Why are some countries...

The Bahamas also.

I think that's because it's the Bahama Islands like the Phillippines, the Maldives, the Falklands...

The Netherlands.

the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland

Again, I kind of get that - the low lands. Similar to the USA or the UK.

would have thought it was obvious, it's because it just doesn't sound right in a native English speaking tongue to just pronounce a country's name without the -the. It would sound daft to say I'm going to the England or the France or the Chile, but doesn't sound remotely daft to say the Netherlands, the Bahamas, the Gambia.

Have to say though, I've never heard anyone say The Sudan or the Lebanon

I disagree with The Ukraine though, spanner in the theory.

I disagree with them all. If I was holidaying and telling others where I'm going I would only say 'The' to a group, like the Bahamas, West Indies etc, not an individual country

SH - as I've explained, there is a rationale behind the Netherlands and the Bahamas but what why the Gambia?

It only sounds less stupid than the France because we're used to hearing it referred to as such.

As you say, no different to the Ukraine.  It's very common to hear 'the' before Lebanon and Sudan.

from THE Human League


And who will have won
When the soldiers have gone
From the Lebanon
The Lebanon.

I think that they're regarded more as regions as they are countries.

Possibly, but they are countries.

ok I may have to backtrack here, that was my theory anyway, looks like it's bit more complex than that

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18233844

https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-185723,00.html

That explains it. Thank you.

from THE Human League


And who will have won
When the soldiers have gone
From the Lebanon
The Lebanon.


i only ever remember the line '..and where there used to be some shops'...poetry!

The -the prefix is simply because it sounds less awkward .

same as you wouldn't  say 'an historic' 

sounds too clumsy


I'm going to Netherlands ?  nah

The latest one

THE ISLAND OF IRELAND

or would you say the north of northern ireland ?  or northern northern ireland ?

Surely the prefix 'Great' is the most pretentious of all

Used to be Great

Great is a geographical term   ...a bit like Great Yarmouth ha ha

A geographical term is 'Equatorial' as in Equatorial Guinea'

Looks like the pop group "The The" would have got some chit chatters REALLY wound up

But angry enough to wish THE Grim Reaper to sort them out?

Surely the prefix 'Great' is the most pretentious of all

'Great' in this instance doesn't mean 'super'; it means 'larger'.  This is to distinguish it from Brittany (northern France) which literally means 'Little Britain'.  Goes back to Celtic times.

As for countries preceded by 'the', in Welsh Finland, Germany, Egypt, Italy and Switzerland are all preceded by 'the' (or Y / Yr in Welsh).

and Scotland too.

The UK

The Azores

The Great Pretender

The Azores is Portugal

Think you'll find coachbuster it's an autonomous region of Portugal if you want to be pedantic

In languages that use genders, is the definite article for their country male, female, or trans?

Maybe we should ask someone from The Canada for an update.

we(Great Britain) are feminine  according to the French 

May oui

Sadly our May keeps saying oui

Sacre Bleu! Nous sommes une pays du Womxn!