Countries with Nicknames 2025

Sugar Bowl of the World

Cuba is affectionately known as the Sugar Bowl of the world, and that is in no small part due to its being a major exporter of the world’s sweetest product.

Land of Golden Fleece

Australia, aka the Land of Golden Fleece, earns this title thanks to its large population of sheep. This south-of-the-equator country is perhaps more commonly also known as The Land Down Under, for obvious geographical reasons.

Land of Thousand Lakes

Finland’s nickname, like many countries’ nicknames, have glaringly obvious and symbolic reasons behind them. In this case, the Land of Thousand Lakes is no exception.

Land of White Elephants

Keeping with the symbolic countries nicknames meanings, Thailand is referred to as the Land of White Elephants, and the giant one standing in the room is the “big” reason why.

Land of the Rising Sun

Japan’s nickname, Land of the rising sun, is one part location in nature and one part perspective. Based on the origins of the nickname, Japan was dubbed with this moniker by China, as it is from that geographical perspective, where the sun appears to “rise.”

Playground of Europe / Land of Milk and Honey

Switzerland may be known as the Playground of Europe in part because of its ski and resort destinations in the Alps. It is also sometimes referred to as the Land of Milk and Honey (a nickname also shared by other countries like Lebanon), because of its fine wine and honey production repute.

Rainbow Nation

This South African nation has one of the more unique among all the countries nicknames, both in name and meaning. Dubbed to have been made famous by South African leader TuTu, South Africa is warmly known as the Rainbow Nation, symbolic of its desire to accept and form a union of many nations.

The Great White North

Countries nicknames like those of Canada, known as The Great White North, sometimes lack creativity but can also be very accurate.

Land of Poets

Chilean poets have won the Nobel Prize not once, but twice (Gabriela Mistral in 1945 and Pablo Neruda in 1971), and are now unsurprisingly referred to as the Land of Poets.

Land of Fire and Ice

Oh yes, Iceland sits on active volcanic ground, meanwhile, more than ten percent of the entire country is covered in glaciers and ice. Hence, as the theme of countries nicknames would have it, Iceland is appropriately known as the Land of Fire and Ice.

The Boot

Of all the countries nicknames ever imagined, none could be more obvious, size, and form than Italy, known simply as The Boot. If you still aren’t sure why Italy is called The Boot, look at a map!