Jamaica in other languages: exonyms, Kingston, parishes and ISO codes
Jamaica keeps one name in its only official language, English, and ISO 3166-1 codes it JM, JAM and 388. In other languages it becomes Jamaika, Yamayka, Ямайка or جامايكا: the list below gives it in 170 languages and variants, Kingston in 52, and the 14 parishes with their ISO 3166-2 codes.
Official languagesEnglish
Checked
- alpha-2
- JM
- alpha-3
- JAM
- numeric
- 388
- English
- Jamaica
- Capital
- KingstonKingston
ISO 3166-1, checked 28 October 2026
Jamaica in other languages: list of exonyms
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, Catalan, Welsh, Danish, Estonian, Hausa, Interlingua, Dutch, Norwegian, Occitan, Portuguese, Romanian, Northern Sami, Spanish, Swedish, Võro | eng / cat / cym / dan / est / hau / ina / nld / nor / oci / por / ron / sme / spa / swe / vor | Jamaica | same as written |
| Afrikaans, Breton, Lower Sorbian, Basque, Finnish, Kven, West Frisian, Guarani, Upper Sorbian, Hungarian, Indonesian, Javanese, Latvian, Lithuanian, Latgalian, Malagasy, Novial, Samogitian, Saterland Frisian, Swahili, Tetum | afr / bre / dsb / eus / fin / fkv / fry / grn / hsb / hun / ind / jav / lav / lit / ltg / mlg / nov / smg / stq / swa / tet | Jamaika | same as written |
| Czech, Croatian, Polish, Slovak, Slovenian | ces / hrv / pol / slk / slv | Jamajka | same as written |
| Italian, Ladin, Romansh, Sicilian | ita / lld / roh / scn | Giamaica | same as written |
| German, Luxembourgish, Low German | deu / ltz / nds | Jamaika | same as written |
| French, Jersey Norman French, Norman French | fra / jnf / nrm | Jamaïque | same as written |
| Asturian, Galician | ast / glg | Xamaica | same as written |
| Cornish, Wolof | cor / wol | Jamayka | same as written |
| Gagauz, Karakalpak | gag / kaa | Yamayka / Ямайка | Yamayka |
| Kinyarwanda, Kirundi | kin / run | Jamayika | same as written |
| Aragonese | arg | Chamaica | same as written |
| Aymara | aym | Xamayka | same as written |
| Azerbaijani | aze | Yamayka / Јамајка | Yamayka |
| Bambara | bam | Zamayiki | same as written |
| Bosnian | bos | Jamajka / Јамајка / يامايقا | Jamajka |
| Crimean Tatar | crh | Camayka / Джамайка | Camayka |
| Esperanto | epo | Jamajko | same as written |
| Faroese | fao | Jameika | same as written |
| Franco-Provençal | frp | J·amayica | same as written |
| Friulian | fur | Gjamaiche | same as written |
| Scottish Gaelic | gla | Iaimeuca | same as written |
| Irish | gle | Iamáice | same as written |
| Manx | glv | Yn Yamaicey | same as written |
| Haitian Creole | hat | Jamayik | same as written |
| Igbo | ibo | Jameka | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Jamaíka | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Cemayîka | same as written |
| Latin | lat | Iamaica, Jamaica | same as written |
| Lingala | lin | Jamaïke | same as written |
| Maltese | mlt | Ġamajka | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | Jamaica / Жамайка | Jamaica |
| Malay | msa | Jamaika / جامايكا | Jamaika |
| Nahuatl | nah | Xamaicān | same as written |
| Papiamentu | pap | Hamaika | same as written |
| Quechua | que | Shamayka | same as written |
| Kalderash Romani | rmy | Jamaika / जामाइका | Jamaika |
| Aromanian | rup | Iamaica | same as written |
| Slovio | slo | Jamaika / Йамаика | Jamaika |
| Samoan | smo | Iamaika | same as written |
| Somali | som | Jameyka | same as written |
| Albanian | sqi | Xhamajka | same as written |
| Sardinian | srd | Jamàica | same as written |
| Tagalog | tgl | Hamayka | same as written |
| Tongan | ton | Samaika | same as written |
| Turkmen | tuk | Ýamaýka / Ямайка | Ýamaýka |
| Turkish | tur | Jamaika, Jamayka | same as written |
| Uzbek | uzb | Yamayka / Ямайка / يەمەيكە | Yamayka |
| Vietnamese | vie | Ha-mai-ca | same as written |
| Volapük | vol | Camaykeän | same as written |
| Walloon | wln | Djamayike | same as written |
| Zazaki | zza | Cameika | same as written |
| Abaza, Altai, Avar, Khakas, Komi, Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Lezgi, Meadow Mari, Rusyn, Russian, Tuvan, Udmurt, Ukrainian, Kalmyk | abq / alt / ava / kjh / kom / krc / kum / lez / mhr / rue / rus / tyv / udm / ukr / xal | Ямайка | Jamajka |
| Bashkir, Chechen | bak / che | Ямайка / Yamayka | Yamayka |
| Abkhaz | abk | Иамаика | Iamaika |
| Belarusian | bel | Ямайка / Jamajka | Jamajka |
| Chuvash | chv | Ямайкӑ | Jamajkă |
| Kazakh | kaz | Ямайка / يامايكا / Yamayka | Yamayka |
| Kabardian | kbd | Ямайкэ | Jamajkă |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Ямайка / يامايكا / Yamayka | Yamayka |
| Kurdish (Caucasus) | kmr | Йамайка / Yamayka, Йамайк / Yamayk | Yamayka, Yamayk |
| Macedonian | mkd | Јамајка | Jamajka |
| Mongolian | mon | Ямайк | Jamajk |
| Ossetian | oss | Ямайкӕ | Jamajkä |
| Yakut | sah | Дьамайка | D'amajka |
| Serbian | srp | Јамајка / Jamajka | Jamajka |
| Tatar | tat | Ямайка / Yamayka / يامايكا | Yamayka |
| Tajik | tgk | Ямайка / یمیکه / Jamajka | Jamajka |
| Arabic | ara | جامايكا, جمايكا, جاميكا | Ǧāmāykā, Ǧamāykā, Ǧāmaykā |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | یامایکا / Yamayka | Yamayka |
| Sorani Kurdish | ckb | جامایکا / Camayka | Camayka |
| Persian | fas | جامائیکا / Jâmâikâ, ژامائیک / Žâmâik | Jâmâikâ, Žâmâik |
| Western Punjabi | pnb | جمائکا | Jamāʾikā |
| Dari | prs | جامایکا | Jāmāykā |
| Pashto | pus | جامايکا, جميکا | Jāmāykā, Jamaykā |
| Uyghur | uig | يامايكا / Yamayka / Ямайка | Yamayka |
| Urdu | urd | جمیکا | Jamækā |
| Dhivehi | div | ޖެމެއިކާ | Jemeikā |
| Hebrew | heb | ג׳מיקה, ג׳אמאיקה, ג׳אמייקה, ג׳מייקה | Jameyqah / Jamayqah, Jāmāyqah, Jāmayqah / Jāmeyqah, Jameyqah |
| Ladino | lad | זﬞאמאייקה / Jamayka | Jamayka |
| Yiddish | yid | דזשאַמײקע | Džameyke |
| Amharic | amh | ጃማይካ | Jamayka |
| Greek (Demotic) | ell | Τζαμάικα | Tzamáika |
| Greek (Katharevousa) | ell | Τζαμάϊκα, Ζαμάϊκα, Ἰαμάϊκα, Ἰαμαϊκή | Tzamáïka, Zamáïka, Iamáïka, Iamaïkī́ |
| Armenian | hye | Յամայկա, Ճամայկա, Ջամայկա | Yamayka, Čamayka, J̌amayka |
| Georgian, Mingrelian | kat / xmf | იამაიკა | Iamaika |
| Laz | lzz | ჟამაიკა / Jamaik’a | Jamaik’a |
| Hindi | hin | जमैका, जमाइका | Jamækā, Jamāikā |
| Bengali | ben | জামাইকা, জ্যামেকা | Jāmāikā, Jæmekā |
| Gujarati | guj | જમાઈકા | Jamāīkā |
| Odia | ori | ଜାମାଇକା | Jāmāikā |
| Punjabi | pan | ਜੈਮਾਈਕਾ | Jæmāīkā |
| Sinhala | sin | ජමෙයිකාව | Jameyikāva |
| Kannada | kan | ಜಮೈಕ | Jamaika |
| Malayalam | mal | ജമൈക്ക | Jamaikka |
| Tamil | tam | ஜமேக்கா, ஜமைக்கா, ஜமைகா | Jamēkkā, Jamaikkā, Jamaikā |
| Telugu | tel | జమైకా | Jamaikā |
| Chinese | zho | 牙買加/牙买加 | Yámǎijiā |
| Japanese | jpn | ジャマイカ | Jamaika |
| Korean | kor | 자마이카, 자메이카 | Jamaika, Jameika |
| Tibetan | bod | ཡ་མས་ཁ།, ཇ་མའི་ཀ། | Ya.mas.kʰa, Ja.ma'i.ka |
| Dzongkha | dzo | ཇ་མའི་ཀ། | Ja.ma'i.ka |
| Burmese | mya | ဂ္ယမေကာ | Jámeka |
| Thai | tha | จาเมกา | Čāmēkā |
| Khmer | khm | ហ្សាម៉ាអ៊ិគ, ចាម៉ៃកា | Hsāmā'ik, Čāmaikā |
Greek is listed twice, in the modern Demotic form and in the older Katharevousa spellings. Languages written in more than one script show each form, separated by a slash; Chinese gives traditional and simplified characters.
From Xaymaca to Jamaica, Jamaika and Yamayka
The name came to Europe through Spanish. The Taíno called the island Xaymaca, usually explained as land of wood and water or land of springs, and the Spanish x of the time stood for a sh sound. English kept the Spanish spelling with j, so the written name barely moved while its pronunciation did.
Each language then fitted the first sound to its own spelling. German, Finnish, Hungarian, Swahili and some twenty others write Jamaika. Italian has Giamaica, Maltese Ġamajka, Albanian Xhamajka, Galician and Asturian Xamaica. Where Spanish j was heard as h, the h stayed: Papiamentu Hamaika, Tagalog Hamayka, Aragonese Chamaica.
Turkic languages put a y at the start. Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Gagauz and Karakalpak write Yamayka, Turkish accepts Jamaika and Jamayka, Turkmen Ýamaýka. Russian and most languages written in Cyrillic share Ямайка, and Arabic gives جامايكا with two shorter spellings beside it. Hebrew lists four ways to write the name with ג׳, the letter gimel with a geresh for j.
Kingston in other languages
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, French | eng / fra | Kingston | same as written |
| German, Luxembourgish, Low German | deu / ltz / nds | Kingston | same as written |
| Moldovan, Turkmen | mol / tuk | Kingston / Кингстон | Kingston |
| Azerbaijani | aze | Kinqston / Кингстон | Kinqston |
| Bosnian | bos | Kingston / Кингстон / قٖىنغستۉن | Kingston |
| Esperanto | epo | Kingstono | same as written |
| Irish | gle | Kingston | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Kîngston | same as written |
| Latvian | lav | Kingstona | same as written |
| Lithuanian | lit | Kingstonas | same as written |
| Malay | msa | Kingston / كيڠستون | Kingston |
| Samogitian | smg | Kingstons | same as written |
| Uzbek | uzb | Kingston / Кингстон / كىڭستان | Kingston |
| Bashkir, Serbian | bak / srp | Кингстон / Kingston | Kingston |
| Mongolian, Russian | mon / rus | Кингстон | Kingston |
| Belarusian | bel | Кінгстан / Kinhstan | Kinhstan |
| Bulgarian | bul | Кингстън | Kingstăn |
| Kazakh | kaz | Кингстон / كينگستون / Kïngston | Kïngston |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Кингстон / كىنگستون / Kingston | Kingston |
| Yakut | sah | Киҥстон | Kiŋston |
| Tatar | tat | Кингстон / Kingston / كىنگستون | Kingston |
| Tajik | tgk | Кингстон / کینگستان / Kingston | Kingston |
| Ukrainian | ukr | Кінґстон | Kingston |
| Arabic | ara | كينغستون, كنغستون, كينجستون, كنجستون | Kīnġstūn, Kinġstūn, Kīngstūn, Kingstūn |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | کینقستون / Kinqston | Kinqston |
| Persian | fas | کینگستون / Kingston | Kingston |
| Pashto | pus | کينګسټون | Kīngsṫōn |
| Uyghur | uig | كىڭستون / Kingston / Кингстон | Kingston |
| Urdu | urd | کنگسٹن | Kingsṫan |
| Hebrew | heb | קינגסטון | Qīngsṭōn |
| Yiddish | yid | קינגסטאָן | Kingston |
| Amharic | amh | ኪንግስቶን | Kingston |
| Greek (Demotic) | ell | Κίνγκστον | Kíngkston |
| Greek (Katharevousa) | ell | Κίνγκστον, Κίγκστον, Κίνξστον | Kíngkston, Kígkston, Kínxston |
| Armenian | hye | Կինգստոն | Kingston |
| Georgian | kat | კინგსტონი | Kingstoni |
| Marathi | mar | किंग्स्टन | Kiṃgsṭan |
| Bengali | ben | কিংস্টন | Kiṃsṭôn |
| Kannada | kan | ಕಿಂಗ್ಸ್ಟನ್ | Kiṃgsṭan |
| Malayalam | mal | കിങ്സ്റ്റൺ | Kiṅsṟṟaṇ |
| Tamil | tam | கிங்ஸ்டன் | Kiṅsṭaṉ |
| Chinese | zho | 金斯敦 | Jīnsīdūn |
| Japanese | jpn | キングストン | Kingusuton |
| Korean | kor | 킹스턴 | Kingseuteon |
| Thai | tha | คิงส์ตัน | Kʰiṅ[s]tân |
| Khmer | khm | ឃីងស្តូន | Kʰīṅstūn |
Most languages keep the English spelling of Kingston. Baltic languages add a case ending (Kingstona, Kingstonas), Esperanto its noun ending (Kingstono).
The 14 parishes of Jamaica with ISO 3166-2 codes
Jamaica is divided into 14 parishes. The table gives the name ISO 3166-2 uses, the full English form and the town that serves as the parish capital. Kingston, the capital of the country, forms a parish of its own.
| ISO 3166-2 | Name in ISO 3166-2 | English | Administrative centre | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parishes14 | ||||
| JM-13 | Clarendon | Clarendon Parish | May PenMay Pen | |
| JM-09 | Hanover | Hanover Parish | LuceaLucea | |
| JM-01 | Kingston | Kingston Parish | ||
| JM-12 | Manchester | Manchester Parish | MandevilleMandeville | |
| JM-04 | Portland | Portland Parish | Port AntonioPort Antonio | |
| JM-02 | Saint Andrew | Saint Andrew Parish | Half Way TreeHalf Way Tree | |
| JM-06 | Saint Ann | Saint Ann Parish | Saint Ann's BaySaint Ann's Bay | |
| JM-14 | Saint Catherine | Saint Catherine Parish | Spanish TownSpanish Town | |
| JM-11 | Saint Elizabeth | Saint Elizabeth Parish | Black RiverBlack River | |
| JM-08 | Saint James | Saint James Parish | Montego BayMontego Bay | |
| JM-05 | Saint Mary | Saint Mary Parish | Port MariaPort Maria | |
| JM-03 | Saint Thomas | Saint Thomas Parish | Morant BayMorant Bay | |
| JM-07 | Trelawny | Trelawny Parish | FalmouthFalmouth | |
| JM-10 | Westmoreland | Westmoreland Parish | Savanna la MarSavanna la Mar | |
Codes and names: ISO 3166-2:JM on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, read from its English Wikipedia mirror on 28 October 2026; the list has not changed since ISO 3166-2 was first published in 1998. Parish capitals: the 2003 edition of this list.
Parishes and the three old counties
The ISO codes start at JM-01 for Kingston and are assigned counter-clockwise around the island, so the sequence runs through Saint Andrew (JM-02), seated at Half Way Tree, and Saint Thomas (JM-03) before it ends at JM-14, Saint Catherine. Seven of the fourteen parishes carry the name of a saint, from Saint Andrew to Saint Thomas.
Above the parishes, Jamaica still has three historic counties, which carry no ISO codes. Cornwall in the west had Montego Bay as its main town, Middlesex in the centre Spanish Town, and Surrey in the east Kingston. Spanish Town, the main town of the old Middlesex, is the seat of Saint Catherine today.
The flag drawn here follows the Wikimedia Commons file: a gold diagonal cross divides the field into green triangles at top and bottom and black triangles at the hoist and the fly, in the proportion 1:2.
Questions about the name Jamaica
What are Jamaica's ISO codes?
JM (alpha-2), JAM (alpha-3) and 388 (numeric) in ISO 3166-1. The parishes have codes from JM-01 to JM-14.
How do you write Jamaica in Arabic?
جامايكا, Ǧāmāykā. Shorter spellings are جمايكا and جاميكا.
Why do Turkish and Azerbaijani write Yamayka?
Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Gagauz and Karakalpak render the first sound with y and write Yamayka. Turkish uses both Jamaika and Jamayka.
Where does the name Jamaica come from?
From Xaymaca, the island's name in the Taíno language, which reached Europe through Spanish.
How many parishes does Jamaica have?
14, coded JM-01 (Kingston) to JM-14 (Saint Catherine). Three historic counties, Cornwall, Middlesex and Surrey, group them but have no ISO codes.