Countries by Number of Letters
Countries with 16-Letter Names
| Number of Letters | Number of Countries | Countries |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 12 | Chad, Cuba, Fiji, Guam, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Mali, Niue, Oman, Peru, Togo |
| 5 | 26 | Aruba, Benin, Chile, China, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Haiti, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Libya, Macau, Malta, Nauru, Nepal, Niger, Palau, Qatar, Samoa, Spain, Sudan, Syria, Tonga, Yemen |
| 6 | 32 | Angola, Belize, Bhutan, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, France, Gambia, Greece, Guinea, Guyana, Israel, Jersey, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Malawi, Mexico, Monaco, Norway, Panama, Poland, Russia, Rwanda, Serbia, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, Tuvalu, Uganda, Zambia |
| 7 | 48 | Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Burundi, Comoros, Croatia, Curacao, Czechia, Denmark, DR Congo, Ecuador, Eritrea, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Grenada, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Jamaica, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Mayotte, Moldova, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nigeria, Reunion, Romania, Senegal, Somalia, Tokelau, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Vietnam |
| 8 | 28 | Anguilla, Barbados, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Colombia, Djibouti, Dominica, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Guernsey, Honduras, Hong Kong, Kiribati, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Zimbabwe |
| 9 | 16 | Argentina, Australia, Cape Verde, Costa Rica, Gibraltar, Greenland, Guatemala, Indonesia, Isle of Man, Lithuania, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Palestine, San Marino, Singapore, Venezuela |
| 10 | 25 | Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, El Salvador, Guadeloupe, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Martinique, Mauritania, Micronesia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozambique, New Zealand, North Korea, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Seychelles, South Korea, South Sudan, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Uzbekistan |
| 11 | 12 | Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Cook Islands, Netherlands, Philippines, Saint Martin, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Sint Maarten, South Africa, Switzerland, Vatican City |
| 12 | 6 | Faroe Islands, French Guiana, Guinea-Bissau, New Caledonia, Turkmenistan, United States |
| 13 | 5 | American Samoa, Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein, United Kingdom, Western Sahara |
| 14 | 3 | North Macedonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands |
| 15 | 5 | Falkland Islands, French Polynesia, Marshall Islands, Saint Barthelemy, Wallis and Futuna |
| 16 | 1 | Equatorial Guinea |
Country↑ | Official Name | UN Member | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Equatorial Guinea | Republic of Equatorial Guinea |
How Many 16 Letter Countries Are There?
Only 2 countries have 16 letters in their names: The Cayman Islands and Equatorial Guinea. However, the official name of Equatorial Guinea is actually Republic of Equatorial Guinea, making it a total of 26 letters.
Countries with 16 letters in their names are not common.
Most country names have fewer than 16 letters, but you’ll often find that the official, full names of countries are longer than their commonly-used, informal names.
Examples are countries like the UK (officially The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo), South Korea (Republic of Korea), and Lebanon (Republic of Lebanon).
Other countries with 16 or more letters can be found if you consider official and compound country names. We’ll look at a list of those below.
Examples of Long Country Names
Some countries are named with brevity in mind - Fiji, Peru, and Laos are great examples. Other countries are quite a mouthful and are much longer.
There are a couple of 16 letter countries, sure, but you’ll even find countries with names up to 48 letters long!
Take a look at some examples of countries with long names of 16 letters or more below.
16 letters: Equatorial Guinea, The Cayman Islands
17 letters: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago
18 letters: Saint Kitts and Nevis, Republic of the Congo, United Arab Emirates
19 letters: Bosnia and Herzegovina
28 letters: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
38 letters: Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe
41 letters: Independent and Sovereign Republic of Kiribati
48 letters: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Why Aren’t There More 16 Letter Countries?
With only 2 countries measuring up to 16 letters in their names, you might wonder why there are so few on the list.
The answer is pretty simple: Many countries have shorter names that tally up to fewer than 16 letters. But not all! Some countries have official names that are much longer than 16 letters (as you can see above).
If you were in charge of naming your own country, would you choose a name that’s short and easy to pronounce or one that’s longer and seems more official?
The varying letter number in country names makes it clear that throughout the world’s history, there have been people on both sides of this debate!
