A STUDY by researchers at the Oxford Dictionary of World Place-Names have found nearly every country is named after one of four things.

These are tribes or an ethnic group, an important person, a directional description, or a feature of the land.

Out of a 195 countries, only 20 don't fall under one of these categories. 

England, for example is named after the fifth century Angles, a tribe of early settlers.

Other European countries follow suit, being named after a tribe, with France, named after the Frank, as well as Italy named after the Vitali tribe and, Switzerland, which is named after the Schwyz people.

In fact, around a third of all countries are named due to a historical tribe. 

The United States of America and the Philippines are two examples of being named after a particular person. 

America comes from the latin version of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci's first name. 

Similarly, Philippines comes from Spain's King Philip II who began settlelements in his namesake. 

Christopher Colombus tops the list with the most countries being named by him. 

He named Saint Lucia after the Catholic Saint Lucy, and Saint Kitts and Nevis, with 'Kitt' thought to be an abbreviation of Christopher.

Colombia, ironically, was not named by the explorer and colonizer. 

Norway and Australia come from directions, with Norway meaning "northern way" and Australia meaning "southern". Only 25 countries follow this pattern. 

The more creative names come from a feature of the land such as Costa Rica which means the "rich coast" and Honduras meaning "deep water" or "depth". 

Among those with an unknown name origin is Syria.