‘The Czech Republic’ Gives itself a Nickname: ‘Czechia’

Most countries use either the formal name (e.g. Commonwealth of Australia) or the short name (e.g. Australia). After the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993, two independent countries were created: the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. While the latter regularly uses Slovakia as its abbreviated name, the Czech Republic has officially been using only its formal name. However, the standardization of the short name in Czech (“Česko”), incl. in the UN official languages, had already been completed in 1993.

The Czech Republic’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lubomír Zaorálek, is planning to put an end to distorting the country’s name in English (and some other languages, too) where many people use the incorrect names such as “Czech,” “Czecho,” “Czechland,” etc.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to submit the short name and its translation to the relevant UN databases. These databases are regularly used by nations, companies and individuals when in doubt about the correct name of a country.

The hope is that this step will overcome the problems faced with the distortion of the name and that the correct terms will dissolve into general knowledge.

Read More: The Embassy of The Czech Republic in Washington D.C.

Featured Image – The Embassy of The Czech Republic in Washington D.C.