The above title makes reference to one of those seemingly universal moments that any sociable person (especially in Canada) has or will encounter at some point in their life, with one country or another. Luckily for myself, the inspiration for this post didn't come from first hand experience, but from a conversation with a Congolese friend.We had run into each other after a 4 month hiatus and naturally, we had lots of catching up to do. At one point she had been telling me about her cousins who had just flown in from Niger, and how she had other cousins in Nigeria—and then the apparent linguistic paradox struck. It only took one question to drag my friend into the same deep contemplation:
—So what nationality are your cousins from Niger?
—Well, they're... oh
Ultimately the combined powers of the Apple iPhone and Google revealed that someone from Niger is of Nigerien nationality, the demonym being Nigerien.
**Just as an aside, I can't help but laugh as I write this next part. Having told my mother about the topic of my post, she has been posing the same questions in perfect order all the while.
—So what DO you call someone from Niger?
—A Nigerien
—But that's French! What is it in English?
Are u going to tell me the difference or what??**
So as my mother just noted Nigerien would intuitively be the french demonym for Nigeria: Nigerian in English; Nigerien en Français— right?
Actually, Nigerien holds both in English and French for Niger, while Nigerian also holds in both languages for Nigeria. Go figure.
Anyways, for your—and indefinitely my own—reference, below is a chart from About.com listing countries and their respective nationalities.
| Country | Demonym |
| Afghanistan | Afghan |
| Albania | Albanian |
| Algeria | Algerian |
| Andorra | Andorran |
| Angola | Angolan |
| Antigua and Barbuda | Antiguans, Barbudans |
| Argentina | Argentine or Argentinean |
| Armenia | Armenian |
| Australia | Australian or Ozzie or Aussie |
| Austria | Austrian |
| Azerbaijan | Azerbaijani |
| The Bahamas | Bahamian |
| Bahrain | Bahraini |
| Bangladesh | Bangladeshi |
| Barbados | Barbadian or Bajuns |
| Belarus | Belarusian |
| Belgium | Belgian |
| Belize | Belizean |
| Benin | Beninese |
| Bhutan | Bhutanese |
| Bolivia | Bolivian |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bosnian, Herzegovinian |
| Botswana | Motswana (singular), Batswana (plural) |
| Brazil | Brazilian |
| Brunei | Bruneian |
| Bulgaria | Bulgarian |
| Burkina Faso | Burkinabe |
| Burundi | Burundian |
| Cambodia | Cambodian |
| Cameroon | Cameroonian |
| Canada | Canadian |
| Cape Verde | Cape Verdian or Cape Verdean |
| Central African Republic | Central African |
| Chad | Chadian |
| Chile | Chilean |
| China | Chinese |
| Colombia | Colombian |
| Comoros | Comoran |
| Congo, Republic of the | Congolese |
| Congo, Democratic Republic of the | Congolese |
| Costa Rica | Costa Rican |
| Cote d'Ivoire | Ivorian |
| Croatia | Croat or Croatian |
| Cuba | Cuban |
| Cyprus | Cypriot |
| Czech Republic | Czech |
| Denmark | Dane or Danish |
| Djibouti | Djibouti |
| Dominica | Dominican |
| Dominican Republic | Dominican |
| East Timor | East Timorese |
| Ecuador | Ecuadorean |
| Egypt | Egyptian |
| El Salvador | Salvadoran |
| Equatorial Guinea | Equatorial Guinean or Equatoguinean |
| Eritrea | Eritrean |
| Estonia | Estonian |
| Ethiopia | Ethiopian |
| Fiji | Fijian |
| Finland | Finn or Finnish |
| France | French or Frenchman or Frenchwoman |
| Gabon | Gabonese |
| The Gambia | Gambian |
| Georgia | Georgian |
| Germany | German |
| Ghana | Ghanaian |
| Greece | Greek |
| Grenada | Grenadian or Grenadan |
| Guatemala | Guatemalan |
| Guinea | Guinean |
| Guinea-Bissau | Guinea-Bissauan |
| Guyana | Guyanese |
| Haiti | Haitian |
| Honduras | Honduran |
| Hungary | Hungarian |
| Iceland | Icelander |
| India | Indian |
| Indonesia | Indonesian |
| Iran | Iranian |
| Iraq | Iraqi |
| Ireland | Irishman or Irishwoman or Irish |
| Israel | Israeli |
| Italy | Italian |
| Jamaica | Jamaican |
| Japan | Japanese |
| Jordan | Jordanian |
| Kazakhstan | Kazakhstani |
| Kenya | Kenyan |
| Kiribati | I-Kiribati |
| Korea, North | North Korean |
| Korea, South | South Korean |
| Kosovo | Kosovar |
| Kuwait | Kuwaiti |
| Kyrgyz Republic | Kyrgyz or Kirghiz |
| Laos | Lao or Laotian |
| Latvia | Latvian |
| Lebanon | Lebanese |
| Lesotho | Mosotho (plural Basotho) |
| Liberia | Liberian |
| Libya | Libyan |
| Liechtenstein | Liechtensteiner |
| Lithuania | Lithuanian |
| Luxembourg | Luxembourger |
| Macedonia | Macedonian |
| Madagascar | Malagasy |
| Malawi | Malawian |
| Malaysia | Malaysian |
| Maldives | Maldivan |
| Mali | Malian |
| Malta | Maltese |
| Marshall Islands | Marshallese |
| Mauritania | Mauritanian |
| Mauritius | Mauritian |
| Mexico | Mexican |
| Federated States of Micronesia | Micronesian |
| Moldova | Moldovan |
| Monaco | Monegasque or Monacan |
| Mongolia | Mongolian |
| Montenegro | Montenegrin |
| Morocco | Moroccan |
| Mozambique | Mozambican |
| Myanmar (Burma) | Burmese or Myanmarese |
| Namibia | Namibian |
| Nauru | Nauruan |
| Nepal | Nepalese |
| Netherlands | Netherlander, Dutchman, Dutchwoman, Hollander or Dutch (collective) |
| New Zealand | New Zealander or Kiwi |
| Nicaragua | Nicaraguan |
| Niger | Nigerien |
| Nigeria | Nigerian |
| Norway | Norwegian |
| Oman | Omani |
| Pakistan | Pakistani |
| Palau | Palauan |
| Panama | Panamanian |
| Papua New Guinea | Papua New Guinean |
| Paraguay | Paraguayan |
| Peru | Peruvian |
| Philippines | Filipino |
| Poland | Pole or Polish |
| Portugal | Portuguese |
| Qatar | Qatari |
| Romania | Romanian |
| Russia | Russian |
| Rwanda | Rwandan |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | Kittian and Nevisian |
| Saint Lucia | Saint Lucian |
| Samoa | Samoan |
| San Marino | Sammarinese or San Marinese |
| Sao Tome and Principe | Sao Tomean |
| Saudi Arabia | Saudi or Saudi Arabian |
| Senegal | Senegalese |
| Serbia | Serbian |
| Seychelles | Seychellois |
| Sierra Leone | Sierra Leonean |
| Singapore | Singaporean |
| Slovakia | Slovak or Slovakian |
| Slovenia | Slovene or Slovenian |
| Solomon Islands | Solomon Islander |
| Somalia | Somali |
| South Africa | South African |
| Spain | Spaniard or Spanish |
| Sri Lanka | Sri Lankan |
| Sudan | Sudanese |
| Suriname | Surinamer |
| Swaziland | Swazi |
| Sweden | Swede or Swedish |
| Switzerland | Swiss |
| Syria | Syrian |
| Taiwan | Taiwanese |
| Tajikistan | Tajik or Tadzhik |
| Tanzania | Tanzanian |
| Thailand | Thai |
| Togo | Togolese |
| Tonga | Tongan |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Trinidadian or Tobagonian |
| Tunisia | Tunisian |
| Turkey | Turk or Turkish |
| Turkmenistan | Turkmen(s) |
| Tuvalu | Tuvaluan |
| Uganda | Ugandan |
| Ukraine | Ukrainian |
| United Arab Emirates | Emirati |
| United Kingdom | Briton or British (collective) (or Englishman or Englishwoman) (or Scot or Scotsman or Scotswoman) (or Welshman or Welshwoman) (or Northern Irishman or Northern Irishwoman or Irish [collective] or Northern Irish [collective]) |
| United States | American |
| Uruguay | Uruguayan |
| Uzbekistan | Uzbek or Uzbekistani |
| Vanuatu | Ni-Vanuatu |
| Vatican City (Holy See) | none |
| Venezuela | Venezuelan |
| Vietnam | Vietnamese |
| Yemen | Yemeni or Yemenite |
| Zambia | Zambian |
| Zimbabwe | Zimbabwean |
1 comments:
This is hilarious. I've just been learning about United States demonyms. In my state, Michigan, debate rages over "Michiganian" vs. "Michigander". Nothing as controversial as the Nigeria question.
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