Placenames in Brazil and South America named after famous people - not just Bolivia and Columbia

Flag of Brazil on a map of Brazil

 Can you name places in Brazil and South America named after famous people? I immediately think of  Bolivia named after Simon Bolivar. 

Ask Gemini found me many more.

Brazil

• Florianópolis (Santa Catarina): Named after Floriano Peixoto, the second President of Brazil.

• Petrópolis (Rio de Janeiro): Named in honor of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (Petrópolis translates to "City of Pedro").

• Teresópolis (Rio de Janeiro): Named after Empress Teresa Cristina, wife of Emperor Pedro II.

• Goiânia (Goiás) / Presidente Prudente (São Paulo): Named after Prudente de Morais, the first civilian President of Brazil.

• Santos Dumont (Minas Gerais): Named after Alberto Santos-Dumont, Brazilian aviation pioneer.

• Rondonôpolis (Mato Grosso) & State of Rondônia: Named after Cândido Rondon, famous Brazilian military officer, explorer, and indigenous rights advocate.

• Duque de Caxias (Rio de Janeiro): Named after Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias, military hero and patron of the Brazilian Army.

• Presidente Epitácio / Presidente Epitácio Pessoa: Named after Epitácio Pessoa, President of Brazil (1919–1922).

• Joao Pessoa (Paraíba): Capital city named after João Pessoa Cavalcanti de Albuquerque, governor of Paraíba assassinated in 1930.

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Rest of South America

Countries & Sovereign States

• Colombia: Named after explorer Christopher Columbus.

• Bolivia: Named in honor of Simón Bolívar, Venezuelan military leader and liberator of northern South America.

Capital & Major Cities

• Sucre (Bolivia): Constitutional capital named after Antonio José de Sucre, Venezuelan independence hero and companion of Simón Bolívar.

• Sarteneja / San Martin (Argentina & Peru): Dozens of towns across Argentina, Peru, and Colombia are named General San Martín in honor of José de San Martín, national hero and liberator of southern South America.

• Valdupar (Colombia): Named after indigenous chief Eupar (Valle de Upar).

• O'Higgins Region / Puerto O'Higgins (Chile): Named after Bernardo O'Higgins, supreme director and founding hero of Chilean independence.

• Valdivia (Chile): Named after Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia.

• George Town (Guyana): Capital named after King George III of Great Britain.

• Paramaribo (Suriname) / Cayenne (French Guiana): Port Louis / Cayenne named after French monarchs (King Louis XIV).

• Barinas / Ciudad Bolívar (Venezuela): Formerly Angostura, renamed in 1846 to honor Simón Bolívar.

• Maracaibo (Venezuela): Traditionally believed to be named after local Indigenous Cacique Mara.

Geographic Features & Regions

• Magellan Strait (Chile/Argentina): Named after Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who navigated it in 1520.

• Darwin Sound / Mount Darwin (Chile): Named after naturalist Charles Darwin during his voyage on HMS Beagle.

• O'Higgins Glacier & Lake O'Higgins (Chile/Argentina): Named after Bernardo O'Higgins.

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• How many more do you know? Please contact me through comments. 

• This post will be updated later today and in the future.

  Please share links to your favourite posts.

People named after places. Place names in the USA And Worldwide Named after Famous Or Given People

 How many places you have visited have their names given to famous people?

I remember as a schoolchild learning that Florence Nightingale was named after the Italian city of Florence. I recently wondered why Americans use Madison as a first name. Then I realised that Madison Avenue is a well known and prestigious street in New York.

I did a mental search and came up with these results.

Americans named after cities or with the same name as cities

Paris Hilton and Paris Jackson are both named after Paris, France. 

Two actors with the first name Austin have the same name as Austin, Texas.

Actor Phoenix Joaquin is named after Phoenix, Arizona.

Symbols of Phoenix and Arizona include Camelback Mountainn, the art walk, and the giant Saguaro cactus whose upwards pointing fingers are sold as green souvenir salt and pepper shakers.

Temu has a cactus pattern tee-shirt if you want to buy one online.

Other city names used by American actors, stars, singers and writers include Orlando as in Orlando, Florida and Brooklyn after the area of New York in the USA. London, after London England Kingston, after Kingston in Jamaica, Sydney, after Sydney, Australia, Savannah, from Savannah, USA,  

American cities named after famous people.

Columbus. 

For example, Columbus Ohio. Christopher Columbus.

If you want to do a search, the technical word for naming a person after a place is a toponym. Nym means name from the Greek for name or word.

Then I did a Gemini search and received these satisfying detailed results.

Many cities, states, counties, and landmarks across the United States are named after historic figures, military leaders, and world leaders.

U.S. States

• Washington: Named after George Washington, the first U.S. President.

• Louisiana: Named after King Louis XIV of France.

• Maryland: Named after Queen Henrietta Maria of England.

• Virginia & West Virginia: Named in honor of Queen Elizabeth I of England (known as the "Virgin Queen").

• North & South Carolina: Named after King Charles I of England (Carolus in Latin).

• Georgia: Named after King George II of Great Britain.

• Pennsylvania: Named in honor of Admiral William Penn (father of founder William Penn).

• New York: Named after James, Duke of York (later King James II of England).

• Major Cities

  • Washington, D.C.: Named after George Washington (and Christopher Columbus for the District of Columbia).

  • Houston, Texas: Named after Sam Houston, president of the Republic of Texas and military general.

  • Austin, Texas: Named after Stephen F. Austin, known as the "Father of Texas."

  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Named after British statesman William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham.

  • Louisville, Kentucky: Named after King Louis XVI of France for French support during the American Revolution.

  • St. Louis, Missouri: Named after King Louis IX of France (Saint Louis).

  • Cleveland, Ohio: Named after Revolutionary War General Moses Cleaveland.

  • Lincoln, Nebraska: Named after Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President.

  • Columbus, Ohio: Named after explorer Christopher Columbus.

  • Jacksonville, Florida: Named after Andrew Jackson, seventh U.S. President and first military governor of Florida.

  • Counties & Regional Places

    • Jefferson County / City: Named after Thomas Jefferson (Jefferson County is the single most common county name in the U.S., spanning 26 states).

    • Franklin County / Cities: Named after Founding Father Benjamin Franklin (appearing in 25 states, alongside dozens of towns named Franklin).

    • Pulaski County: Named after Polish military commander Kazimierz Pulaski, who fought in the American Revolutionary War (appearing across 7 states).

    • Lafayette / Fayetteville: Cities across numerous states named after the Marquis de Lafayette, French hero of the American Revolutionary War.

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    Famous Landmarks & Structures

    • Pikes Peak (Colorado): Named after explorer Zebulon Pike.

    • Mt. McKinley (Alaska, historically): Named after President William McKinley (officially renamed Denali in 2015).

    • Hoover Dam (Nevada/Arizona): Named after 31st U.S. President Herbert Hoover.

    • John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK - NYC): Renamed in 1963 to honor President John F. Kennedy.

    • Lincoln Memorial / Washington Monument (D.C.): Iconic monuments dedicated to Presidents Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.

How many more do you know? Please contact me through comments. 

-ends-

This post will be updated later today and in the future.

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Trinidad's Pre-Lent Carnival - All About Trinidad, Tobago, and the Caribbean Carnival

The flag of Trinidad and Tobago. From Wikipedia.

Trinidad and Tobago are in the Caribbean. They are close to Venezuela which is on the north coast of south America. 

Trinidad was given its name by Christopher Columbus who named it after the holy Trinity. (Tobago possiblyy gets its name from the local word for tobacco.) The majority of the population in 2025 is Christian so Christian religious holidays are celebrated with gusto.

Trinidad is the larger island and the richest. 

However, smaller Tobago attracts more tourists. And yachting.

Carnival

Lent is the Christian fasting period when people often give up eating meat or sugar, or drinking alcohol. So the pre-lent Carnival is the celebration of the last chance to indulge.

Carnival lasts two days. This year it was Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th March 2025 

Local meat includes goat.  Local fish includes shark.

The carnival in Rio is world famous and said to be the biggest in the world. But a resident of Trinidad told me, 'Trinidad's carnival is even better!' 

What is good and different about Trinidad's carnival? You might expect lots of delicious food. Captivating costumes. And music!

Music

What is distincitively local is the music. Steel drums, made and tuned and played. Soca. Calypso - social commentary set to music.

Those who are not partiicpating can watch the carnival from the sidelines. Or watch on TV. On TV6. Or TTT, which stands for Trinidad and Tobago Television.

Useful Websites

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Statues to see for free in Botero Plaza, Medellin, Colombia, and in Spain

Colombia

COLOMBIA - FIND IT
Colombia - my first thought was where is it, I've hardly heard of it, and my second thought was why would I go there? I now have one good reason to go there, the wonderful Botero sculpture park by a major museum in Medellin.

 Also it turns out that the country is named after Christopher Columbus, not many adults have not heard of him,

 In my recent times, Colombia is the birthplace and home of well known Nobel prize winning author of One Hundred Years of Solitude. Marquez also wrote Love in the Time of Cholera about his courtship of his wife-to-be despite opposition from her parents.


Thought, bronze sculpture by sculptor Fernando Botero in Botero Park, Medellin, Colombia.

MARQUEZ - READ UP
I just had a thought. I shall briefly digress into the book, which is so well known and widely read, and can be read before you plan a trip to Columbia, or on the plane there, and then I shall come back to the sculptures.

Gabo" wearing a "sombrero vueltiao" hat, typical of the Colombian Caribbean region. Most of the stories by García Márquez revolve around the idiosyncrasy of this region.

The name Marquez probably rings a bell, two bells. It is also a name you might recognize from the news about two Spanish motorcycle riders, bothers world champions of MotorGP.


Wiki sums it up, the writer Marquez, succinctly:

Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (American Spanish: [ɡaˈβɾjel ɣaɾˈsi.a ˈmaɾkes] (listen);6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo [ˈɡaβo] or Gabito [ɡaˈβito] throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century and one of the best in the Spanish language, he was awarded ... the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature.

WHERE AND WHY VISIT MEDELLIN?
Colombia, spelled with a double o, with your eyes look for it on the map of the world, cut out of the north west corner of South America. A free site to visit is the sculpture park, Botero Park, double o again, in front of the major museum in Medellin (double l and the letter e twice) where the sculptor Fernando Botero was born. I kept typing Ferdinand until I remembered the song Fernando's Hideaway, and realised that Fernando and Botero both end with o.

Medellin is the country's second largest city after the capital, Bogota, so you might make this a two centre trip. The big capital city has the expected population of around 12 million, offering more museum and visit opportunities, whilst the second city of Medellin is nearer 1 million, a more manageable size where you can quickly zoom in on your tourist target.


BOTERO AND BOTERO PARK
The bronze sculptures were donated by the sculptor Botero.



Botero's work is known all over the world. He also created sculptures displayed in the USA, in New York and Washington DC, in Paris, France, (he has lived in both countries) , as well as Armenia, Spain, Singapore and many more places.

Here's a handy list of what you will see if you go to Colombia, or what you can check out online.

Botero Sculptures in Spain


Woman with mirror, in Madrid, Spain, by Colombian-born sculptor Botero.


Cat, by sculptor Botero, in Barcelona, Spain.


Hand, by sculptor Botero, in Madrid, Spain.


Medellin is known for textiles and speak Spanish language schools.

LEARN SOME SPANISH QUICKLY
Finally, for fun, in Colombia the language you will find useful is Spanish. You could try learning some words from Memrise, which allows you to record your own memory aids and share them with other learners of the language. Duolingo, another free website good for starting a new language, offers multiple choice with pictures, and simple sentences.

Useful Websites
duolingo.com

memrise.com


TRAVEL HELP - SUGGESTED WEBSITES

Finally, the flag.

Flag of Colombia.

TRAVEL
https://wikitravel.org/en/Colombia
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer, photographer, researcher, author and speaker and teacher of English and other languages.

For handy Spanish For the Traveller see next post.
I have several popular posts on countries around the world including Spain, and learning Spanish. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Alice in Wonderland, Columbus And Other Literary and Historical Statues in Central Park

Problem
Where to go first in Central Park, New York - it contains so many statues.

Answers
Over lunch in England, a friend told me about visiting Central Park where she saw a statue of Alice in Wonderland.

I went online to find out about the Alice in Wonderland statue and was amazed by the number of statues. To name just a few:

Alice In Wonderland

Hans Christian Andersen



Beethoven.

Christopher Columbus

Simon Bolivar.











Robert Burns.

Romeo and Juliet.


Schiller.








Shakespeare.

Sir Walter Scott.

Lovers of literature and childhood books will also be interested in the statues representing The Secret Garden.

For details of photographers and copyright see Wikipedia article on central Park statues. (This post will be updated later.)

My friend visited Central Park because she heard its creation was inspired by a park in the North of England.

Now that I know how many interesting statues there are in Central Park, I shall put it on my list.  I have been to New York several times, but missed out on photographing these statues. Never mind, handy Wikipedia has out of copyright images I can use.

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sculptures_in_Central_Park
visittheusa.co.uk
https://www.newyorkpass.com/

Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See next post for more statues.