Eli5: Why is “The” used for some countries (The Netherlands, The UK, The USA, The Congo) while most every other country does not? (Kenya, Japan, Canada, etc)

Question

Grammatically the countries seem identical and baffled why these few countries have “the” especially since it’s not like there are many other Netherlands/USA/Congo out there which then demands an article to clarify we are taking about THE USA not just USA.

In: 5344

Answer 1

This is a giant mess. As /u/FeedTheCatPizza says, this happens when the country’s name includes a proper noun — but it’s fairer to say the name *is treated* like it contains a proper noun. In practice, there’s really no predictable pattern, you just have to memorize them all. Here are some examples:

**Islands**

Archipelago nations are often “the islands”. So The Bahamas, The Solomon Islands, The Marshall Islands, The Phillipines. But not always: Samoa, Vanuatu, Hawaii.

**Rivers**

Nations named after a river are often “the river”. So The Gambia, The Congo (but see below). But not always: Senegal is named after the Senegal River, but it’s not The Senegal.

**Political Structures**

Nations with political structures in the name are often “the whatsit”. The United States, The Dominican Republic, The Central African Republic, The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (The USSR), The Papal States. This one’s pretty consistent, except that most countries have a “formal” and “informal” name, so for instance Finland is formally “The Republic of Finland” but English speakers just call it Finland.

**Politically Loaded Ones**

Since “The” seems to imply your country is just a bit of geography rather than a sovereign nation, some countries don’t like it. A relevant one today is Ukraine, which in the 20th century was commonly known as The Ukraine. This was apparently because Ukraine means “borderland” in many Slavic languages, it was once politically “the edge of the Russian Empire” rather than an independent country. Now that it *is* an independent country, please don’t call it “The Ukraine”.

Some other countries also would rather you not use “The”. I think The Democratic Republic of the Congo prefers just “Congo”, and the Phillipines would prefer just “Phillipines”… I’m not sure exactly, but the US State Department has a [list](https://history.state.gov/countries/all) of what they call each country. But many English speakers pay no attention and go on habit.

Point is, there’s a rationale for “The Country”, but in detail there are no consistent rules, and English speakers can’t keep it straight either.