Hispania: his-PAHN-ee-ah

The Latin name for Spain. It is thought to ultimatly derive from tsepan, the Phoenician name for this, their western-most colony, meaning "rabbits"--i.e., "the Land of Rabbits," though it may derive instead from sphan, meaning "North"--i.e., "the Northern Territory," certainly north of Carthage.

The Iberians--probably the Basques--lived there first, then Phoenicians lived there, followed by followed by Celts, followed by Romans, and at that point we have what are now Spaniards, a sort of mishmash the way the English are.

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