French Culture
The Countries of the World in French
23
Feb
Feb
One good thing about learning the countries of the world in French is that there are a lot of similarities between the French names and the English names. In many instances, even if you don’t know how to say a given country in French you can often recognize it if you are familiar with the English name (or the name in other European languages.)
Contrary to English, the vast majority of countries in French need le, la or les in front of them such as la France, le Canada, and les États-Unis. Normally learning the gender of a noun in French is difficult because there aren’t a lot of rules to go off of. However when it comes to French countries the majority of them that end in -e are feminine and the ones that don’t are masculin.
A few countries that end in -e but ARE masculine include:
le Mexique
le Belize
le Cambodge
le Zimbabwe
Le Mozambique
A few countries that DON’T end in -e, but ARE feminine include:
les Fidji
les Tonga
les Bahamas
Of course if a country starts with a vowel you just use l’, (as in l’Italie) however whether it starts with a vowel or not has no effect on its gender. There are some countries that don’t use an article at all such as Cuba, however they still technically have a gender.
Let’s take a look at the countries of the world in French below.
| Country in English | Country in French |
|---|---|
| Afghanistan | l'Afghanistan (m) |
| Albania | l'Albanie (f) |
| Algeria | l'Algérie (f) |
| Andorra | l'Andorre (f) |
| Angola | l'Angola (m) |
| Antigua and Barbuda | Antigua-et-Barbuda (f) |
| Argentina | l'Argentine (f) |
| Armenia | l'Arménie (f) |
| Australia | l'Australie (f) |
| Austria | l'Autriche (f) |
| Azerbaijan | l'Azerbaïdjan (m) |
| The Bahamas | les Bahamas (f) |
| Bahrain | le Bahreïn (m) |
| Bangladesh | le Bangladesh (m) |
| Barbados | la Barbade (f) |
| Belarus | la Biélorussie (f) |
| Belgium | la Belgique (f) |
| Belize | le Belize (m) |
| Benin | le Bénin (m) |
| Bhutan | le Bhoutan (m) |
| Bolivia | la Bolivie (f) |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | la Bosnie-Herzégovine (f) |
| Botswana | le Botswana (m) |
| Brazil | le Brésil (m) |
| Brunei | le Brunei (m) |
| Bulgaria | la Bulgarie (f) |
| Burkina Faso | le Burkina Faso / le Burkina (m) |
| Burundi | le Burundi (m) |
| Cambodia | le Cambodge (m) |
| Cameroon | le Cameroun (m) |
| Canada | le Canada (m) |
| Cape Verde | le Cap-Vert (m) |
| Central African Republic | la République centrafricaine (f) |
| Chad | le Tchad (m) |
| Chile | le Chili (m) |
| China | la Chine (f) |
| Colombia | la Colombia (f) |
| Comoros | les Comores (f) |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | La République démocratique du Congo (f) |
| Republic of the Congo | la République du Congo (f) / le Congo (m) |
| Cook Islands | les Îles Cook (f) |
| Costa Rica | le Costa Rica (m) |
| Côte d'Ivoire | la Côte d'Ivoire (f) |
| Croatia | la Croatie (f) |
| Cuba | Cuba (f) |
| Cyprus | Chypre (f) |
| Czech Republic | La République tchèque (f) |
| Denmark | le Danemark |
| Djibouti | Djibouti (m) / la République de Djibouti (f) |
| Dominica | la Dominique |
| Dominican Republic | la République dominicaine (f) |
| East Timor | le Timor oriental (m) |
| Ecuador | l’Équateur (m) |
| Egypt | l'Égypte (f) |
| El Salvador | le Salvador (m) |
| England | l'Angleterre (f) |
| Equatorial Guinea | la Guinée équatoriale (f) |
| Eritrea | l’Érythrée (f) |
| Estonia | l’Estonie (f) |
| Eswatini | eSwatini (m) |
| Ethiopia | l'Éthiopie (f) |
| Fiji | les Fidji (f) |
| Finland | la Finlande (f) |
| France | la France (f) |
| French Polynesia | la Polynésie française (f) |
| Gabon | le Gabon (m) |
| The Gambia | la Gambie (f) |
| Georgia | la Géorgie (f) |
| Germany | l'Allemagne (f) |
| Ghana | le Ghana (m) |
| Greece | la Grèce (f) |
| Grenada | la Grenade (f) |
| Guatemala | le Guatemala (m) |
| Guinea | la Guinée (m) |
| Guinea-Bissau | la Guinée-Bissao (f) |
| Guyana | la Guyana (f) |
| Haiti | Haïti (m) |
| Honduras | le Honduras (m) |
| Hungary | la Hongrie (f) |
| 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 (f) |
| Japan | le Japon (m) |
| Jordan | la Jordanie (f) |
| Kazakhstan | le Kazakhstan (m) |
| Kenya | le Kenya (m) |
| Kiribati | les Kiribati (f) |
| Kosovo | le Kosovo (m) |
| Kuwait | le Koweït (m) |
| Kyrgyzstan | le Kirghizstan (m) |
| Laos | le Laos (m) |
| Latvia | la Lettonie (f) |
| Lebanon | le Liban (m) |
| Lesotho | le Lesotho (m) |
| Liberia | le Libéria (m) |
| Libya | La Libye (f) |
| Liechtenstein | le Liechtenstein (m) |
| Lithuania | la Lituanie (f) |
| Luxembourg | le Luxembourg (m) |
| Madagascar | Madagascar (m) |
| Malawi | le Malawai (m) |
| Malaysia | la Malaisie (f) |
| Maldives | les Maldives (f) |
| Mali | le Mali (m) |
| Malta | Malte (f) |
| Marshall Islands | les Îles Marshall (f) |
| Mauritania | la Mauritanie (f) |
| Mauritius | l'Île Maurice (f) |
| Mexico | le Mexique (m) |
| Micronesia | la Micronésie (f) |
| Moldova | la Moldavie (f) |
| Monaco | Monaco (m) |
| Mongolia | la Mongolie (f) |
| Montenegro | le Monténégro (m) |
| Morocco | le Maroc (m) |
| Mozambique | le Mozambique (m) |
| Myanmar | la Birmanie (f) |
| Namibia | la Namibie (f) |
| Nauru | la Nauru (f) |
| Nepal | le Népal (m) |
| Netherlands | les Pays-Bas (m) |
| New Zealand | la Nouvelle-Zélande (f) |
| Nicaragua | le Nicaragua (m) |
| Nieu | Nioué (f) |
| Niger | le Niger (m) |
| Nigeria | le Nigéria (m) |
| North Korea | la Corée du Nord (f) |
| Northern Ireland | l'Irlande du Nord (f) |
| Northern Cyprus | Chypre du nord (f) |
| North Macedonia | la Macédoine du Nord (f) |
| Norway | la Norvège (f) |
| Oman | l'Oman (m) |
| Pakistan | le Pakistan (m) |
| Palau | les Palaos (f) |
| Palestine | la Palestine (f) |
| Panama | le Panama (m) |
| Papua New Guinea | la Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée (f) |
| Paraguay | le Paraguay (m) |
| Peru | le Pérou (m) |
| Phillippines | les Philippines (f) |
| Poland | la Pologne (f) |
| Portugal | le Portugal (m) |
| Qatar | le Qatar (m) |
| Romania | la Roumanie (f) |
| Russia | la Russie (f) |
| Rwanda | le Rwanda (m) |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | Saint-Christophe-et-Niévès (m) |
| Saint Lucia | Sainte-Lucie (f) |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Saint-Vincent-et-les-Grenadines (m) |
| Samoa | le Samoa (m) |
| San Marino | Saint-Marin (m) |
| Sao Tomé and Principe | Sao Tomé-et-Pricinpe (m) |
| Saudi Arabia | l'Arabie saoudite (f) |
| Scotland | l'Écosse (f) |
| Senegal | le Sénégal (m) |
| Serbia | la Serbie (f) |
| Seychelles | les Seychelles (f) |
| Sierra Leone | la Serra Leone (f) |
| Singapore | Singapour (f) |
| Slovakia | la Slovaquie (f) |
| Slovenia | La Slovénie (f) |
| Solomon Islands | les Îles Salomon (f) |
| Somalia | la Somalie (f) |
| South Africa | l'Afrique du Sud (f) |
| South Sudan | le Soudan du Sud (m) |
| Spain | l'Espagne (f) |
| Sri Lanka | le Sri Lanka (m) |
| Sudan | le Soudan (m) |
| Suriname | le Suriname (m) |
| Sweden | la Suède (f) |
| Switzerland | la Suisse (f) |
| Syria | la Syrie (f) |
| Taiwan | Taïwan (m) |
| Tajikistan | le Tadjikistan (m) |
| Tanzania | la Tanzanie (f) |
| Thailand | la Thaïlande (f) |
| Togo | le Togo (m) |
| Tonga | les Tonga (f) |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Trinité-et-Tobago (f) |
| Tunisia | la Tunisie (f) |
| Turkey | la Turquie (f) |
| Turkmenistan | le Turkménistan (m) |
| Tuvalu | les Tuvalu (f) |
| Uganda | l'Ouganda (m) |
| Ukraine | l'Ukraine (f) |
| United Arab Emirates | les Émirats arabes unis (m) |
| United Kingdom | le Royaume-Uni (m) |
| United States | les États-Unis (m) |
| Uruguay | l'Uruguay (m) |
| Uzbekistan | l'Ouzbékistan (m) |
| Vanuatu | le Vanuatu (m) |
| Vatican City | le Vatican (m) |
| Venezuela | le Venezuela (m) |
| Vietnam | le Viêt Nam (m) |
| Yemen | le Yémen (m) |
| Zambia | la Zambie (f) |
| Zimbabwe | le Zimbabwe (m) |
