What places in the world begin with X?
Let's find out.
I primarily used the GeoNames search engine to find most of these.
It's not completely accurate, and I'm not sure if all of the listings are actually places,
but that's how I did it, so I'm going with it.
China, at 52 thousand, by far had the most X names.
So I'm gonna cover the ones that have over a million people living in them.
Now, the Mandarin Chinese language is written like this, but English-language maps generally
don't use Chinese characters because they confuse people like me.
So if you want to make an English-language map that doesn't confuse people too much,
you need to use a romanization for languages that don't use the Roman alphabet–you know;
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, etc.
China's official romanization is called Pinyin, which basically takes Chinese characters and
converts them into a Roman text.
In the Pinyin romanization, the letter X stands for a Chinese sound that sounds a lot like
our "sh" sound in English.
This sound comes up a lot in Chinese, so a lot of place names begin with X.
The most populous one at 5.2 million people is Xi'an, located in Shaanxi Province.
It's actually the capital.
It's got a city wall that's been around for hundreds of years.
It's also home to the Terracotta Army that emperor Shi Huang Ti of China had commissioned.
If Shi Huang's idea was to keep people from disturbing his grave, it does not appear to
have worked; it is now a huge tourist attraction.
So if you're ever in Xi'an, you can disturb his grave too.
At 3.1 million people is Xiamen, China, in Fujian Province.
Xiamen's kinda interesting, because it's situated on its very own island on the Chinese coast,
and it's also right across from the Kinmen Islands that are currently controlled by Taiwan.
That was one of the few places close to the mainland that Taiwan managed to hold onto
during the civil war.
There are also over 2 million people living in Xuzhou; and over a million people living
in both Xiangyang; and Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province.
And there are thousands more X names in China, but I'm moving on.
The Pinyin system is also used in Taiwan, which has about 1,800 X names, including Xinbei
which is another name for New Taipei City, which is right next to Taipei.
I found about 3,800 X names in Vietnam.
The X in Vietnamese appears to make a sort of "s" sound.
Again, that's an approximation; I don't know Vietnamese, so feel free to correct me if
I'm wrong.
However, I didn't find any huge X name cities in Vietnam, just a bunch of little ones.
So I'll just try to pronounce this one example.
Xuan Loc.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
I probably am.
Azerbaijan had about 160 X names, including Xirdalan.
I also found a very interesting one.
There's a city in Azerbaijan known as Xankandi, but that's its Azerbaijani name.
Its Armenian name is Stepanakert.
Why does it have an Armenian name?
Well, because Armenian is the main language in the disputed country of Nagorno-Karabakh,
which Stepanakert is the capital of.
So, most residents of that city probably call it Stepanakert.
So, Xankandi probably doesn't really count.
And now, one example from each Asian country that had less than a hundred.
Xo'jayli, Uzbekistan.
Xelifan, Iraq, if you use the Kurdish spelling, I think.
That's my guess.
Xaignabouli, Laos.
Xeldem, India.
Xamirjuy, Tajikistan.
Xaramdi...
Xaramdi... something in Bangladesh.
Xilin Estate, Singapore.
Now, North America.
I found about 800 X names in Mexico.
Xalapa has about 450 thousand people living in it.
The full name of the city is apparently Xalapa-Enríquez, but most people just call it Xalapa.
The X in Xalapa apparently comes from a Nahuatl language, which is an indigenous language
of Mexico.
But apparently, the local pronounciation is with a "h" sound, so it's often spelled with
a more Spanish kind of J. And you may have heard of a famous chile pepper whose name
basically means "from Xalapa".
That's right, the jalapeño!
Which unfortunately is spelled with a J. If they kept the Nahuatl-language X, we could've
had jalapeño begin with an X.
That could've been our X word.
That's a missed opportunity.
I also found about 142 X names in Guatemala.
And again, I think it's from an indigenous language.
I think it's supposed to make a "sh" sound, but I'm not positive.
So let me try this one: Xejuyub.
Xejuyub.
And now the rest of North America, the under 100 club.
Xcanluum, Belize.
Xavier, Cuba.
Xiroles, Costa Rica, or Xiroles, Costa Rica?
I also found only three populated places in the United States that for sure begin with
X, and they are all named Xenia.
And now, Africa.
There are about 126 X names in Somalia, and the X in Somali appears to make a "[?]" sound,
or something like that.
For example: Xuddur, Somalia.
Mozambique has about 111 X names.
The big one is Xai-Xai, Mozambique.
This X appears to come from the Portuguese language, which makes sense, because the Portuguese
were very active in Mozambique.
And now, one X name for all the other African countries that I could find that had X names
in them.
Xangongo, Angola.
Xonyeni, South Africa.
I'm guessing on that one.
Xanixani, Zimbabwe?
Xime, Guinea-Bissau.
Xaubehunis, Namibia.
Xureili, South Sudan.
Xade, Botswana.
The story of Xade, Botswana, is apparently a sad one.
The San Bushmen people have been living in the Xade–if I'm saying that right–area
in Botswana for quite a long time.
However, Botswana established the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in that area, and Xade
was found in the middle of it.
The Botswana government forced out the Bushmen people from that area, and created a New Xade
nearby.
Lots of Bushmen didn't like it there, and there've been a bunch of court battles trying
to see if the Bushmen can live back in the reserve or not.
It's a complicated one.
So that's a bummer – let's move on to Europe.
Xanthi, Greece.
Xarre, Albania.
Xertigny, France.
Xhoffraix, Belgium.
Xertelo, Portugal.
Xyliátos, Cyprus.
Xrobb il-G... ? ... what?
Xrobb il-Għaġin, Malta.
Xunqueira de Españedo, Spain.
Xaverov, Czech Republic.
Xanten, Germany.
Xirbi, Italy.
Xërxë, Kosovo.
Xixerella, Andorra.
Xaveriberg, Austria, I don't know.
South America.
Xique-Xique, Brazil.
Xicute, Colombia.
And I found only two in Oceania.
There appears to be Xéré, New Caledonia–if I'm saying that right–and Xantippe, Australia.
So yes, there are places all over the map that begin with X.
You just have to look for them sometimes.
Unless you're in China.
There are a lot of them in China, and you should be good in China.
I'm Ve-X-illographer...
I had to... and thank you for watching.