Question

why we use 'the' before united states and united kingdom but not before india,china and other countries?

Answer 1

We say the USA, the UK, the Czech Republic, the West Indies, the Philippines, the Netherlands but we don’t use the India, the Pakistan, the China, the South Korea, the Japan, the Taiwan, the Indonesia etc. Do you people wanna know why some countries use ‘the’ ? Here is the explanation briefed in points:-

1) Many English scholars say that the countries which consist the words ‘states’, ‘republic’, ‘kingdom’, ‘federation’ with their names, article ‘the’ is used. For example:- The United States, The United Kingdom, The Czech Republic, The Russian Federation etc.

2) ‘The’ is also used with the countries consisting many Islands. For example:- The Bahamas, The Philippines, The Maldives, The West Indies etc.

3) Some explains that countries like the United States of America and the United Kingdom also carry the definite article because they are compound nouns with adjectives.

4) One of the answers on Yahoo website gives this explanation; Now, America is the name of the large landmass which was found in 16th century. “North America” and “South America” are the proper nouns, names for two continents. So we won’t use “the” before them.

Answer 2

When you are addressing a country on the basis of its full name that's when you use 'the'.For example you should not say 'the China' instead you must just say China, on the other hand if you are addressing China by its full name you have to state it as 'the People's Republic of China'.

The same goes for the US and UK as the United States of America and United Kingdom are the full names of America and Britain respectively. Henceforth while addressing India by its full name we address it as the Republic of India

RULE OF THUMB :Only use the as a prefix 'the' for a country while stating it's full name​​​.



Although 'The' might be missing from the full name in the documents of the respective law enforceable file or paper you still have to pronounce it with the 'the' .​​​



Some examples on when to use the for a country are

Ireland  - The Republic of Ireland

Russia  - The Russian Federation

Jordan  - The Kingdom of Jordan

Pakistan  - The Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Taiwan - The Republic of China

Kuwait - The State of Kuwait

You can use the for almost all the countries in the world when you are stating it's full name

Exception 1:The Vatican City The Vatican City is smallest country in the world and seeing how it's full name is it's general name it can be addressed as the Vatican City or the Holy See.

Exception 2: It is not valid to use 'the' if the country doesn't have a enforceable constitution.

Exception 3: Former Soviet satellite states. Countries such as Ukraine and Georgia believe there countries name reflects there constitution and governance hence they don't have a full name, meaning there general name is there full name, therefore using the would be invalid although they have an an enforceable constitution.

Thereby,  if you want to use the to address India state it as the Republic of India.