |
Two of these are still argued over. When Myanmar's military government changed the English name in 1989, some governments and news organizations kept using Burma for years. And Congo has had more names than most: the Democratic Republic of the Congo became Zaire in 1971 and took its old name back in 1997. It's a different country from its neighbor, the Republic of the Congo, whose capital is Brazzaville.
Names people mix up
Some confusion isn't a name change at all:
- Holland and the Netherlands. Holland is two of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands, North and South Holland, home to Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. Around 2020 the Dutch government stopped promoting the country as Holland.
- England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. England is one of four nations of the United Kingdom; Great Britain is the island it shares with Scotland and Wales. The UN list counts the UK once; the Travelers' Century Club counts all four.
- East Timor and Timor-Leste. The same country; Timor-Leste is the name it uses itself.
Does a name change affect your count?
No. Eswatini is Swaziland, so a trip in 2015 and a trip in 2025 are the same country. Count it once. That's the difference between a renamed country and one that split up or disappeared, where your old trip counts for whichever country now holds that ground; see countries that no longer exist.
Old names do matter when you're digging through records. Your 2012 passport says Swaziland, your old booking says Macedonia, and an old visa says Burma. When you turn passport stamps into a travel map or search an old inbox, search for both names.
Globestamp keeps that history on its stamps. A visit from before a name change is stamped with the name the country had then, so a 2015 photo in Mbabane makes a stamp that reads Swaziland, and a 2010 photo in Skopje one that reads Macedonia. Older names it knows include Burma, Ceylon, Zaire, Dahomey, Upper Volta and Rhodesia. The count doesn't change: each still counts for today's country. Every country's current stamp is on the stamps page.