I found this interesting: There are only four countries on Earth with a one-syllable name.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Can you name them without:

  1. Looking at a map
  2. Reading the replies
    or
  3. Clicking the spoiler box (in which I’ve included the answer)?

Think about it as long as you want and then reply with what you came up with.
Then click here to find out what four countries they are:

France, Spain, Greece, and Chad

2

France
Spain
Chad

Drawing a blank on the fourth…

ETA: (after looking at spoiler) ah, but of course

3

Burkina Faso?

4

Earth!

No…

Canada!

no…

España!

…

Dammit!

ETA: ::smack:: on France and Greece… I don’t think I would’ve gotten Chad. It’s late.

5

Closest I got was Guam, and it’s not a country. And the first three should have been easy.

6

Heh, Chad was the first and only one I thought of. It didn’t even occur to me to hit up Europe. :smack:

7

France, España, Hellas and Chad… I count only two!

8

I came up with 5:[ol]
[li]France[/li][li]Greece[/li][li]Wales[/li][li]Spain[/li][li]Laos[/ol]Although Wales may be a bit of a technicality.[/li]And I missed Chad. 6.

9

My first guess was Laos, wiki indicates that it’s officially the Lao People’s Democratic. But it brings up an interesting problem with the factoid, one-syllable name to whom?

10

Huh, is it “louse”, then? Because I’ve always pronounced it “La-O’s” (which, when I say it, is two syllables).

11

I’ve always heard it pronounced as “louse”, and Merriam-Webster’s little .wmv agrees with that.

12

Yes, when I saw Spain on the list, I immediately thought, “But to a spaniard, it’s Espana!” Perhaps it needs a qualifier, “The four countries on Earth with a one-syllable English name.” And I only got France and Chad.

13

Oh, and the source for this bit of trivia was a Bathroom Reader (in case anyone wondered). Copyright 2006.

14

The way many Hispanics pronounce English, Spain even has two syllables in English :slight_smile: (Es-páin)

15

Got it.

France
Spain
Greece
Chad

16

Following the rules of the OP, I’ve come up with France, Spain, Guam, and Wales. But Guam probably doesn’t count since it is a U.S. territory, and I’m not sure if Wales counts either as it is a part of the UK.

17

Eire

18

Oz

19

I also count Schweiz/Suisse and Miṣr, but it seems true that there aren’t a whole lot of them even in native forms.

20

Here’s how my thought process went:

Chad

Guam… except that’s a territory, isn’t it?

Laos: does that count as one syllable or two?

Hmmm… Spain! Yeah. Although, the English name is one syllable, but the “native language” name isn’t. Which kind of name did the OP have in mind? Would one-syllable names in other languages count?

Any other European countries? Oh yeah, France!

So, is that four yet. Lemme just look at the spoiler box and see how I did. … Oh yeah, Greece!