Names of countries in French
French words for different countries
Le pays : The country
Les pays : The countries
As in many languages, countries do not have the same name in a foreign
language. Below is a list of many country names to help you learn French.
| French | English |
|---|---|
|
L’Algérie |
Algeria |
The continents
| French | English |
|---|---|
| L’Amérique | America |
| L’Asie | Asia |
| L’Afrique | Africa |
| L’Europe | Europe |
| L’Océanie | Oceania |
Your browser does not support the audio element.
Click on the play button. Listen to the names of the continents in French, try and repeat each yime. Continue repeating until you feel you can copy the sounds without hesitating.
The world regions
| French | English |
|---|---|
|
Le moyen orient |
The Middle East |
Comments
Le Pays can also mean the region, the locality or the home town.
In English, most country names have the article removed,
whereas in French the article is generally present.
Useful French Phrase
Pierre va en Allemagne
Pierre goes to Germany
Elle va en Italie
She goes to Itlay
Jean habite au Portugal
Jean lives in Portugal
Annie est née en France
Annie is born in France
David travaille en Suisse
David works in Switzerland
Also…
Maps of France,
Today we’ll go through French vocabulary related to countries and nationalities. This article will help you properly introduce yourself and talk about nationalities and countries in French.
Some Quick Reminders
Here are some other things to consider when talking about continents, countries, and nationalities in the French language.
- First, it’s quite easy because the French word for each nationality is directly derived from the name of the country or continent and these are mostly cognates. For example, in English, we would refer to someone living in Canada a Canadian. In French someone who lives in Canada would be referred to as “Canadien(ne).”
- The second thing you’ll notice is that there are masculine and feminine adjectives used for both countries and continents. But some countries have one word to refer to both masculine or feminine.
- The final thing to note is that when you are writing these nationalities out in French, you’ll need to capitalize the proper noun, but never the adjective. For example, writing out Asian in French would be capitalized, but if you were referring to a type of Asian, it’s lower case.
With these in mind, here is a table for the continents and each nationality in French:
French Vocabulary: The Continents
| English | French | Nationality |
| Africa | Afrique (Ah-freek) | Africain(e) |
| Antarctica | Antarctique (an-tar-tik) | |
| Asia | Asie (ah-zee) | Asiatique |
| Australia | Australie (os-tra-li) | Australien(ne) |
| Europe | Europe (ö-rop) | Européen(ne) |
| North America | Amérique du Nord (Ah-may-reek du nord) | Nord-Américan(e) |
| South America | Amérique du Sud (Ah-may-reek du sud) | Sud-Américain(e) |
While some people argue that there are only five or six continents, getting all seven is easier for learning. What’s also worth noting is Antarctica doesn’t have a specific nationality associated with them.
If you ever need to refer to those living in Antarctica you can always say “les gens qui vivent en antarctique” (people who live in Antarctica.)
In other instances, conversations can go much like this:
John: “Bonjour Mari, comment se passent tes vacances? Où êtes-vous allé.”
Hi Mari, how is your vacation going? Where did you go?”
Mari: “Salut John! Je suis allé en Australie. Les australiens ici sont tres gentille.”
Hi John! I went to Australia. The Australians here are very kind.
French Vocabulary: Countries & Nationalities
While the list of continents is short, the list of countries is extensive and tough to cover in a single post. To put it in perspective not only do the countries have specific nationalities but even particular cities have nationalities.
This list by no means cover all but we tried to include the more popular countries and their nationalities. With this in mind, remember that whatever nationalities you hear outside of this list have the same rules applied to them as I mentioned above.
Let’s learn the countries in French as well as the corresponding nationalities in French!
| English | French | Nationality |
| Algeria | Algérie | Algérien(ne) |
| Belgium | Belgique | Belge |
| Brazil | Brésil | Brésilien |
| Canada | Canada | Canadien(ne) |
| China | Chine | Chinois(e) |
| Egypt | Egypte | Egyptien(ne) |
| England | Angleterre | Anglais(e) |
| France | France | Français(e) |
| Germany | Allemagne | Allemand(e) |
| India | Inde | Indien(ne) |
| Ireland | Irlande | Irlandais(e) |
| Italy | Italie | Italien(ne) |
| Japan | Japon | Japonais(e) |
| Mexico | Mexique | Mexicain(e) |
| Netherlands | Pays-Bas | Néerlandais(e) |
| Poland | Pologne | Polonais(e) |
| Portugal | Portugal | Portugais(e) |
| Russia | Russie | Russe |
| Spain | Espagne | Espagnol(e) |
| Switzerland | Suisse | Suisse |
| United States | États Unis | Américain(e) |
We’ve also included a sample dialogue below.
Johann: “Bonjour Elizabeth, ravie de vous rencontrer. Je viens d’Allemagne, d’où venez-vous?”
Hello Elizabeth, great to meet you. I’m from Germany, where are you from?
Elizabeth: “Salut Johann, je suis ravi de vous rencontrer aussi. Je viens du Mexique. Qu’est-ce qui vous a amené ici pour étudier en Espagne?”
Hi Johann, it’s nice to meet you too. I came from Mexico. What brought you here to study in Spain?
Johann:
“Je suis venu ici parce que beaucoup de mes amis suisses m’ont recommandé d’étudier ici. Je voyage beaucoup comme vous pouvez le voir.” I came here because many of my Swiss friends recommended I study here. I travel quite a lot as you can tell.
Elizabeth:
“Oh wow! J’ai toujours voulu aller en Suisse. De toute façon, il semble que vos amis avaient raison. Cet endroit est agréable à vivre et j’adore la ville aussi!”
Oh wow! I’ve always wanted to go to Switzerland. Either way, it seems like your friends were right. This place is nice to be and I love the town too!
Conclusion
Nationalities and countries are bound to come up sometime during conversations. Make sure you’re equipped with the right words to say it.
Where are you from and how would you introduce yourself and your nationality in French? Share with us in the comments below!
Simon Jakubowski / EyeEm / Getty Images
Using the names of countries around the world is fairly easy if you have memorized them. This is an easy vocabulary lesson because the French names are very similar to what you are used to saying in English. The only tricky part is making sure you use the correct prepositions, which change with the gender of the country or continent you’re discussing.
Beyond the country name itself, we will learn the word describing the nationality of a country’s residents and the names of the primary languages spoken. Plus, we will review the names for the world’s continents.
Note that the additional letters required to make nationalities and adjectives feminine are indicated in parentheses after the relevant words. Finally, wherever you see a little speaker after a name, you can click on it and hear the word pronounced.
The Continents (Les Continents)
There are the seven continents of the world; seven is the prevailing convention at present, while some countries list six continents and others, five.
Notice the similarities between the English and French names. The adjectives are very similar and can be used to describe the residents of each continent.
| Continent | In French | Adjective |
|---|---|---|
| Africa | Afrique | Africain(e) |
| Antarctica | Antarctique | |
| Asia | Asie | Asiatique |
| Australia | Australie | Australien(ne) |
| Europe | Europe | Européen(ne) |
| North America | Amérique du Nord | Nord-Américain(e) |
| South America | Amérique du Sud | Sud-Américain(e) |
Languages and Nationalities (Les Langues et Les Nationalités)
It would be a very long list if we were to include every country in the world, so only a small selection is included in this lesson. It is designed to give you an idea of how countries, nationalities, and languages are translated between English and French; it’s intended as an indicative list, not a comprehensive list of countries. That said, we do have a comprehensive list of the French names for the world’s countries elsewhere, which you do well to review.
For nationalities, the proper noun and adjective are exactly the same, except the proper noun is capitalized, while the adjective is not capitalized. Thus: un Américain but un type américain.
You will also note that the masculine adjective for many of these countries is spelled and pronounced just like the languages.
Only the primary languages for each country are included in the list, though many countries have citizens who speak many languages. Also, note that the names of the languages are always masculine and are not capitalized.
| Country Name | Name In French | Nationality | Language(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algeria | Algérie | Algérien(ne) | l’arabe, le français |
| Australia | Australie | Australien(ne) | l’anglais |
| Belgium | Belgique | Belge | le flamand, le français |
| Brazil | Brésil | Brésilien(ne) | le portugais |
| Canada | Canada | Canadien(ne) | le français, l’anglais |
| China | Chine | Chinois(e) | le chinois |
| Egypt | Egypte | Égyptien(ne) | l’arabe |
| England | Angleterre | Anglais(e) | l’anglais |
| France | France | Français(e) | le français |
| Germany | Allemagne | Allemand(e) | l’allemand |
| India | Inde | Indien(ne) | l’hindi (plus many others) |
| Ireland | Irlande | Irlandais(e) | l’anglais, l’irlandais |
| Italy | Italie | Italien(ne) | l’italien |
| Japan | Japon | Japonais(e) | le japonais |
| Mexico | Mexique | Mexicain(e) | l’espagnol |
| Morocco | Maroc | Marocain(e) | l’arabe, le français |
| Netherlands | Pays-Bas | Néerlandais(e) | le néerlandais |
| Poland | Pologne | Polonais(e) | le polonais |
| Portugal | Portugal | Portugais(e) | le portugais |
| Russia | Russie | Russe | le russe |
| Senegal | Sénégal | Sénégalais(e) | le français |
| Spain | Espagne | Espagnol(e) | l’espagnol |
| Switzerland | Suisse | Suisse | l’allemand, le français, l’italien |
| United States | United Stats | Américain(e) | l’anglais |
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Names for countries, nationalities and languages in French are not complicated but require the knowledge of a few guidelines and rules. This page provides tables with vocabulary of names for over one hundred countries with corresponding language and nationality adjectives.
Many of my students have done very well with their French learning by doing an online course. I have known Camille at Frenchtoday.com for many years and lover her material.
Her main French course is called À Moi Paris. Many students have also gotten off a good start using Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur. On this pages you can read my honest review Rosetta Stone French and Pimsleur French.
Notes on names of countries, nationalities and languages
Country names have a gender
There are two key aspects to note about the names of countries in French. Firstly, all countries are preceded by the definite article (le, la, les).
Hence, France is la France and Canada is le Canada.
The second point to know is that most feminine countries end in the letter -e while masculine counties end in other letters.
For example, la Suisse (Switzerland) and le Bésil (Brazil). There are exceptions, however. Le Mexique (Mexico) ends in an -e and is masculine.
There are few countries which do not take a direct article. These tend to be island nations: Singapour (Singapore) and Cuba and Haïti (Haiti).
If you want to say, “I’m going to + masculine country”, use the preposition au. For example, Je vais au Canada (I’m going to Canada).
If you want to say “I’m going to + feminine country”, use the preposition en. For example, Je vais en France (I’m going to France).
If you want to say, “I’m going to + plural country”, use the preposition aux. For example, Je vais aux États-Unis.
Nationalities follow adjective rules
Nationalities are adjectives and follow the agreement rules for adjectives. This page covers French adjective agreement rules extensively.
If a nationality ends in a consonant, simply add an -e to make it feminine. For example, americain/americaine (American) and allemand/allemande (German).
If the masculine form of an nationality ends in -e, the feminine form is the same. Some examples are belge (Belgian), russe (Russian) and suisse (Swiss).
Many nationalities which end in -ien in the masculine form end in -ienne in the feminine form. Examples are vietnamien/vietnamienne (Vietnamese), italien/italienne (Italian) and indien/indienne (Indian).
Some nationalities have completely different forms in the masculine and feminine forms. For example, grec/greque (Greek).
There is one more aspect to note about nationalities. The French write nationalities when used as an adjective in the lower case.
For example, un homme français (a French man) or un homme anglais (an English man). However, when using the nationality of the form of a noun, the French use the upper case. For example: un Français (a Frenchman) or un Anglais (an Englishman).
Language names are based on the masculine adjective
The names of langauges are almost always the masculine form of the adjective associated with the country’s nationality.
For example, the adjective for English in the masculine form is anglais. Hence, l’anglais is name of the English language.
The same applies to French. Français is the masculine form of the adjective for the nationality. Hence, the name of the langue is le français.
The French write names of languages with in the lower case. There are a few exceptions to this guideline where the names of languages differ from the country’s nationality adjective in the masculine form.
Exceptions:
- la tagalog: official Filipino language; nationality adjective: philippin/philippine
- le thaï: language of Thailand; nationality adjectives: thaïlandais/thaïlandaise
- le khmer: Cambodian language; nationality adjectives: cambodgien, cambodgienne
- le ourdu: language of Pakistan; nationality adjectives: pakistanais/pakistanaise
Continents
The continents in French are all feminine. Adjectives for continents are also included in the table below. In English, one can say Latin American in addition to South American.
In French, Latin American is latino-américain in the masculine form and latino-américaine in the feminine form.
Note that Australia is both a country and a continent. On the countries and languages section below I’ve included it in the Asian table.
| English | French | Adejctive |
| Africa | l’Afrique | africain(e) |
| North America | l’Amérique du Nord | nord-américain(e) |
| South America | l’Amérique du Sud | sud-américain(e) |
| Europe | l’Europe | européen(ne) |
| Asia | l’Asie | asiatique |
| Australia | l’Australie | australien(ne) |
North & Central America
The following are country names, nationalities and languages for countries in North America and Central American.
Throughout many years of teaching, we’ve found that many students have a very difficult time with the pronunciation of Les États-Unis (the United States).
We have included a quick video going over this pronunciation under this table.
| Country | French Name | Nationality (m/f) | Language |
| United States | les États-Unis d’Amerique | américain(e) | l’anglais |
| Mexico | le Mexique | mexicain(e) | l’espagnol |
| Canada | le Canada | canadien(ne) | l’anglais, le français |
| Guatamala | le Guatamala | guatémaltèque | l’anglais |
| El Salvador | Le Salvador | salvadorien(ne) | l’anglais |
| Panama | le Panama | panaméen(ne) | l’anglais |
| Haiti | Haïti | haïtien(ne) | le créole |
| Dominican Republic | la République dominicaine | dominicain(e) | l’anglais |
| Belize | le Bélize | bélizien(ne) | le créole, l’anglais |
| Nicaragua | le Nicaragua | nicaraguayen(ne) | l’anglais |
| Cuba | Cuba | cubain(e) | l’anglais |
| Jamaica | Jamaïque | jamaïcain(e) | l’anglais |
| Honduras | le Honduras | hondurien(ne) | l’espagnol |
| Bahamas | les Bahamas | bahaméen(ne) | l’anglais |
South American
For South America (l’Amerique du Sud) you will see that almost every country has Spanish (l’espagnol) as its official language. The big exception is Brazil, where the official language is Portuguese (le portugais).
| Country | French Name | Nationality (m/f) | Language |
| Brazil | le Brésil | brésilien(ne) | le portugais |
| Colombia | la Colombie | colombien(ne) | l’espagnol |
| Peru | le Péru | péruvien(ne) | l’espagnol |
| Bolivia | la Bolivie | bolivien(ne) | l’espagnol |
| Chile | le Chili | chilien(ne) | l’espagnol |
| Argentina | l’Argentine | argentin(e) | l’espagnol |
| Venezuela | le Vénézuela | vénézuélien(ne) | l’espagnol |
| Ecuador | l’Équateur (m) | équatorien(ne) | l’espagnol |
| Paraguay | le Paraguay | paraguayen(ne) | l’espagnol |
| Uruguay | le Uruguay | uruguayen(ne) | l’espagnol |
Europe
One easy aspect to learning the European coutries is that all of the countries surrounding France are feminine: la Belgique (Belgium), l’Allemagne (German), la Suisse (Switzerland), l’Italie (Italy) and l’Espagne (Spain).
| Country | French Name | Nationality (m/f) | Language |
| France | la France | français(e) | le français |
| Spain | l’Espagne (f) | espagnol(e) | l’espagnol |
| Switzerland | la Suisse | suisse | l’allemand, le français, l’italien |
| Italy | l’Italie (f) | italien(ne) | l’italien |
| The Netherlands | les Pays-Bas | néerlandais(e) | le néerlandais |
| Belgium | la Belgique | belge | le français, le flamand |
| Germany | l’Allemagne (f) | allemand(e) | l’allemand |
| England | l’Angleterre (f) | anglais(e) | l’anglais |
| Scotaland | l’Écosse | écossais(e) | l’écossais |
| Ireland | l’Irlande (f) | irlandais(e) | l’anglais |
| Portugal | le Portugal | portugais(e) | le portugais |
| Greece | la Grèce | grec, grecque | le grec |
| Russia | la Russie | russe | le russe |
| Poland | la Pologne | polonais(e) | le polonais |
| Ukraine | l’Ukraine | ukrainien(ne) | l’ukrainien |
| Denmark | le Danemark | danois(e) | le danois |
| Norway | la Norvège | norvégien(ne) | le norvégien |
| Sweden | la Suède | suédois(e) | le suédois |
| Finland | la Finlande | finlandais(e) | le finlandais |
| Austria | l’Autriche | autrichien(ne) | l’allemand |
| Hungary | la Hongrie | hongrois(e) | le hongrois |
| Serbia | la Serbie | serbe | le serbe |
| Romania | la Roumanie | roumain(e) | le roumain |
| Bulgaria | la Bulgarie | bulgare | bulgare |
Middle East
For the Middle East, note that Israel does not take a direct object. Hence the name for Israel is simply, “Israël“.
| Country | French Name | Nationality (m/f) | Language |
| Israël | Israël | israélien(ne) | l’hébreu |
| Syria | la Syrie | syrien(ne) | l’arabe |
| Lebanon | le Liban | libanais(e) | l’arabe |
| Saudi Arabia | l’Arabie Saodite | saoudien(ne) | l’arabe |
| United Arab Emirates | les Émirats Arabes Unis | émirat | l’arabe |
| Iraq | l’Irak | iraquien(ne) | l’arabe |
| Iran | l’Iran | iranien(ne) | le perse |
| Pakistan | le Pakistan | pakistanais | le ourdou |
| Turkey | la Turquie | turc, turque | le turc |
Asia
Note that for India (l’Inde) we put the language as Hindi (le hindi). While this is the official language. the country has a long list of local languages in addition to the common usage of English.
| Country | French Name | Nationality (m/f) | Language |
| China | la Chine | chinois(e) | le chinois |
| Japan | le Japon | japonais(e) | le japonais |
| South Korea | la Corée du Sud | coréen(ne) | le coréen |
| Thailand | la Thaïlande | thaïlandais(e) | le thaï |
| Laos | le Laos | laotien(ne) | le lao |
| Cambodia | le Cambodge | cambodgien(ne) | le khmer |
| Vietnam | le Vietnam | vietnamien(ne) | le vietnamien |
| the Philippines | les Philippines | philippin(e) | la tagalog |
| Malaysia | la Malaisie | malaisien(ne) | le malais |
| Indonesia | l’Indonésie | Indonésien(ne) | l’Indonésien |
| Singapore | Singapour | singapourien(ne) | l’anglais, le chinois, le malais |
| India | l’Inde | indien(ne) | le hindi |
| Nepal | le Népal | népalais(e) | le népalais |
| Mongolia | la Mongolie | mongol(e) | le mongol |
| OCEANIA | |||
| Australia | l’Australie | australien(ne) | l’anglais |
| New Zealand | la Nouvelle-Zélande | néo-zélandais(e) | l’anglais |
Africa
The following table has a column for the languages of African countries. This column is difficult to fill in as many African countries have scores of spoken languages.
In most of Africa, the countries use the languages of the formal colonial aggressors (mostly English and French) as well as local tribal languages.
| Country | French Name | Nationality (m/f) | Language |
| South Africa | l’Afrique du Sud | sud-africain(e) | l’anglais, l’afrikaans, le zulu |
| Nigeria | le Nigeria | nigérian(e) | le hausa, l’anglais |
| Ethiopia | l’Éthiopie | éthiopien(ne) | l’amharique |
| Ivory Coast | la Côte d’Ivoire | ivoirien(ne) | le français |
| Cameroon | le Cameroun | camerounais(e) | le français, l’anglais |
| Senegal | le Sénégal | sénégalais(e) | le wolof , le français, |
| Morocco | le Maroc | marocain(e) | le français, l’arabe |
| Algeria | l’Algérie | algérien(ne) | le français, l’arabe |
| Tunisia | la Tunisie | tunisien(ne) | le français, l’arabe |
| Libya | la Libye | libyen(ne) | l’arabe |
| Egypt | l’Égypte | égyptien(ne) | l’arabe |
| Sudan | le Soudan | soudanais(s) | l’arabe sudanais |
Let’s review the nationalities:
Download PDF Lesson
More Resources:
- French for beginners – how to get started
- French names 50 states in the United States
- Geography terms
- Personal information
Related Lessons:
- Frenchtoday.com – prepositions for countries
- Quizlet – flashcards
- francaisfacile.com – exercise
- Author
- Recent Posts
David Issokson is a lifelong language enthusiast. His head is swimming with words and sounds as he speaks over six languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he’s the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private online lessons. When procrastinating working on his site, FrenchLearner.com, David enjoys his time skiing and hiking in Teton Valley, Idaho.