The Southeast Asian people, mostly or generally, might already familiar with all the must-know facts about the region for e.g; geography, climate, languages of its people etc.
But have you ever wonder that besides the nicknames of each country in the region (interesting enough, isn't it? Makes sure to click on this link and do challenge yourself!), there are also facts on every countries' capital that might be interesting for us to have some basic knowledge about it?
For this time around, we dig the information on what's the English name for each capital cities and herewith is the attached info we have gathered for you:
Manila
'City of Flowering Mangrove Plant'
The city became known by the name given by its Tagalog inhabitants, as Maynila, first recorded as Maynilad or "Manila". The name is based on the nila, a flowering mangrove plant that grew on the marshy shores of the bay, used to produce soap for regional trade. It is either from the phrase may nila, Tagalog for "there is nila," or it has a prefix ma- indicating the place where something is prevalent. Nila itself is probably from Sanskrit nila meaning "indigo tree".
Kuala Lumpur
'Muddy Confluence'
Etymology. Kuala Lumpur means "muddy confluence"; kuala is the point where two rivers join together or an estuary, and lumpur means "mud".
Singapore
'Lion City'
Singapore's name comes from 'Singa Pura' which means Lion City in Sanskrit. According to the Malay history, a Sumatran prince called Sang Nila Utama landed on Temasek (Singapore's old name) and saw a Lion which is called 'Singa' in Malay. Thus he gave the island a new name, 'Singapura'.
Jakarta
'Complete Victory'
Jakarta derives from the word Jayakarta. The origins of this word can be traced to the Old Javanese and ultimately to the Sanskrit language; jaya (victorious) and krta (accomplished, acquired), thus "Jayakarta" translates as "victorious deed", "complete act", or "complete victory".
Phnom Penh
'Penh's Hills'
Phnom Penh (literally, "Penh's Hill") takes its name from the present Wat Phnom ("Hill Temple"). Phnom Penh's official name, in its short form, is Krong Chaktomok meaning "City of Four Faces".
Bangkok
'City of Angels' or A Village Situated On A Stream'
In Thai, it is known as Krung Thep, which roughly translates to 'City of Angels'. Bangkok (translating as 'village of wild plums') was the original site for the capital city and was located west of the Chao Phraya river (in modern day Thonburi).
Krung Thep is actually an abbreviated version of the ceremonial full name which is in the official English romanisation, this is certified as the longest place name in the world in the Guinness book of records. It's pronounced something like:
Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit
Naypyidaw
'Seat of The King'
Naypyidaw is Burmese for "abode of the king", and is generally translated as "royal capital", ‘seat of the king", or "abode of kings". Traditionally, it was used as a suffix to the names of royal capitals, such as Mandalay, which was called Yadanabon Naypyidaw.
Hanoi
'River Inside'
Ha Noi means “inside river” because Ha Noi lies in the middle of the four directions: East, South, West, North; and is surrounded by Ha Dong, Ha Nam, Ha Tay, Ha Bac.
Vientiane
'City of Sandalwood'
The name of the city is derived from Pali, the liturgical language of Theravada Buddhism. Although the original meaning of the name of the city is "city of sandalwood", as shown by ancient Lao inscription which wrote according to etymology, unlike modern Lao which is written phonetically, in modern Lao, the meaning of the name Vientiane is ambiguous.
Bandar Seri Begawan
'The Blessed Harbour'
In 1967, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III abdicated in favour of his eldest son, Hassanal Bolkiah, the incumbent Sultan (Ruler) and took the title of “Seri Begawan”.
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah renamed the city to honour his late father. The word “Begawan” was also used for Bruneian monarchs who have abdicated, the word originally coming from the Sanskrit word for “god” (bhagavan). Besides that, Seri Begawan was known as “blessed one” in Sanskrit. Seri comes from the honorific Sanskrit word Sri, and Bandar comes from Persian and originally meant “harbour”.
Source : Various including Wikipedia
