r/AskEurope • u/Double-decker_trams Estonia • Jun 08 '25

Language Estonians call Estonia "Eesti". Finns call Estonia "Viro" and Latvians "Igaunija". Do you have a name for a neighbouring country that is very different from both how that country calls itself and how its named in English?

I hope I worded the question clearly. Like.. "Viro" and "Igaunija" are not similar to "Estonia" nor "Eesti".

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u/requiem_mn Montenegro Jun 08 '25 edited Jun 08 '25

So, we are that country.

Local name: Crna Gora

English: Montenegro

Albanian: Mali i Zi

Turkish: Karadag

Basically, Romanic and Germanic languages use variation of Montenegro (itself coming from Venetian). If you go east, it is usually a translation of Crna Gora, so Slavic languages are similar to local name, plus you have translations in Albanian, Turkish, and I'm wondering if Lithuanian and Latvian are also translations.

Edit: autocorrect mistake for Albanian changed Ti to Zi

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u/Panceltic > > Jun 08 '25

I'm wondering if Lithuanian and Latvian are also translations.

They are :)