Countries That Start With G

Sovereign countries (11)

Eleven sovereign UN member states have English names beginning with G. Africa dominates the list with five entries (Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau). Europe contributes three (Georgia, Germany, and Greece), the Caribbean adds Grenada, Central America adds Guatemala, and South America rounds the set out with Guyana. The sovereign-nation answer is fixed at eleven.

Note one quirk worth flagging up front. Germany begins with G in English, but its native name Deutschland begins with D — which is exactly why its ISO country code is DE and not GE. The G is an English-language artifact, inherited from a Latin route through Old French.

Gabon

Libreville · Africa

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The Gambia

Banjul · Africa

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Georgia

Tbilisi · Asia

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Germany

Berlin · Europe

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Ghana

Accra · Africa

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Greece

Athens · Europe

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Grenada

Saint George's · The Caribbean

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Guatemala

Guatemala City · Central America

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Guinea

Conakry · Africa

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Guinea-Bissau

Bissau · Africa

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Guyana

Georgetown · South America

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Territories and other entities (5)

Inhabited territories, dependencies, and overseas regions whose English names also begin with G. These are not sovereign UN member states but each carries its own administrative status under another nation's flag.

Gibraltar

British Overseas Territory

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Greenland

Autonomous territory of Denmark

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Guadeloupe

Overseas department of France

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Guam

Unincorporated U.S. territory

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Guernsey

UK Crown Dependency

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Browsing the alphabet is a popular way to teach geography. Try the neighbouring letters:

Countries That Start With F — A short list led by Fiji, Finland, and France.
Countries That Start With H — Three nations — Haiti, Honduras, and Hungary.
Countries That Start With A — Eleven nations from Afghanistan to Azerbaijan.

Quick answer for skimmers

Q: How many countries start with G?
A: Eleven sovereign UN member states. Five sit in Africa (Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau), three in Europe (Georgia, Germany, Greece), one in the Caribbean (Grenada), one in Central America (Guatemala), and one in South America (Guyana). Five inhabited territories also begin with G.

Q: What is the difference between Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Equatorial Guinea?
A: Three distinct West African nations that share a colonial-era place name but no modern government. Guinea (capital Conakry) is the largest of the three and was a French colony. Guinea-Bissau (capital Bissau) is its smaller neighbour to the west and was a Portuguese colony — the city name is appended to the country name to disambiguate. Equatorial Guinea sits further south on the Gulf of Guinea, was a Spanish colony, and is filed under E in any alphabetical list.

Q: Why does Germany's flag use "DE" as its ISO code?
A: ISO 3166 country codes are derived from each country's preferred local name, not from the English exonym. Germany calls itself Deutschland, so the two-letter code is DE. The English G is unrelated to the German name and comes from a long path through Latin Germania and Old French Germanie.

Q: Is "The Gambia" the formal English name?
A: Yes. The Gambia is the only country in the world whose formal English short name begins with the definite article. The convention dates to a 1965 government request to avoid confusion with Zambia, the newly independent neighbour to the south, in international correspondence and at the United Nations.

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