Will India become Bharat? A look at other countries that changed their names and why

The Centre has called a special session of Parliament from 18 to 22 September – just days after the conclusion of the G20 in the National Capital – with no word about the agenda. Now, with Droupadi Murmu sending out a dinner invite to G20 leaders and chief ministers for 9 September with the nomenclature ‘President of Bharat’, it is little wonder then that the chatter about the Government of India possibly changing India’s name to Bharat continues to grow. But which other countries have changed their name? And why have they done so? Let’s take a closer look: Türkiye The latest example of a country changing its name is Türkiye (formerly Turkey). The United Nations agreed to heed the change in June 2022 after foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu sent a letter to the body formally requesting that his country be referred to as “Türkiye.” The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the push as part of a package to rebrand the nation and some negative connotations associated with the previous name.

Another reason the country gave is wanting to dissociate its name from the bird called Turkey.

The Netherlands The Dutch in 2019 decided to drop the name ‘Holland’ in favour of The Netherlands. According to the BBC, this was a marketing move aimed at rebranding its global image. As per The Guardian, the government wanted to refocus attention from among other things the country’s recreational drug culture and Amsterdam’s red-light district. The newspaper quoted a spokesperson as saying at the time that the move was done to increase exports, tourism, sport and spread “Dutch culture, norms and values”. “It has been agreed that the Netherlands, the official name of our country, should preferably be used,” the spokesperson added. North Macedonia Macedonia in 2019 changed its name to North Macedonia.

It was previously known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or FYROM.

This was done in return for Greece dropping its objections to its northern neighbour joining NATO to settle a nearly three-decade dispute. The country adopted the name Republic of Macedonia after it declared independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. It was recognised by more than 130 countries, but not by the United Nations, NATO or the European Union over Greece’s objections. Greece claimed the use of the term “Macedonia” usurped its own ancient heritage and implied territorial ambitions on its own northern province of the same name, birthplace of the ancient warrior king Alexander the Great. Eswatini The tiny African kingdom of Eswatini changed its name from Swaziland in 2018. As per QZ, this was done to shed the country of its colonial baggage as well as avoid confusion for some between Swaziland and Switzerland. The announcement was made by King Mswati III during the country’s 50th anniversary of independence – incidentally on his 50th birthday. Mswati at the time said many African countries upon independence “reverted to their ancient, native names.”

“We no longer shall be called Swaziland from today forward.”

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Czechia Nearly three decades ago, Czechoslovakia split into two nations – The Czech Republic and Slovakia. In 2016, Czechia officially changed its name from the Czech Republic in the United Nations. [caption id=“attachment_12464792” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Representational image. AP[/caption] Though The Czech Republic continues to widely used, the shorter “Czechia” is slowly catching on.

The name change was done for branding reasons.

“We are seeking to unify the presentation of our country abroad and at home after a long 30 years,” Deputy foreign minister Martin Dvorak, an advocate of “Czechia”, told AFP last September. “The current mess… in naming our country is the biggest obstacle to creating a ‘brand’. We want to change it,” Dvorak added. “We can see some diplomats are having a hard time getting used to it, but the trend is already clear.” But not everyone is a fan. In 2020, then Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš, being alerted that his country was known as Czechia in English during an interview with the Wall Street Journal, said, “I didn’t know this. I don’t like it at all.” The newspaper quoted him as saying that his country could be confused with Chechnya. “I don’t like this. We are [the] Czech Republic. We are Czechs. And I don’t know who came with such a stupid idea. Crazy,” Babiš added. Sri Lanka Sri Lanka changed its name from Ceylon in 1972. As per Britannica, this came courtesy of a new constitution that among other things changed the bicameral legislature to a unicameral body and replaced the governor-general – part of the British crown – as head of state with the president.

As per India Today, the move was made to break away with the country’s colonial past.

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It was only in 2011 that the country decided to change all the names of the institutions that had the former name Ceylon in favour of its current name, as per BBC. Thailand As per Indiatimes, Thailand was for centuries known as Siam. It officially changed its name to Thailand in 1939. This was done to counter colonial influence and reassert the country’s unity and identity, as per India Today. The country briefly reverted to its previous name from 1946 to 1948 – before changing it to the Kingdom of Thailand. Myanmar The country was previously known as Burma – after its dominant Burman ethnic group – for ages. Then, in 1988, the ruling junta brutally suppressed a pro-democracy uprising.

The next year, military leaders suddenly changed the country’s name to Myanmar.

According to India Today, this move was made ostensibly to legitimise the then ruling junta. At home, though, it changed nothing. In the Burmese language, “Myanmar” is simply the more formal version of “Burma.” The country’s name was changed only in English. Interestingly, the US still refuses to refer to the country as Myanmar. As per the outlet, this is due to alleged human rights abuses and assaults by the military on the democratic movements. The last two countries that the state department renamed following requests by their governments were North Macedonia and Eswatini. DR Congo In 1997, Zaire, the former the former Belgian Congo, decided it would change its name to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ruled by Belgium until 1960, it became the Republic of the Congo at independence. It was then renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1964 and yet again renamed Zaire by dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in 1971. The change came after the rule of Mobutu, who ruled Zaire for 32 years after seizing power in a 1965 coup, ended his reign in May 1997. The move was ostensibly made to turn the page from his regime. Iran Iran changed its name from Persia in 1935. [caption id=“attachment_13083362” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Iran changed its name from Persia in 1935. Reuters[/caption] The move was made by Reza Shah – an army officer who became Shah in 1925 after forcing out the previous Qajar dynasty with the backing of the British.

Shah ordered foreign diplomats to cease using the name Iran.

According to the website Al Majalla, Shah felt the name Persia was ‘too colonial, oriental, and demode.’ “It was linked in people’s mind with endless wars and crippling debt accumulated by the gross mismanagement of his predecessors, the Qajars. For him, ‘Persia’ spoke of the past, not of the future,” the website states. Cambodia According to Economic Times, Cambodia has changed its name on several occasions. Known as the Kingdom of Cambodia between 1953 and 1970, it then changed its name to the Khmer Republic. Then, from 1975 to 1979, it was called Democratic Kampuchea.

It was then known as the State of Cambodia from 1989 to 1993.

After its monarchy was restored in 1993, it once again became the Kingdom of Cambodia. Cabo Verde The West African island nation changed its name from Cape Verde to Cabo Verde in 2013. According to DW, its previous name was a partial Anglicization of the original Portuguese “cabo verde” – meaning green cape. The website quoted the then culture minister as saying the move was made as the country was seeking a ‘standardised name’ that had no need of translation. He said the hope was the Cabo Verde gives off positive connotations of sea, sun and happy citizens. Ireland Previously known as the Irish Free State, Ireland changed its name in 1937. This came when the country adopted a new constitution ratified by referendum and made “Ireland” a republic associated with the British Commonwealth. Zimbabwe Zimbabwe was previously known as Southern Rhodesia – a legacy of British colonialism. In 1964, the British changed Southern Rhodesia’s name to Rhodesia. The country gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1980 and changed its name to Zimbabwe. With inputs from agencies