El and La With Country and Place Names in Spanish

Use of the definite article, the equivalent of the in English, with country or place names is much more common in Spanish than in English, although it is not often required. The definite articles in Spanish are el and la, both meaning, the. El is used to modify masculine nouns or places. La is used to modify feminine nouns or places. The only case where the definite article is used in almost all cases is if you are modifying a country or place with an adjective or a prepositional phrase. For example, Soy de Espaà ±a means Im from Spain, and no definite article is needed. But, if the place becomes modified with an  adjective, like being called, beautiful, then the definite article is retained. For example, Soy de la Espaà ±a  hermosa, which means, Im from beautiful Spain. Another example, there is no definite article in Mà ©xico es  interesante, meaning, Mexico is interesting, but, there is the definite article in El Mà ©xico del  siglo  XVI era  interesante, meaning,  16th-century Mexico was interesting. Four Countries and a City That Should Keep the Definite Article Unfortunately, there is no way to predict when to use the  definite article, although most of the time where English uses the definite article, such as when referring to the Dominican Republic or The Hague, Spanish does also. The following list included the countries that should have the definite article used in most cases, although Spanish language rules are not strict about it. El Cairo ​La Haya  (The Hague) ​La India ​La Repà ºblica Dominicana ​El Salvador Other Place Names That Use a Definite Article So while you can say el Brasil to refer to Brazil, Brasil by itself will also do just fine in most cases. The article seems to be used more often in speech than in contemporary writing. For example in newspapers and online references in Spanish, Estados Unidos,  the Spanish translation for United States,  is frequently written without the article. Following are the most common countries and places that may have a definite article: La Arabia Saudita  (Saudi Arabia) ​La Argentina el Brasil  (Brazil)  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹el Camerà ºn  (Cameroon)  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹el Canadà ¡ ​la China ​el Cuzco  (city in Peru) ​el Ecuador ​los Estados Unidos  (the United States) ​las Filipinas  (the Philippines) ​la Florida ​la Habana  (Havana)  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹el Irak  (Iraq) ​el Irà ¡n ​el Japà ³n  (Japan) ​el Là ­bano  (Lebanon) ​La Meca  (Mecca) ​el Nepal ​los Paà ­ses Bajos  (the Netherlands) ​el Pakistà ¡n ​el Paraguay ​el Perà º ​el Reino Unido  (the United Kingdom)  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹el Senegal ​la Somalia ​el Sudà ¡n ​el Tibet ​el Uruguay ​el Vietnam ​el Yemen