The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #47235 Message #705145
Posted By: GUEST,Adolfo
06-May-02 - 08:00 AM
Thread Name: BS: countries that named themselves
Subject: RE: BS: countries that named themselves
Spain was first named by the Phoenicians, who called it "Land of Rabbits" in their language (something like "spanidja"). The name was kept by the Romans in the form of Hispania. The Greek had called it Iberia, which still accounts for the Peninsula (especially when talking about Spain and Portugal). I read somewhere that Deutsch/Dutch/(te)Desco and all those terms meant something like 'beyond' in clear reference to the 'people who lived beyond the Roman limes', particularly, the Rhein. Finally, in Spanish we say 'EEUU' when referring to the USA.