Why do most countries not have the article "the" before them but the United States and the Phillippines do?

Question

Are there any other countries that take the article excluding Netherlands and United Kingdom?

Answer 1

I think the ones that use "the" are all collectives of some sort. The Phillipines is a collection of islands, the US is a collection of states.

The Congo and the Bahamas are other examples

Answer 2

The Seychelles do, and the reason for it is because the names refer to a collective group of nations or states instead of a country. France for example comprises of France and France alone whereas the USA comprises of all of the states on the continent of North America amalgamted into a singular, hence The United States of America. Same as the UK is The United Kingdom of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In the same token, individually you have Tenerife and Gran Canaria, together with the rest of the islands in the group though you have THE Canary Islands


It applies to The Congo because it's part of a description as the full name is The Democratic Republic of Congo (Hence why it is often shortened to DR Congo)

Answer 3

the Sudan. You might wish to include the European Union. Usually it refers to a group either real or imagined. The lowlands (the Netherlands), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (a grouping), the United States of America (a grouping), the Philippine islands (a grouping).

There are a lot more "the" counties if you use their formal names: the State of Israel, the French Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom of Belgium, etc.

Answer 4

Countries whose names are in the plural always take the definite article. The same applies to many countries that are noun phrases, such as United xxx, Republic of xxx etc. So you would say "Bolivia" but "The Republic of Bolivia". Exceptionally, you don't generally use the article before noun phrases that start with directions of the compass: one says "North Korea" (not "The North Korea"); one used to say "Western Germany" (not "The Western Germany").

One can, optionally, use the definite article before names such as Ukraine, Sudan, Gambia and one or two others. This is because, before they became independent countries, they were names of geographical regions or rivers, which often take the definite article: the Ukraine, the Sudan, the Gambia, the Sahara, the Pampas and so on.

Answer 5

I don't agree with it having to do with plurals. Take "The Democratic Republic of the Congo" (aka Congo) or The Dominican Republic as examples.

It has to do with the nouns included in the names. For example, when referring to the US. People say THE States. With the Netherlands, you talk about THE lands. The UK...THE kingdom. THE republic, and so on.

As for the Philippines: "Lands of King Philip" (Philip II of Spain, reigned 1556 - 1598) - the "-ines" part at the end of the name functions adjectivally.....you do the maths!

Hope this helps.

And by the way.....The Gambia, The Lebanon....and even The Argentina......their formal names also include the words 'Republic of the'. Voilá!

Answer 6

George Washington is a vital guy in our history yet he remains in basic terms one guy. The Founding Fathers observed the non secular persecution in maximum of Europe as a real evil. for that reason they actually pronounced that for the time of usa there would desire to never be a non secular try for political place of work. on a similar time all the Founding Fathers signed the statement of Independence. It explicitly states that the rustic is predicated on the thought there is a author and that "All men are created equivalent." of course, the Founding Fathers as a team meant to nicely known a splendid Being.

Answer 7

I am a teacher of English, so I know for sure. The definite article is put before names of countries, containing 2 or more words (the US, the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China), and the Philippines are a group of islands

Answer 8

Don't forget Argentina (aka the Argentine).
It's even worse in other languages, where the definite article is used with countries, where it does not apply in English, and then there is the gender issue....
la France (a feminine country in French),
el Perú (a masculine country in Spanish), and el Japón (Japan).

However no-one has come up with a conclusive reason - it certainly isn't related to the formal name, because there are scores of countries called "the Republic of ..." or "the Democratic Republic of ..." etc., but who says the Germany, the Mozambique or the China, and so on??

Answer 9

In some cases it's convention. The Lebanon, the Sudan. Otherwise, its a collective as previously written: the USA, the UK, the Netherlands

Answer 10

The States and the Philippines are groups - in one case a group of states, the other a group of islands. Likewise, the Seychelles.

Not sure why this applies to "the Congo" though.

Answer 11

They are in groups. United States are groups of states, the Philippines are groups of islands.

The origins of the word 'Philippines' (according to my Filipino mother) are 'Philip-pines'. King Philip of Spain discovered the islands and was struck by the amount of pines. The two words stuck together.