# Why is South Africa abbreviated ZA? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 14, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460 "2017-12-14T01:42:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/1 "2017-12-14T01:42:16Z")
I just saw a reference to somebody being born in Johannesburg, ZA, which confused me. I knew there was a major city called Johannesburg in South Africa but I didn’t think South Africa would be abbreviated as ZA. So I goggled around. I found there is not a Johannesburg in Zambia or Zimbabwe or Zanzibar. And I found that South Africa is in fact abbreviated ZA. It’s from the Dutch spelling Zuid-Afrika. Which… still doesn’t make a lot of sense. South Africa has eleven official languages and Dutch is not one of them. (In case you’re wondering the name of the country in Afrikaans is Suid-Afrika.) So why did South Africa become ZA back in 1974 when they were handing out the abbreviations? Was it seen as an easy way to avoid a conflict with Saudi Arabia (the country that got SA)? ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/2 "2017-12-14T02:04:43Z")
Zuid-Afrika Dutch for South Africa ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/3 "2017-12-14T02:06:11Z")
and yes, it would conflict with saudi arabia ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/4 "2017-12-14T02:08:53Z")
And ZAF is its 3-letter abbreviation, for ISO 3166. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/5 "2017-12-14T02:10:52Z")
The countries whose abbreviations differ from their English name are interesting, e.g., DE, DEU: Germany CH, CHE: Switzerland HR, HRV: Croatia > **[ISO 3166-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1)** > > ISO 3166-1 (Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 1: Country codes) is a standard defining codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. It is the first part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization. > It defines three sets of country codes: > The alphabetic country codes were first included in ISO 3166 in 1974, and the numeric country codes were first in... ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/6 "2017-12-14T02:20:17Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > The countries whose abbreviations differ from their English name are interesting, e.g., > > DE, DEU: Germany > CH, CHE: Switzerland > HR, HRV: Croatia > [ISO 3166-1 - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1) it makes sense if you don’t expect country names to be isolingual. Germany: _Bundesrepublik Deutschland_ DE Switzerland: _Confoederatio Helvetica_ CH Croatia: _Republika Hrvatska_ HR ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/7 "2017-12-14T02:35:08Z")
Yes I’m aware what they stand for. It’s interesting from an English language perspective, like ZA is. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/8 "2017-12-14T03:18:05Z")
Are there any other countries that had their name abbreviated in a language that wasn’t either English or their country’s language? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/9 "2017-12-14T03:19:09Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > and yes, it would conflict with saudi arabia Was that actually an issue that was raised in 1974? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/10 "2017-12-14T03:23:21Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Which… still doesn’t make a lot of sense. South Africa has eleven official languages and Dutch is not one of them. (In case you’re wondering the name of the country in Afrikaans is Suid-Afrika.) Dutch is not an official language of South Africa, but it used to be. I believe the “ZA” code was assigned to South Africa (as an international licence plate identifier) in the 1920s, when Dutch was still an official language. SA, which would be the obvious abbreviation based on the country’s name in Afrikaans or English, was already in use (as a code for the Saarland, then under League of Nations administration) so they went with ZA. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/11 "2017-12-14T03:54:35Z")
Dutch was an official language of South Africa from 1909 to 1983. As of 1925, “Dutch” included Afrikaans. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/12 "2017-12-14T04:25:11Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Are there any other countries that had their name abbreviated in a language that wasn’t either English or their country’s language? Well, Switzerland has already been mentioned; the “CH” code abbreviation is from Latin. Ethiopia used AOI (“Africa Orientale Italiana”) for a couple of decades after it ceased to be occupied or run by Italy. “GRO” for Greenland is based on Danish; the official language is Greenlandic. “MA” for Morocco comes from French; the official languages are Arabic and Berber. “SMOM” is used on vehicles licensed by the Order of Malta; it’s from the English name of the Order, although the official language is Latin and the working language is Italian. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/13 "2017-12-14T05:03:55Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Are there any other countries that had their name abbreviated in a language that wasn’t either English or their country’s language? There is TCD: Chad [note: République du Tchad (French)] I posted a list in the trivia game thread, [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20169030&postcount=34658](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20169030&postcount=34658) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/14 "2017-12-14T05:38:15Z")
I have to wonder if the Magyars are either peevish or bemused by what the rest of the world calls them and their country. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/15 "2017-12-14T06:05:21Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I have to wonder if the Magyars are either peevish or bemused by what the rest of the world calls them and their country. Not that I could tell. They are more than familiar with their Latin name Hungaria. There’s even roads in Budapest named after it (a big section of the large ring road is named Hungária körút) and it shows up in business names. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/16 "2017-12-14T08:11:31Z")
In English I’ve never seen ZA for South Africa. RSA would be far more common (Republc of South Africa) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/17 "2017-12-14T08:22:52Z")
A few more come to mind: DZ = Algeria, from the Berber name Al-dzayer, the etymology of its modern name . Also ES = Spain (Espana); Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania were originally EAK, EAU and EAT, for “East Africa xxx” Jordan used to be HKJ, for Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. There are so many countries beginning with C, and very few with R, Republica de Chile uses RCH ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/18 "2017-12-14T10:38:39Z")
The Dutch/Afrikaans spelling for South Africa used to be “Zuid Afrika”, as you can see on [this 1910 postage stamp](http://catalogue.klaseboer.com/vol1/html/s_afr/s_afr1.jpg). Nowadays it is “Suid-Afrika”. I’m not sure when that changed, exactly, but perhaps a South African would know. [This site](http://www.statoids.com/uza.html) says “On 1910-05-31, they united to form the Union of South Africa (Afrikaans: Unie van Zuid-Afrika, but the Afrikaans spelling was changed from Zuid to Suid a few years later).” ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/19 "2017-12-14T10:43:48Z")
[Wikipedia:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Afrikaans_and_Dutch) > [@](#): > > As a result of Afrikaans merging Dutch consonants ⟨z⟩ and ⟨s⟩ to a single sound [s], spelt ⟨s⟩, the use of ⟨z⟩ in Afrikaans is confined to words of non-Dutch origin, such as Zoeloe (“Zulu”) and zero, or country names like Zambië (“Zambia”), while use of ⟨z⟩ is preserved only in Dutch place names in South Africa like Zonnebloem and Zeerust. > > However, although Suid-Afrika (“South Africa”) is used in Afrikaans rather than Zuid-Afrika as in Dutch, South Africa adopted “ZA” as its international vehicle registration code in 1936, which later became the country’s ISO country code, with .za becoming the country’s internet domain. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460/20 "2017-12-14T15:18:53Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I have to wonder if the Magyars are either peevish or bemused by what the rest of the world calls them and their country. It’s true that you’re not yourself when you’re Hungary. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-south-africa-abbreviated-za/804460.md?page=2)