What's the procedure to change a nation's name? Who has done it already?
What makes a country change its name? What are the required formalities? Which countries have changed their names so far? The Federal answers all your questions here
The Indian government’s bid to rebrand the country’s name as ‘Bharat’ besides stirring a raging debate has also raised questions on the workings of the nomenclature process itself. What makes a country change its name? What are the required formalities? Which countries have changed their names so far? The Federal answers all your questions here:
Why do countries change names?
Border change/split: A country is likely to change its name if a new nation is carved out from it. For example, new names were assigned after Ireland split into Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (a part of UK); China into People’s Republic of China and Republic of China (Taiwan); Korea into Republic of Korea (South Korea) and Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea); and Cyprus into Republic of Cyprus and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Old is gold: Some countries go back to their old names. For instance Burma switched to its old name of Myanmar in 1989 and Zaire to Congo (a derivative of its old name Kikongo) in 1997.
Freedom from colonial shackles: Countries like Ghana, earlier named Gold Coast, underwent a name change to get rid of their colonial past. Burkina Faso also changed its name from Upper Volta in 1984. Closer home, in 1972, Celyon was renamed Sri Lanka after getting independence from British rule and becoming a republic.
Political motivation: Names of some countries have undergone change along with the change in governments. Cambodia is a classic example of this. It was renamed the Kingdom of Cambodia between 1953 and 1970 only to see it changed as Khmer Republic till 1975. In 1975, its name was changed again to Kampuchea under the communist government and remained so until 1979. It was again changed to the State of Cambodia between 1989 and 1993 under the UN authority before being renamed as Cambodia after the restoration of monarchy in 1993.
Similar names: A nation may also change its name if it is similar to another. Swaziland for instance changed its name to eSwatini as it was often confused with Switzerland.
Procedure to change name, cost of rebranding
Sources say there are no international rules regulating the change of names as it is the right of a sovereign state to choose its desired name.
A country, however, needs to introduce an amendment in its Constitution to effect the name change.
The message needs to be disseminated to embassies and the press. The new name has to be accepted by other nations with whom the said country has diplomatic ties as well as international bodies like the United Nations and intergovernmental bodies and military alliances like G20, SAARC, and NATO to assume wider recognition.
As seen historically, the rebranding exercise is often a costly affair. For instance, the name change for Swaziland, primarily an agrarian economy with its own set of economic challenges, to eSwatini cost the country a whopping $6 million.
Another issue is while a country can go ahead and change its name, another nation or a set of nations may not call it by that name. An example is Taiwan which goes by the name Republic of China and considers itself as a government in exile. The name, however, is recognised by only 12 UN member states while the People’s Republic of China or China as we know it, is recognised by the UN, its 180 member states.
Countries that have changed their names
Persia to Iran (1935)
Siam to Thailand (1939)
Democratic Kampuchea to Cambodia (several times between 1953 and 1993)
East Pakistan to Bangladesh (1971)
Burma to Myanmar (1989)
Holland to The Netherlands (2020)
Ceylon to Sri Lanka (2011)
Irish Free States to Ireland (1937)
Macedonia to North Macedonia (2019)
Swaziland to eSwatini (2018)
Rhodesia to Zimbabwe (1980)
Czech Republic to Czechia (2016)
Turkey to Turkiye (2022)
