The Czech Republic on Thursday said it was tired of its long and unwieldy name and would like to be called “Czechia” from now on.
“We recommend using the single-word name in foreign languages in situations when it’s not necessary to use the country’s formal name: sports events, marketing purposes etc,” the president, prime minister and other Czech officials said in a statement.
“The foreign ministry will ask the United Nations to include in its databases the correct equivalents of the country name in its official languages - Czechia in English, la Tchequie in French etc.”
Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek told reporters the government decided to take action because “there have been distortions and misspellings”.
The Czech ice-hockey team, for instance, has been using the word “Czech” - an adjective - on its jerseys.
The Czech Republic is a successor state to former Czechoslovakia following a peaceful split with Slovakia in 1993.