Geographical Sobriquets

Some not so common nickname of places

City of Seven Hills: Rome- The seven hills of Rome are: Aventinus, Caelius, Capitolium, Esquiliae, Palatium, Quirinalis & Viminalis.

Cockpit of Europe:Belgium- It is where the largest number of European battles have taken place in the history.

White City: Belgrade- literally means ‘white city’. It was the capital of Serbia in the 12th century and was later ruled by Ottoman Turks. Incorporated into Yugoslavia in 1929 and in February 2003, it declared Republic with a referendum of full independence after 3 years.

Land of thousand lakes: Finland- Over 60,000 lakes can be found in the interior of Finland. a third of the country is in the Arctic Circle, this area being called Lapland.

The Giant of Africa: Nigeria- owing to its large population and emerging economy.

The land of the Flying Fish: Barbados- because of the plentiful amount of flying fish found in the waters.

Little Venice: Venezuela- It was explorer Alonso de Ojeda who gave the country its name. Arriving at Lake Maracaibo in the late 15th century, he admired the stilted houses that the locals had built above the lake. 

The land of the Golden Fleece: Australia- because of the quantity of wool produced there due to large sheep population.

The land of white elephants: Thailand- because the Thais consider a white elephant as an auspicious animal. it is a symbol of purity and knowledge.

Land of Thunder Dragon: Bhutan- because of the violent and large thunderstorms  that whip down the valleys  from the Himalayas.