Originally, Brazil was called ‘Ilha de Vera Cruz’ (Island of the True Cross) and ‘Terra de Santa Cruz’ (Land of the Holy Cross). It wasn’t until Lisbon-born merchant Fernão de Loronha discovered the region and started to exploit the country’s valuable Pernambuco wood (national tree), also known as ‘pau-brasil’, that European colonists started to call the country Brazil.

Spain– When the ancient seafaring people of Phoenicia sailed the western Mediterranean, they thought they saw lots of hyrax (shrew mice) on the Iberian peninsula and named the land accordingly – ‘I-shapan-im’ (the land of hyrax). The animals were actually rabbits, but this didn’t stop the Romans adopting parts of the new name and eventually dubbing the country ‘Hispania’.

When explorers Alonso de Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci first arrived at Lake Maracaibo, the stilt houses built on the lake reminded them of the buildings in the Italian city of Venice, so they named it Venezuela – ‘Little Venice

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