Results: Altered Atlas: Countries That Changed Names

Abyssinia, an ancient African kingdom, became Ethiopia.

Burma, a country in Asia, was renamed Myanmar in 1989 by the military government.

Mesopotamia, the fertile plain between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, is now Iraq

The kingdom of Persia is now Iran.

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Rhodesia in Africa was named after Cecil Rhodes, an Englishman who encouraged European whites to settle in Africa. Today, Southern Rhodesia is Zimbabwe; Northern Rhodesia is Zambia.

Siam is now Thailand.

Tanganyika and Zanzibar, in Africa, united to become one country, Tanzania.

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St. Petersburg, Russia, was built by the Russian czar Peter the Great. Its name was changed to Petrograd and then to Leningrad. Lenin was the leader of the revolution that overthrew the Russian czars. In 1991 it was renamed St. Petersburg!

Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, became Ho Chi Minh City when the communists took over the country. Ho Chi Minh was a communist leader.

Peking, China, is now Beijing.

Constantinople was named after the Roman emperor Constantine. When the Turks captured the city, they renamed it Istanbul. Many people still called it Constantinople until 1930, when it officially became Istanbul.

Angora, the home of angora goats, became Ankara, the capital of Turkey.

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Cambodia has changed its name several times. Between 1953 and 1970, the country was renamed the Kingdom of Cambodia and then Khmer Republic till 1975. Under the communist rule from 1975 to 1979, it was referred to as Democratic Kampuchea. Under the UN transition authority from 1989 to 1993, it became the State of Cambodia. After the restoration of the monarchy in 1993, it was renamed the Kingdom of Cambodia.

The Central African country has undergone several name changes, right from the 1800s to the 1970s. Under the brutal rule of King Leopold II of Belgium, the country was knows as the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Subsequently, it became the Belgian Congo, then Congo-Leopoldville, and after its independence in 1960, the Republic of Congo. In 1971, under the dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko, it became the Republic of Zaire, since Zaire was an alternative name for the Congo River. After the fall of Mobutu, it was changed back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1997.

Sri Lanka has been known by several names over time. Under the British rule, Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon from 1815 to 1948. Ceylon is a transliteration of Ceilao, the country's name under the Portuguese who were the first colonial rulers. The name Sri Lanka was introduced during the push for independence in the early 20th century. It was used by the Marxist Lanka Sama Samaja Party while Sri was introduced by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. It officially adopted the name "The Republic of Sri Lanka" in 1972 and changed the name to "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka" in 1978.

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