Episode Details

Google "Czechia" and you'll find my article in Forbes. Although it has about 200,000 views, a few outliers are still resisting the name Czechia. They cling to The Czech Republic name as stubbornly as they cling to their Czech beer in a pub.

In this WanderLearn episode (#112), I talk with two Czechs:

1. Petr Pavlinek: Professor of Geography at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. 


2. Václav J. Šulista: Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic to the Swiss Confederation (or Honorary Consul of Czechia to Switzerland, for you short-form name fans).

We discuss:

• Why Czechia is a good name.


• Who dislikes the name.


• Why they dislike the name.


• How long will it take for the world to adopt the name.


• Why it matters.

You can watch most of the interview on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ivX9h4c5a4

Here is my article on Forbes:

Quick: Paris is the capital of which country?

You probably said, “France.”

However, technically, it’s “the French Republic.” But who says that? Only a petulant Frenchman.

Now try this: what’s the name of the country that drinks more beer per capita than any other country?

If you’re feeling petulant, it’s the Czech Republic. If you want to be cool, it’s Czechia (pronounced Che-ki-ya).

I'll drink to Czechia. (Photo credit: FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images)

Peruse the CIA’s Factbook and you’ll find that most countries have a long-form name and a short-form name. The People’s Republic of China is the long-form name, while China is its short-form name. The United States of America is also a mouthful, which is why there are popular alternatives: America (which many Latin Americans object to), the USA, the US, the States or Gringoland.

For the last 100 years, the Czechs have been unable to come up with an easy name for English speakers to call their country. In 1918, when they first formed their country, the Czechs called their country Czechoslovakia. That tongue-twister was ridiculed by National Geographic, which called the new country’s name “awful” and an “unfair handicap for the young state.”

In 1993, following Slovakia’s Velvet Divorce with Czechoslovakia, the Czech bureaucrats once again failed to promote a catchy English name for their new country. The Czech Republic is all they could come up with. It became both the long-form and short-form name of their new country. Why couldn't they come up with a short-form name? They were obviously too busy doing more important activities, like drinking their legendary beer.

After American entrepreneurs tried Czechia's Budweiser Budvar Brewery beer, they named their version... [+]

You can’t fault the Czechs for being unable to realize that what their nation’s name is a mouthful for English speakers. These are the same guys who have phrases like “Prd krt skrz drn, zprv zhlt hrst zrn.”