Istanbul(Settlement)English, Arabic From Turkish İstanbul, which comes from a misinterpretation of the Medieval Greek phrase εἰς τὴν Πόλιν (eis ten polin) meaning "to the City", a colloquial name for the city of Constantinople (reflecting its status as the only major city in the vicinity)... [more]
Java(Political Subdivision & Island)English, Dutch, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish From Indonesian Jawa, which is of uncertain origin. It is most likely derived from Sanskrit यव-द्वीप (yava-dvipa) meaning "island of barley", though it may have come from Javanese ꦗꦸꦮꦮꦸꦠ꧀ (juwawut) meaning "foxtail millet (a type of plant)" or Malay jauh meaning "far, distant"... [more]
Javeh(Political Subdivision & Island)Persian Persian form of Java.
Johor(Political Subdivision)Malay, English Derived from Arabic جوهر (jawhar) meaning "jewel, precious stone", ultimately of Persian origin. This is the name of a state in southern Malaysia.
Johor Bahru(Settlement)Malay, English From Johor and Malay bahru meaning "new". This is the name of a city in Malaysia.
Jolo(Settlement & Island)Filipino, Tagalog, English Probably derived from Hokkien 好儂 (hó lâng) meaning "good people", named by Chinese traders to reflect how they perceived the native people of the region. This is the name of an island in the southern Philippines as well as the capital city of the province of Sulu.
Kabardino-Balkaria(Political Subdivision)English From Russian Кабардино-Балкария (Kabardino-Balkariya) comprised of the names of the Kabardian and Balkar people. This is the name of a republic of Russia.
Kabul(Settlement)English From Pashto کابل (Kabel) which may have been derived from Kambuja or Kamboja, the name of an ancient Indo-Iranian tribe and kingdom. The name is of uncertain meaning, possibly from Sanskrit काम (kama) meaning "love, desire" and भुज् (bhuj) meaning "use, possess, rule"... [more]
Kagoshima(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 鹿子 (kako) meaning "fawn, young deer" and 島 (shima) meaning "island". This is the name of a city in Japan, as well as the prefecture in which the city is located.
Kalasin(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai From Thai กาฬ (kala) meaning "black, dark" and สินธุ์ (sin) meaning "river, stream", believed to be taken from the name of the nearby Nam Kam river. This is the name of a province of Thailand as well as said province's capital city.
Kalimantan(Political Subdivision, Island & Region)Indonesian, Banjar Means "burning weather (island)" from Sanskrit काल (kala) meaning "time, season" and मन्थान (manthana) meaning "churning, agitating, stirring". This is the name of the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, though it is used to refer to the entire island in Indonesian... [more]
Kalmakstan(Political Subdivision)Kyrgyz From калмак (kalmak), the Kyrgyz name for the Kalmyk people, combined with the Persian suffix -ستان (-stan) meaning "land of". This is the Kyrgyz name for Kalmykia.
Kalmykia(Political Subdivision)English From Russian Калмыкия (Kalmykiya) ultimately from хальмг (xal'mg), the native name of the Kalmyk people. The ethnic name is of probably Mongolian origin meaning "the people moving away", from Mongolian халих (khalikh) meaning "overflow, flood", referring to how the Kalmyk people were originally Mongolians who "leaked away" from their ancestral homeland... [more]
Kamphaeng Phet(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai From Thai กำแพง (kamphaeng) meaning "wall" and เพชร (phet) meaning "diamond". This is the name of a province of Thailand as well as a city in said province.
Kanchanaburi(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai From Thai กาญจน (kanchana) meaning "gold" and บุรี (buri) meaning "city, town". This is the name of a province of Thailand as well as said province's capital city.
Karadağ(Country)Turkish Means "black mountain" from Turkish kara meaning "black" and dağ meaning "mountain". This is the Turkish name for Montenegro, from a calque of the country's Montenegrin and Serbo-Croatian name, Crna Gora.
Karaganda(Settlement)English, Russian From Kazakh Қарағанды (Qaraghandy), which is derived from қараған (qaraghan) meaning "caragana" (a type of flower). This is the name of a city in Kazakhstan.
Karakalpakstan(Political Subdivision)English, Russian From Karakalpak Қарақалпақстан (Qaraqalpaqstan), itself from the name of the Karakalpak people combined with the Persian suffix ستان (stan) meaning "land of"... [more]
Karelia(Political Subdivision & Region)English From Russian Карелия (Kareliya), which is from Karelian and Finnish Karjala derived from Finnish karja meaning "cattle, livestock" combined with the suffix -la denoting location... [more]
Karti(Settlement)Mingrelian From the Kartvelian root kart- referring to a Georgian person (compare the Georgian endonym ქართველი (kartveli)). This is the Mingrelian name for Tbilisi.
Kartvelio(Country)Esperanto From Georgian ქართველი (kartveli), a term referring to a Georgian person. This is the Esperanto name for Georgia 1 (the country).
Kathmandu(Settlement)Nepali, English From the name of Kasthamandap, a Hindu temple and shrine in Nepal. The name means "wooden pavilion" from Sanskrit काष्ठ (kashtha) meaning "wood" combined with मण्डप (mandapa) meaning "pavilion, hall, square"... [more]
Kazan(Settlement)Tatar, Russian Probably derived from Turkic qazan meaning "kettle, cauldron". This is the name of the capital city of the Russian republic of Tatarstan.
Kazbek(Mountain)Russian, English From Arabic قاضي (qadi) meaning "judge, arbiter" combined with the Turkish military title beg meaning "chieftain, master". This is the name of a dormant stratovolcano and mountain located in the central Caucasus.
Kedah(Political Subdivision)Malay, English Derived from Arabic قتح (qataha), itself from Tamil கடாரம் (kadaram) possibly meaning "boiler, stockpot, cauldron". This is the name of a Malaysian state.
Kelantan(Political Subdivision)Malay, English Meaning uncertain, possibly from Malay gelam hutam meaning "cajeput" (a type of tree), kilatan meaning "lightning, flash" or kolam tanah meaning "dirt pool". Alternatively, it may be from Tamil கோலம் (kolam) referring to an art form from the Indian subcontinent consisting of stylised designs made of powder... [more]
Khakassia(Political Subdivision)English From Russian Хакасия (Khakasiya) derived from the name of the Khakas people, which is of uncertain meaning. This is the name of a republic of Russia.