re: When did Turkey become Türkiye?

quote:

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Also Czech Republic is Czechia. There should be some rule against this

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Here ya go!!!

Why Czechoslovakia “did that”

The short answer:
Because it split into two countries in 1993, and each side needed a clear, internationally usable name.

But here’s the real mechanism — the part people usually don’t know:

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1. The split forced both sides to pick names

When Czechoslovakia dissolved peacefully on January 1, 1993, two new states appeared:

• Czech Republic
• Slovakia


Slovakia already had a simple geographic name.
The Czech side didn’t — because “Czech” is an adjective, not a noun.

So they defaulted to the long, formal name: Czech Republic.

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2. But “Czech Republic” is a government type, not a country name

This is the core issue.

Compare:

• French Republic ? France
• Italian Republic ? Italy
• Czech Republic ? …nothing. There was no short form in English.


The Czechs realized they were the only country still using only the long form.
So they revived an older geographic term: Czechia.

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3. Why Czechia specifically?

Because it’s the historical name for the Czech lands — attested since the 1800s — and matches the pattern of:

• Austria
• Croatia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia


It’s the same linguistic family.

The government officially registered it with the UN in 2016.

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4. Why it feels weird to English speakers

This is the part you’re reacting to:

• It arrived suddenly after decades of “Czech Republic.”
• It looks like Chechnya, which confuses people.
• It doesn’t “sound” English.
• It feels like a rebrand rather than an organic name.

But from the Czech perspective, it’s normal: They just wanted a one-word country.

Czechoslovakia split in 1993, and the Czech side ended up stuck with “Czech Republic” because they didn’t have a natural short name. In 2016 they finally standardized “Czechia” as the proper one-word country name, the same way France is the short form of French Republic.