Comments on: The Quick 10: The 10 People with the Most Square Miles of the Earth’s Surface Named After Them

By: Dan McC

Dan McC — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 06:09:00 +0000

There is a bit of controversy over whether or not America is named after Vespucci. Several sources claim that it is in fact named after Richard Ameryk, a wealthy merchant from Wales who was a major investor in the early voyages of John Cabot. My favorite point to support this theory is that new lands are almost always named after a person’s LAST name, not their first, with the exception of royalty.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 02:47:00 +0000

I’m glad someone else mentioned Abel Tasman park in NZ!

By: Stv Dvs

Stv Dvs — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 16:02:00 +0000

@Smart Guy
“British Columbia is named after the ship that discovered the area.”

Who do you suppose the ship was named after?

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 11:59:00 +0000

China in Chinese is zhong guo. Zhong is middle and guo is kingdom. So you’ve mixed up the chinese meaning with the English syllable.

In English it is named after a person, but in Chinese it is not.

By: Calamity Kate

Calamity Kate — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 07:38:00 +0000

It’s Amerigo Vespucci, not Americo.

By: Sean Walsh

Sean Walsh — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 07:14:00 +0000

China, first lord to unite the lands… At
Least that’s what I learned falling asleep to
The Channel formerly known as the history channel.

By: PartiallyDeflected

PartiallyDeflected — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 04:33:00 +0000

You’ve obviously overlooked Bob Pacificocean.

By: Miss Cellania

Miss Cellania — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 03:09:00 +0000

China was named after a person? I thought chin meant “central” or “middle” so China (chin gwa) means Middle Kingdom, or Central Country.

And how about Colombia, the South American country? Was it named after Columbus?

By: Paul Drye

Paul Drye — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 02:05:00 +0000

They missed the first emperor of China Ch’in Shih-huang! People’s Republic of China, Republic of China, South China Sea. That’s 5,108,402 square miles by my count, which puts him at #2.

By: Smart Guy

Smart Guy — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:31:00 +0000

British Columbia is named after the ship that discovered the area.