Nationalities

Forming nationality adjectives and nouns from country names is not always simple in English.
Use the nationality adjective ending in -ese or -ish with a plural verb, to refer to all people of that
nationality. The adjective listed also often refers to the language spoken in the country, although
this is not always the case.

Examples

 Country: I live in Japan.

 Adjective: He likes Japanese food.
 Origins: She is a Japanese person. = She is from Japan. = She is Japanese.
 Language: She speaks Japanese.
 Describing a group: Spaniards often drink wine. = Spanish people often drink wine.
 Describing a group: The Chinese enjoy fireworks. = Chinese people enjoy fireworks.

In some cases, a nationality or regional noun may be negatively corrolated for some people, for
historic or political reasons. When this is the case, many people will not use it, but will instead use
a more neutral adjective + "people" formulation or "people from" + country name. This is the case
for the examples with an asterisk below. Alternative formulations, less likely to give offense, are
given in parentheses.

Geographic Adjective Noun

region/Continent

Africa African an African* (an African person,

someone from Africa)

Asia Asian an Asian* (an Asian person,

someone from Asia)

Europe European a European

Geographic Adjective Noun
region/Continent

Central America Central a Central American

American

Middle East Middle a Middle Easterner

Eastern

North Africa North a North African

African

South America South a South American

American

Southeast Asia Southeast a Southeast Asian person

Asian
Country or Adjective Noun
region

Afghanistan Afghan an Afghan

Algeria Algerian an Algerian

Angola Angolan an Angolan

Argentina Argentine an Argentine

Austria Austrian an Austrian

Australia Australian an Australian

Bangladesh Bangladeshi a Bangladeshi

Belarus Belarusian a Belarusian

Belgium Belgian a Belgian

Country or Adjective Noun
region

Bolivia Bolivian a Bolivian

Bosnia and Bosnian/ a Bosnian/a Herzegovinian

Herzegovina Herzegovinian

Brazil Brazilian a Brazilian

Britain British a Briton (informally: a Brit)

Bulgaria Bulgarian a Bulgarian

Cambodia Cambodian a Cambodian

Cameroon Cameroonian a Cameroonian

Canada Canadian a Canadian

Country or Adjective Noun
region

Central African Central African a Central African

Republic

Chad Chadian a Chadian

China Chinese a Chinese person

Colombia Colombian a Colombian

Costa Rica Costa Rican a Costa Rican

Croatia Croatian a Croat

the Czech Czech a Czech person

Republic

Democratic Congolese a Congolese person (note: this

Republic of the refers to people from the Republic
Congo of the Congo as well)
Country or Adjective Noun
region

Denmark Danish a Dane

Ecuador Ecuadorian an Ecuadorian

Egypt Egyptian an Egyptian

El Salvador Salvadoran a Salvadoran (also accepted are

Salvadorian & Salvadorean)

England English an Englishman/Englishwoman

Estonia Estonian an Estonian

Ethiopia Ethiopian an Ethiopian

Finland Finnish a Finn

France French a Frenchman/Frenchwoman

Country or Adjective Noun
region

Germany German a German

Ghana Ghanaian a Ghanaian

Greece Greek a Greek

Guatemala Guatemalan a Guatemalan

Holland Dutch a Dutchman/Dutchwoman

Honduras Honduran a Honduran

Hungary Hungarian a Hungarian

Iceland Icelandic an Icelander

India Indian an Indian

Country or Adjective Noun
region

Indonesia Indonesian an Indonesian

Iran Iranian an Iranian

Iraq Iraqi an Iraqi

Ireland Irish an Irishman/Irishwoman

Israel Israeli an Israeli

Italy Italian an Italian

Ivory Coast Ivorian an Ivorian

Jamaica Jamaican a Jamaican

Japan Japanese a Japanese person

Country or Adjective Noun
region

Jordan Jordanian a Jordanian

Kazakhstan Kazakh a Kazakhstani (used as a noun, "a

Kazakh" refers to an ethnic group,
not a nationality)

Kenya Kenyan a Kenyan

Laos Lao a Laotian (used as a noun, "a Lao"

refers to an ethnic group, not a
nationality)

Latvia Latvian a Latvian

Libya Libyan a Libyan

Lithuania Lithuanian a Lithuanian

Madagascar Malagasy a Malagasy

Country or Adjective Noun
region

Malaysia Malaysian a Malaysian

Mali Malian a Malian

Mauritania Mauritanian a Mauritanian

Mexico Mexican a Mexican* (may be offensive in

the USA. Use "someone from
Mexico" instead.)

Morocco Moroccan a Moroccan

Namibia Namibian a Namibian

New Zealand New Zealand a New Zealander

Nicaragua Nicaraguan a Nicaraguan

Niger Nigerien a Nigerien

Country or Adjective Noun
region

Nigeria Nigerian a Nigerian

Norway Norwegian a Norwegian

Oman Omani an Omani

Pakistan Pakistani a Pakistani* (may be offensive in

the UK. Use "someone from
Pakistan" instead.)

Panama Panamanian a Panamanian

Paraguay Paraguayan a Paraguayan

Peru Peruvian a Peruvian

The Philippines Philippine a Filipino* (someone from the

Country or Adjective Noun
region

Philippines)

Poland Polish a Pole* (someone from Poland, a

Polish person)

Portugal Portuguese a Portuguese person

Republic of the Congolese a Congolese person (note: this

Congo refers to people from the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
as well)

Romania Romanian a Romanian

Russia Russian a Russian

Saudi Arabia Saudi, Saudi a Saudi, a Saudi Arabian

Arabian

Scotland Scottish a Scot

Country or Adjective Noun
region

Senegal Senegalese a Senegalese person

Serbia Serbian a Serbian (used as a noun, "a Serb"

refers to an ethnic group, not a
nationality

Singapore Singaporean a Singaporean

Slovakia Slovak a Slovak

Somalia Somalian a Somalian

South Africa South African a South African

Spain Spanish a Spaniard* (a Spanish person,

someone from Spain)
Country or Adjective Noun
region

Sudan Sudanese a Sudanese person

Sweden Swedish a Swede

Switzerland Swiss a Swiss person

Syria Syrian a Syrian

Thailand Thai a Thai person

Tunisia Tunisian a Tunisian

Turkey Turkish a Turk

Turkmenistan Turkmen a Turkmen / the Turkmens

Ukraine Ukranian a Ukranian

 Country or Adjective Noun
region

The United Emirati an Emirati

Arab Emirates

The United American an American

States

Uruguay Uruguayan a Uruguayan

Vietnam Vietnamese a Vietnamese person

Wales Welsh a Welshman/Welshwoman

Zambia Zambian a Zambian

Zimbabwe Zimbabwean a Zimbabwean

Cities also can be transformed into adjectives and nouns, although they are highly irregular and
the nominal form is not always agreed upon (there may be several). Some examples of
transformed city names are below.
City Adjectiv Noun
e

Paris Parisian a Parisian

New New a New

York York Yorker

Sydney Sydney a Sydney-sider

London London a Londoner

São Paulo São Paulo a Paulistano

New Delhi New Delhi a Delhiite

Cape Town Cape Town a Capetonian