Countries With the Shortest Names: The Full List

Nine countries tie for the shortest common names, each with just four letters: Chad, Cuba, Fiji, Iran, Iraq, Mali, Oman, Peru, and Togo. No sovereign country has a common English name shorter than four letters, so these nine share the record.

Introduction

Country names range from a compact four letters to sprawling official titles dozens of words long. When people talk about the "shortest" country names, they usually mean the everyday short-form English names used in atlases and news, not the lengthy official titles used in treaties and constitutions.

By that common-name measure, no country dips below four letters. A tidy group of nine nations shares the four-letter record, and a slightly larger group sits one letter behind at five. This guide lists them all and looks at how short-form and official names differ.

The Four-Letter Countries

The Shortest Common Names

• Chad: A landlocked nation in north-central Africa named after Lake Chad. Its official name is the Republic of Chad.
• Cuba: The largest island nation in the Caribbean, officially the Republic of Cuba.
• Fiji: A Pacific archipelago of more than 300 islands, officially the Republic of Fiji.
• Iran: A large Middle Eastern country, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, formerly known as Persia.
• Iraq: A Middle Eastern nation built around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, officially the Republic of Iraq.
• Mali: A vast landlocked country in West Africa, officially the Republic of Mali.
• Oman: A country on the Arabian Peninsula, officially the Sultanate of Oman.
• Peru: An Andean nation in South America and heart of the former Inca Empire, officially the Republic of Peru.
• Togo: A narrow West African country on the Gulf of Guinea, officially the Togolese Republic.

These nine four-letter names are the shortest widely used country names in English. They span every inhabited continent except Europe and Antarctica, reflecting how compact naming crops up all over the world.

The Five-Letter Countries

Just One Letter Longer

• Chile: The long, thin South American nation running down the Pacific coast.
• China: The world's most populous nation for most of modern history, officially the People's Republic of China.
• Egypt: The North African cradle of ancient civilization, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt.
• India: The world's most populous country today, officially the Republic of India (also called Bharat).
• Japan: The East Asian island nation, one of the few whose short and formal names are both very brief.
• Gabon, Ghana, Haiti, Kenya, Libya, Nauru, Nepal, Niger, Palau, Qatar, Samoa, Spain, Sudan, Syria, Tonga, Yemen: All also have five-letter common names.

The five-letter group is much larger than the four-letter group. It includes global heavyweights like China and India alongside tiny Pacific states like Nauru and Palau, showing that name length has nothing to do with a country's size or population.

Short Official Names Too

• Japan: Notable because its official short form is simply "Japan," among the briefest official names.
• Jamaica and Georgia: Countries whose official name is essentially just the common name.
• Contrast with long titles: Many four-letter countries have far longer official names, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran or the Sultanate of Oman.

The gap between a short common name and a long official name can be dramatic. Iran is four letters in everyday use but expands to the Islamic Republic of Iran in formal settings. Japan, by contrast, stays short in both registers.

Good to Know

What is the shortest country name in the world?

No single country holds the record alone. Nine countries tie with four-letter common names: Chad, Cuba, Fiji, Iran, Iraq, Mali, Oman, Peru, and Togo. No sovereign state has a shorter everyday English name.

Why do countries have both short and long names?

The short form (like Iran or Cuba) is used in everyday speech, maps, and news. The official long form (like the Islamic Republic of Iran) is used in constitutions, treaties, and formal diplomacy, and it often reflects the country's system of government.

Are there any three-letter country names?

Not among widely used English common names. Some short forms come close, but the accepted minimum for a sovereign country's common name in English is four letters, which is why the four-letter club is so exclusive.