Puneet Varma (Editor)

Norwegian exonyms

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As a general rule, modern Norwegian does not use exonyms for names with endonyms in Latin script. Historically, several Danish/German exonyms have been in use, due to the Danish roots of the Bokmål variety of Norwegian, but these exonyms should be considered archaic, and are no longer used officially.

Contents

Below is list of Norwegian language exonyms for places outside of Norway :

Albania

  • Shqipëria Albania
  • Tiranë Tirana (not really an exonym, this is the definite form of the name in Albanian)
  • Austria

  • Österreich Østerrike (translated from the German name)
  • Tirol Tyrol (Tirol is recommended, but the form Tyrol is resistant because the name of the musical Sommer i Tyrol and the word tyrolerhatt)
  • Belarus

  • Belarus Hviterussland (lit. "White Russia", which the names of the country means in various languages, including English)
  • Belgium

  • België/Belgique Belgia
  • Brussel-Bruxelles (The forms Brussel or Bruxelles are recommended - but the German form Brüssel (which actually is an official language of Belgium) is in common use)
  • Cameroon

  • Cameroon Kamerun
  • Croatia

  • Hrvatska Kroatia
  • Cuba

  • Habana Havanna
  • Czech Republic

  • Česká republika Tsjekkia
  • Praha Prag (archaic, German exonym)
  • Estonia

  • Eesti Estland
  • Finland

    Until quite recently, most people tended to use the official Swedish names in Norwegian. The Swedish names are not exonyms, since both Finnish and Swedish are official languages in Finland, with many towns, cities and regions having two, often very different, official names. In recent years, however, the use of Finnish place names have gained some popularity in Norwegian.

    France

  • France Frankrike
  • Corse Corsica
  • La Seine Seinen
  • Germany

  • Deutschland Tyskland
  • Rhein Rhinen
  • Stralsund Stræla (archaic)
  • Great Britain

  • Great Britain Storbritannia
  • United Kingdom Storbritannia og Nord-Irland
  • Thames Themsen
  • Scotland Skottland
  • Greece

  • Ellada Hellas
  • Athina Athen/Aten
  • Kerkyra Korfu
  • Korinthos Korint/Korinth
  • Kriti Kreta
  • Pireás Pireus
  • Rodos Rhodos
  • Hungary

  • Magyarország Ungarn
  • Ireland

  • Éire/Ireland Irland
  • Israel / Palestine

  • Jerusalem / Al-Quds Jorsal (archaic, Norse exonym)
  • Italy

  • Italia Italia
  • Firenze Florens (archaic, German exonym)
  • Genova Genua (archaic, German exonym)
  • Napoli Neapel (archaic, German exonym)
  • Padova Padua (archaic, German exonym)
  • Roma Rom (archaic, German exonym)
  • Sardegna Sardinia
  • Siracusa Syrakus (archaic, German exonym)
  • Ivory Coast

  • Côte d'Ivoire Elfenbenskysten
  • Lithuania

  • Lietuva Litauen
  • Vilnius Vilna (archaic, German exonym)
  • Livonia

  • Latvija Latvia
  • Montenegro

  • Crna Gora Montenegro
  • Netherlands

  • Nederland Nederland
  • Den Haag Haag
  • Philippines

  • Philippines Filippinene
  • Poland

  • Polska Polen
  • Kraków Krakau (archaic, German exonym)
  • Szczecin Stettin (archaic, German exonym)
  • Portugal

  • Açores Azorene
  • Russia

  • Rossija Russland
  • Sankt Peterburg Sankt Petersburg
  • Novgorod Holmgard (archaic, Norse exonym)
  • Serbia

  • Srbija Serbia
  • Slovakia

  • Slovensko Slovakia
  • Slovenia

  • Slovenija Slovenia
  • South Africa

  • South Africa Sør-Afrika
  • Cape Town / Kaapstad / iKapa Kappstaden (archaic - commonly Cape Town)
  • Spain

  • España Spania
  • Sweden

    Newspapers in Norway often, but absolutely not always, write all ä as æ and all ö as ø, probably because ä and ö were historically lacking on Norwegian typewriters. For example: Göteborg (Gothenburg) is in Norway written Göteborg or Gøteborg.

    Switzerland

  • Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Sveits
  • Turkey

  • Türkiye Tyrkia
  • Istanbul Miklagard (archaic, Norse exonym)
  • References

    Norwegian exonyms Wikipedia