How to Say the Countries of the World in French

World Geography and French in One Simple Language Lesson

A teacher oversees students pointing out countries on a world map
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Learning the French names for countries is relatively easy if you are already familiar with the name in English. In most instances, the translation is as simple as attaching something like -ique or -ie to the end of the name. That means that this a very easy French lesson which students of any level can learn.

Les Pays en Français

Below is a list of virtually all of the countries in the world, organized alphabetically from English to French. As you study geography in the French language, you will find it useful to learn how to speak about the countries and be able to use them in sentences.

Remember that you need to use a definite article (the "the," such as le or la) for countries. Some of the countries do not have a definite article because they are islands. Articles are normally not used with islands.

You will also need to know the gender of the country in order to use it in a preposition. Nearly all countries that end in -e are feminine, and the rest are masculine. There are just a few exceptions:

  • le Belize
  • le Cambodge
  • le Mexique
  • le Mozambique
  • le Zaïre
  • le Zimbabwe

In those cases and for countries that use l' as the definitive article, the gender is indicated next to the name.

English French
Afghanistan l'Afghanistan (m)
Albania l'Albanie (f)
Algeria l'Algérie (f)
Andorra l'Andorre (f)
Angola l'Angola (m)
Antigua and Barbuda l'Antigua-et-Barbuda (f)
Argentina l'Argentine (f)
Armenia l'Arménie (f)
Australia l'Australie (f)
Austria l'Autriche (f)
Azerbaijan l'Azerbaïdjan (m)
Bahamas les Bahamas (f)
Bahrain le Bahreïn
Bangladesh le Bangladesh
Barbados la Barbade
Belarus la Biélorussie
Belau Belau
Belgium la Belgique
Belize le Belize (m)
Benin le Bénin
Bhutan le Bhoutan
Bolivia la Bolivie
Bosnia la Bosnie-Herzégovine
Botswana le Botswana
Brazil le Brésil
Brunei le Brunéi
Bulgaria la Bulgarie
Burkina-Faso le Burkina
Burma la Birmanie
Burundi le Burundi
Cambodia le Cambodge (m)
Cameroon le Cameroun
Canada (learn the provinces) le Canada
Cape Verde Island le Cap-Vert
Central African Republic la République centrafricaine
Chad le Tchad
Chile le Chili
China la Chine
Colombia la Colombie
Comoro Islands les Comores (f)
Congo le Congo
Cook Islands les Îles Cook
Costa Rica le Costa Rica
Côte d'Ivoire la Côte d'Ivoire
Croatia la Croatie
Cuba Cuba
Cyprus Chypre (f)
Czech Republic la République tchèque
Denmark le Danemark
Djibouti le Djibouti
Dominica la Dominique
Dominican Republic la République dominicaine
Ecuador l'Équateur (m)
Egypt l'Égypte (f)
El Salvador le Salvador
England l'Angleterre (f)
Equatorial Guinea la Guinée équatoriale
Eritrea l'Érythrée (f)
Estonia l'Estonie (f)
Ethiopia l'Éthiopie (f)
Fiji les Fidji (f)
Finland la Finlande
France (learn the regions) la France
French Polynesia la Polynésie française
Gabon le Gabon
Gambia la Gambie
Georgia la Géorgie
Germany l'Allemagne (f)
Ghana le Ghana
Greece la Grèce
Grenada la Grenade
Guatemala le Guatemala
Guinea la Guinée
Guinea Bissau la Guinée-Bissao
Guyana la Guyana
Haiti Haïti
Honduras le Honduras
Hungary la Hongrie
Iceland l'Islande (f)
India l'Inde (f)
Indonesia l'Indonésie (f)
Iran l'Iran (m)
Iraq l'Irak (m)
Ireland l'Irlande (f)
Israel Israël (m)
Italy l'Italie (f)
Jamaica la Jamaïque
Japan le Japon
Jordan la Jordanie
Kazakhstan le Kazakhstan
Kenya le Kenya
Kiribati Kiribati (f)
Kuwait le Koweït
Kyrgyzstan le Kirghizstan
Laos le Laos
Latvia la Lettonie
Lebanon le Liban
Lesotho le Lesotho
Liberia le Libéria
Libya la Libye
Liechtenstein le Liechtenstein
Lithuania la Lituanie
Luxembourg le Luxembourg
Macedonia la Macédoine
Madagascar Madagascar (m)
Malawi le Malawi
Malaysia la Malaisie
Maldives les Maldives (f)
Mali le Mali
Malta Malte (f)
Marshall Islands les Îles Marshall
Mauritania la Mauritanie
Mauritius Île Maurice (f)
Mexico le Mexique (m)
Micronesia la Micronésie
Moldavia la Moldavie
Monaco Monaco
Mongolia la Mongolie
Montenegro le Monténégro
Morocco le Maroc
Mozambique le Mozambique
Namibia la Namibie
Nauru la Nauru
Nepal le Népal
Netherlands les Pays-Bas
New Zealand la Nouvelle-Zélande
Nicaragua le Nicaragua
Nieu Nioué
Niger le Niger
Nigeria le Nigéria
North Korea la Corée du Nord
Northern Ireland l'Irelande du Nord (f)
Norway la Norvège
Oman l'Oman (m)
Pakistan le Pakistan
Panama le Panama
Papua New Guinea la Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée
Paraguay le Paraguay
Peru le Pérou
Philippines les Philippines (f)
Poland la Pologne
Portugal le Portugal
Qatar le Qatar
Romania la Roumanie
Russia la Russie
Rwanda le Rwanda
Saint Kitts-Nevis Saint-Christophe-et-Niévès (m)
Saint Lucia Sainte-Lucie
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint-Vincent-et-les-Grenadines
San Marino Saint-Marin
Sao Tomé and Principe Sao Tomé et Principe (m)
Saudi Arabia l'Arabie saoudite (f)
Scotland l'Écosse (f)
Senegal le Sénégal
Serbia la Serbie
Seychelles les Seychelles (f)
Sierra Leone la Sierra Leone
Slovakia la Slovaquie
Slovenia la Slovénie
Soloman Islands les Îles Salomon
Somalia la Somalie
South Africa l'Afrique du Sud (f)
South Korea la Corée du Sud
Spain l'Espagne (f)
Sri Lanka le Sri Lanka
Sudan le Soudan
Surinam le Surinam
Swaziland le Swaziland
Sweden la Suède
Switzerland la Suisse
Syria la Syrie
Tajikistan le Tadjikistan
Tanzania la Tanzanie
Thailand la Thaïlande
Togo le Togo
Tonga les Tonga (f)
Trinidad and Tobago la Trinité-et-Tobago
Tunisia la Tunisie
Turkey la Turquie
Turkmenistan le Turkménistan
Tuvalu le Tuvalu
Uganda l'Ouganda (m)
Ukraine l'Ukraine (f)
United Arab Emirates les Émirats arabes unis (m)
United Kingdom le Royaume-Uni
United States (learn the states) les États-Unis (m)
Uruguay l'Uruguay (m)
Uzbekistan l'Ouzbékistan (m)
Vanuatu le Vanuatu
Vatican le Vatican
Venezuela le Venezuela
Vietnam le Viêt-Nam
Wales le pays de Galles
Western Samoa les Samoa occidentales
Yemen le Yémen
Yugoslavia la Yougoslavie
Zaire (Congo) le Zaïre (m)
Zambia la Zambie
Zimbabwe le Zimbabwe (m)
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Team, ThoughtCo. "How to Say the Countries of the World in French." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/say-countries-of-world-in-french-4080349. Team, ThoughtCo. (2023, April 5). How to Say the Countries of the World in French. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/say-countries-of-world-in-french-4080349 Team, ThoughtCo. "How to Say the Countries of the World in French." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/say-countries-of-world-in-french-4080349 (accessed March 28, 2024).