Nationalities and Countries in English

world map geography nationalities

Do you know nationalities in English? Here are some patterns to help you learn and remember:

-an or -ian
All countries in America take an -an or –ian to form the nationality.

For example:
A person from Canada is a Canadian.
A person from Honduras is Honduran.
A person from Uruguay is Uruguayan.

The one exception is the United States. A person from the United States is called an American, not a ‘United Statian’.

Many other nationalities take the same ending:

Russia – Russian
Australia – Australian
Italy – Italian
India – Indian
Egypt – Egyptian
South Africa – South African

-ish
Denmark – Danish
Finland – Finish
Sweden – Swedish
Ireland – Irish
Poland – Polish
Spain – Spanish
England – English or British

-ese
China – Chinese
Japan – Japanese
Vietnam – Vietnamese
Portugal – Portuguese
The Republic of Congo – Congolese
Sudan – Sudanese
Lebanon – Lebanese

-i
Bangladesh – Bangladeshi
Iraq – Iraqi
Israel – Israeli
Pakistan – Pakistani

-er
Iceland – Icelander
Greenland – Greenlander
New Zealand – New Zealander

Some nationalities are shortened forms of the country.
Thailand – Thai
Switzerland – Swiss
Czech Republic – Czech

Some nationalities don’t follow any of these patterns.
France – French
Greece – Greek
The Netherlands – Dutch
Philippines – Filipino

Try the Quiz!

Further Reading:
Making Sense of Adjectives From Country Names from VOA Learning