"Oriental Republic of Uruguay" and other weird official state names

[SATW]

Why do we say THE Ukraine? Is that just an English thing? Do people elsewhere say, "I'm going to Ukraine" without the "the"?

I understand the Bahamas, the United States, the Phillipines, etc. but THE Ukraine always stood out to me.


Also, I noticed that Gambia is listed as "The Gambia", but I've never heard anyone use the definite article in front.

http://time.com/12597/the-ukraine-or-ukraine/ here's an interesting piece on the issue.