By that logic we should all be saying "the England" because England is a "land". No, there is one objectively correct way of saying the name of a country (in English), and there are even explicit grammar rules for this specific instance. See the two pages I linked above.
Kind of related, in German we mostly say "die Ukraine" (the Ukraine", exactly the same as "the Netherlands" and surprisingly Slovakia (and former Czechoslovakia, but not always "the Czech Republic", only when we say "die Tschechische Republik", not "Tschechien" (which is informal, to be fair, as is "Slowakei" - but afaik "Tschechoslowakei" was official).
Did I confuse you already?
There's also "die Elfenbeinküste" (Ivory Coast), and certainly a few more.
Yes, you shouldn't do this. ;) In this case "Bein" (or in the long form "Gebein") is an outdated term for bone or skeleton.
"Elfenbein" is the modern word for ivory. The meaning of Elf is somewhat similar (though not identical) to English and therefore refers to the perceived beauty of ivory.
A tusk on the other hand is called "Stoßzahn" recognizing it as a tooth ("Zahn").
My German is not so great but bein means both leg and bone. I know that much. I just wasn't sure about the "elfen" part. So glad to see someone else provide some info on that bit.
FYI: Google translate is not the most reliable translator.
