You’re staring at a globe. Maybe you’re bored at your desk, or maybe you’re losing a pub quiz, but the question hits you: how many countries end in land? Most people blurt out "England" or "Scotland" immediately.
There’s a problem with that. Those aren't sovereign states.
If we are talking about independent, UN-recognized nations, the list is surprisingly short. It’s a tight club of ten. Just ten.
The Official Ten: Who Actually Made the Cut?
The world is messy. Geopolitics is even messier. To get a real answer, we have to look at the 193 member states of the United Nations. When you filter through that list, you find a specific group of nations where the English name terminates in those four specific letters.
1. Finland
High up in the north, Finland is often called the "Land of a Thousand Lakes." Interestingly, the Finns don't even call it Finland; they call it Suomi. The "land" suffix is a Germanic construction, likely referring to the Finns, the people who lived there. It’s a place of massive forests and some of the world's best education rankings.
2. Iceland
Sitting on a volcanic hotspot in the North Atlantic, Iceland is the only one on this list that feels like a literal description. It’s a land of ice. And fire. Legend says the Vikings named it Iceland to discourage people from coming, while they named the much icier Greenland something more inviting to trick settlers. Whether that's true or just a good story, Iceland remains one of the most geographically dramatic spots on the planet.
3. Ireland
The Emerald Isle. The name comes from Éire, an Old Irish word for a goddess, plus—you guessed it—land. It’s a country defined by its rolling greens and a history of diaspora. While it shares the island with Northern Ireland (part of the UK), the sovereign state is simply Ireland.
4. Poland
Located in Central Europe, Poland’s name is rooted in the West Slavic tribe of Polans. The name Polanie itself translates roughly to "people of the fields." So, Poland is quite literally the "land of the fields." It has some of the most resilient history in Europe, having been wiped off the map and reconstructed multiple times over the centuries.
5. Switzerland
The land of neutrality, watches, and mountains. This one is a bit of an outlier linguistically because it’s a Latin-based name (Confoederatio Helvetica) that we’ve anglicized. The "land" part comes from the Switzer people, specifically from the canton of Schwyz. It’s one of the few landlocked "land" countries.
6. Thailand
The only country on this list in Southeast Asia. Formerly known as Siam, it changed its name in 1939 (and again in 1949 after a brief revert). Thai means "free" in the local language, making Thailand the "Land of the Free." It’s a point of pride for them, especially since they were never formally colonized by European powers.
7. New Zealand
Way down in the South Pacific. It was named after the Dutch province of Zeeland by explorers. The Māori name, Aotearoa, translates to "Land of the Long White Cloud." It’s the youngest country on this list in terms of human habitation, with people only arriving about 700 to 800 years ago.
8. Swaziland (Wait, no...)
Here is where things get tricky. For decades, Swaziland was a staple of this list. But in 2018, King Mswati III changed the name to Eswatini. He wanted to shed the colonial-era name and also stop people from confusing his country with Switzerland. So, the count dropped by one.
👉 See also: 2900 Meters to Feet: The Math, the Thin Air, and What it Actually Feels Like
9. The Netherlands
This one counts, even though it’s plural. The name literally means "Lower Lands." Most of the country is at or below sea level, kept dry by a massive system of dikes and pumps. Don’t call it Holland. Holland is just a region within the Netherlands (containing Amsterdam and Rotterdam). Calling the whole country Holland is like calling the USA "Dakota."
10. Marshall Islands and Solomon Islands
These are two separate sovereign nations. They count because "land" is baked into the word "Islands."
Wait.
Does "Islands" count as "land"? Technically, the word "Islands" contains the word "land," but for most geographers, these are excluded from the "ends in land" trivia because the root word is island. However, if you are being a literalist about the spelling, you might try to argue it. Honestly? Most people stick to the singular "land" suffix.
If we stick to the singular, we have: Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Poland, Switzerland, Thailand, New Zealand, and the Netherlands (which is a stretch but usually included).
Why Do We Get This Wrong?
The confusion usually stems from the United Kingdom.
England. Scotland. Wales (wait, no). Northern Ireland.
These feel like countries. They have national soccer teams. They have flags. They have distinct cultures and languages. But in the eyes of the UN and international law, they are constituent parts of one sovereign state: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
✨ Don't miss: Country Code for Nicaragua: What Most People Get Wrong
You also have places like Greenland. Huge. Massive. Definitely ends in "land." But it’s an autonomous territory of Denmark. It’s not a country you’d find at a G20 summit or the UN General Assembly.
Then there are the "stans." In Persian, "-stan" means land. So, Kazakhstan is "Land of the Kazakhs." Uzbekistan is "Land of the Uzbeks." There are seven of them. If you translated their names into English literally, our list would grow to seventeen. But we don't translate them. We use the transliterated names.
The Forgotten Lands
There are historical remnants too.
Have you heard of Newfoundland? It’s part of Canada now, but it was once its own dominion.
What about Basutoland? That’s Lesotho now.
Bechuanaland? That’s Botswana.
Nyasaland? Malawi.
The British Empire was obsessed with naming things "something-land." As colonies gained independence, many chose to shed those names to reclaim their indigenous identity. This is why the list is so much shorter today than it would have been in 1920.
Mapping the Etymology
Why is this suffix so popular in English? It’s Proto-Germanic.
The word land meant "clearance" or "open space."
In most of these cases, the name follows a very simple formula: [Name of the People] + [Land].
- Finns + land = Finland.
- Poles + land = Poland.
- Switzers + land = Switzerland.
- Scots + land = Scotland (not sovereign).
It’s a functional, boring way to name a place. It’s basically a fence around a group of people.
The Mystery of "The Netherlands"
The Netherlands is the "Final Boss" of this trivia question.
Is it a "land" country?
It ends in the letters "l-a-n-d-s."
In almost every geography quiz, the Netherlands is accepted. But if you are a strict grammarian, it fails. It ends in "s."
If you’re at a bar and the question is "How many countries end in land?", and you say eight, you’re safe. If you say nine, you better be ready to argue about the pluralization of the Dutch.
What About the "Islands"?
Let’s look at the Solomon Islands and the Marshall Islands.
They are sovereign.
They are recognized.
But do they count?
Linguistically, "island" comes from the Middle English iland. It’s actually not related to the Latin insula (where we get "insulate"). The "s" was added later because people thought it was related to the French isle.
Even though "island" has "land" in it, it’s a different root. Usually, when people ask this question, they are looking for the suffix used as a standalone descriptor of a territory.
🔗 Read more: Federal Way WA Weather Explained (Simply)
Actionable Takeaways for Your Next Trivia Night
If you want to be the smartest person in the room regarding how many countries end in land, remember these rules:
- Stick to the UN List: Only 10 sovereign nations fit the bill if you're being generous with plurals and islands.
- Differentiate Sovereignty: England, Scotland, and Greenland are the "trap" answers. They are not independent countries.
- The Eswatini Update: If someone says Swaziland, correct them. It’s been Eswatini since 2018. This is the fastest way to prove you actually know your geography.
- The Translation Rule: Remind people that the "-stan" countries are linguistically identical to "land" countries, even if the spelling differs. It shows a deeper understanding of etymology.
The list is shrinking, not growing. As more nations look to move away from colonial naming conventions, we might see more "lands" disappear in favor of indigenous names. For now, keep your count at eight to ten, depending on how much you want to argue about the Netherlands and the Pacific Islands.
Next time you look at a map, don't just look at the borders. Look at the names. They tell you exactly who the Europeans thought lived there five hundred years ago.
Next Step: Take a look at your own ancestry or a map of your region and see if there are "hidden" lands—counties or provinces like Maryland or Jutland—that aren't sovereign but carry the same naming legacy.