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Endonym and exonym

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An exonym is a name given to one set of people by another, different set of people, where the members of the first set do not use the name to refer to themselves. Any name given to a group of people in a language other than their own may be an exonym if the name is not phonetically identical in both languages.

The use of exonyms is usually ethnocentric and may sometimes amount to cultural imperialism.

List of Exonyms

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items.
Exonym Local name
Albanian Shqiptarë
Basque Euskaldunak
Chinese Zhongguo ren
Eskimo Inuit
Etruscan Rasenna
German Deutsch
Greek Έλληνας (Hellene)
Gypsy Rroma, Sinti
Hungarian Magyar
Lapps Sami
Vlach Armân (Aromanian)
Welsh Cymry

List of English exonyms for German toponyms

List of Exonyms

Exonym Creator
Byzantine Empire Hieronymus Wolf, popularized by Montesquieu
Sumeria Akkadians


List of Countries' Exonyms

Exonym Name
The Inca Tawantinsuyu ("Four Corners")
The Aztec Mexica or Tenochca
Canton Guangzhou (廣州) ("Expansive Prefecture")
Yucatan Yucatan means "I do not understand"
The Iroquois Haudenosaunee ("The League of Peace and Power")
The Byzantine Empire The Roman Empire
Sumeria Ki-en-gi ("Place of the Civilized Lords")
Sumerians Sag-gi-ga ("The Black-Headed People")
Armenia Hayastan ("the land of Haik"; see Armenia - Origin and history of the name)
Bhutan Druk Yul ("land of the dragon" in Dzongkha)
China Zhongguo (中國) ("Middle Kingdom")
Egypt Miṣr (مصر) in Arabic, Maṣr in Egyptian dialect; means "a country" or "a state"
Finland Suomi in Finnish, but Finland in Swedish
Georgia Sakartvelo
Germany Deutschland
Greece Ellás (Ελλάς)
Hungary Magyarország
India Bhārat in Hindi, but India is officially recognized too; see Origin of India's name
Japan Nippon / Nihon (日本, "The Sun's Origin"; see Nippon and Nihon)
Korea Chosŏn (Joseon)(조선 / 朝鮮) in North Korea and Hanguk (한국 / 韓國) in South Korea, but Goryeo (고려 / 高麗), the source of Korea, is used as neutral name for Korea; see Names of Korea
Maldives Dhivehi raajj'e ; ("The Islands of Dhivehi People" in Dhivehi language; see History of Maldives)
Montenegro Crna Gora / Црна Гора ("black mountain" in Serbian; see History of Montenegro - Etymology)
Morocco al-Maghrib ("The West" in Arabic; see also Maghrib and Maghreb)
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