Many road signs in the New England state of Maine confuse tourists
Why are Maine's settlements named this way? As the portal ShareAmerica notes, settlers who named these communities about 200 years ago were inspired by other people around the world who were fighting for their independence or defending themselves from foreign invaders.
• Residents of the town of Mexico (Maine) named it in 1818 in support of the people of Mexico, who were fighting for independence from Spain.
• The settlement of Denmark (Maine) was named in 1807 by residents who sympathized with the Danes, whose fleet had recently been attacked by the British.
• Residents of Peru (Maine) chose this name for their community when Peru declared its independence from Spain in 1821.
"World Map" of Maine Other towns named after countries – such as Sweden, Norway, Poland, and China – got their names for various reasons. For example, "China" is the name of a popular song at the time, and the town of Sweden was simply settled by Swedish immigrants.
Maine, the northernmost state of New England, located next to Canada, also has towns named after historical political events in cities in distant countries. Thus, in admiration of Russia's defeat of Napoleon's army at the time, settlers in Maine named their new town Moscow in 1812. And Paris was named in 1793 in recognition of France's help in the American War of Independence (18 other settlements across the US are also called Paris).
Maine is not the only US state to name its settlements after foreign countries and cities. But it stands out because it has so many such examples located so close to each other.