These are the most confused countries and cities on earth. These places may fool you off when you book tickets for travel.
Do your research and watch out for typos when you book your travel trip!
Widely Confused
These cities and countries are confused by many people.
- Budapest (Hungary capital) should not be confused with Bucharest (Romania capital)
- Dominica (Commonwealth) should not be confused with Dominican Republic. Both are caribbean countries.
- Grenada (Caribbean country) should not be confused with Granada (city in Spain)
- Slovenia (country) should not be confused with Slovakia (country)
- Bermuda should not be confused with Bahamas in the Caribbean.
- Montserrat (Caribbean) not to be confused with Montserrat (monastery near Barcelona, Spain)
- Mexico City (city and capital) should not be confused with Mexico (country), likewise Panama city (capital) not be confused with Panama (country)
- Dakar (Senegal) is not be confused with Dhaka (capital of Bangladesh)
- US Virgin Islands (USVI) not to be confused with British Virgin Islands (BVI)
Confused US cities
Very often many US cities have european city names, this should not be confused.
- St. Petersburg, FL (like in St Petersburg Russia)
- Manchester, NH (like Manchester, London)
- San Jose, CA ( different from San José, Costa Rica)
- Georgia (country) often confused with Georgia (US state)
- Hollywood, FL like Hollywood california
- London, ON like capital of england
- Mexico, IN like country mexico
- Paris, TX like french capital paris
Confused Capitals
- Bern is the capital of Switzerland (not Geneva or Zurich)
- Ankara is the capital of Turkey (not Istanbul)
- Abu Dhabi is the the capital of UAE (not Dubai)
- Washington, DC (capital) is different from Washington (state)
- Brasiia is the capital of Brazil (not Rio de Janeiro)
- Ottawa is the capital of Canada (not Toronto or Vancouver)
- Pretoria is the capital of South Africa (not Johannesburg or Cape Town)
Countries that changed their Names
These countries have changed their names. Dont confuse countries with their old names
- Macedonia changed to North Macedonia
- Czech Republic changed name to Czechia
- Swaziland name changed to Eswatini
- Burma changed to Myanmar in 1989
Historic name changes
- Snæland → Iceland (874)
- Terra de Santa Cruz → Brasil (1530)
- Temasik → Singapore (1819)
- New Spain → Mexico (1821)
- Upper Peru → Bolivia (1825)
- Duchy of Brabant → Burgundian Netherlands (1384) → Habsburg Netherlands (1482) → Spanish Netherlands (1581) → Austrian Netherlands(1713) → United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815) → Belgium (1830)
- United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia → Romania (1859)
- New Granada → Colombia (1819) → New Granada (1831) → Colombia (1863)
- North German Confederation → Germany (1870)
- Spanish East Indies → Philippines (1898)
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland → United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1927)
- Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd → Saudi Arabia (1932)
- British Mandate of Mesopotamia (1920) → Iraq (1932)
- Persia → Iran (1935)
- Ireland → Southern Ireland (1921) → Irish Free State (1922) → Ireland (1937)
- Abyssinia → Ethiopia (1941)
- Dutch East Indies → Indonesia (1945 or 1949)
- Transjordan → Jordan (1946)
- Siam → Thailand (1949)
- Gold Coast → Ghana (1957)
- French Sudan → Mali (1960)
- Nyasaland → Malawi (1964)
- Northern Rhodesia → Zambia (1964)
- Bechuanaland → Botswana (1966)
- Basutoland → Lesotho (1966)
- Spanish Guinea → Equatorial Guinea (1968)
- Sultanate of Muscat and Oman → Oman (1970)
- Eastern Bengal and Assam → East Bengal (1947) → East Pakistan (1955) → Bangladesh (1971)
- The Trucial States of the Coast of Oman → United Arab Emirates (1971)
- Ceylon → Sri Lanka (1972)
- British Honduras → Belize (1973)
- Portuguese Guinea → Guinea-Bissau (1974)
- Dutch Guiana → Suriname (1975)
- Dahomey → Benin (1975)
- Republic of Côte d’Ivoire → Ivory Coast (1975 as another official name)
- Spanish Sahara → Western Sahara (1975) → Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (1976; disputed)
- French Somaliland → Territory of the Afars and the Issas (1967) → Djibouti (1977)
- Ellice Islands → Tuvalu (1978)
- Gilbert Islands → Kiribati (1979)
- Ubangi-Shari → Central African Republic (1958) → Central African Empire (1976) → Central African Republic (1979)
- Southern Rhodesia → Rhodesia (1965) → Zimbabwe-Rhodesia (1979) → Zimbabwe (1980)
- New Hebrides → Vanuatu (1980)
- Upper Volta → Burkina Faso (1984)
- Burma → Myanmar (1989; disputed)
- German Southwest Africa → Southwest Africa (1915) → Namibia (1990)
- Bessarabia → Moldavian SSR (1940) → Moldova (1991)
- Khmer Republic → Kampuchea (1975) → Cambodia (1991)
- Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville) (1960) → Zaire (1971) → Democratic Republic of the Congo (1997)
- Portuguese Timor → East Timor (1975) → Timor-Leste (2002 as another official name)
- Hungarian Republic → Hungary (2012 as another official name)
- Libya → State of Libya (2013 unofficial)
- Cape Verde → Cabo Verde (2013 as another official name)
- Czech Republic → Czechia (2016 as another official name)
- Republic of The Gambia → Islamic Republic of The Gambia (2015) → Republic of The Gambia (2017)
- Swaziland → Eswatini (2018)
- Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes → Yugoslavia (1929–2003) {→ Slovenia, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro (1992–2006) → Slovenia, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia,Montenegro (2006) → Slovenia, Croatia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro (2019)
- People’s Republic of Macedonia → Socialist Republic of Macedonia (1963) → Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (1991) → North Macedonia(2019)
