How do you say Germany, Japan, Brazil or South Africa in Kurdish? And what are the Kurdish names of their capitals? This free Kurdistan Voice reference brings together 195 countries and their capitals in an alphabetical English–Kurmanji guide.
Download the free World Countries and Capitals in Kurmanji PDF — an alphabetical reference covering 193 United Nations member states and the two UN observer states.
Why a Kurdish geography vocabulary guide?
Learning geography in one’s own language connects everyday vocabulary with global knowledge. Country names are encountered in news reports, schoolbooks, travel conversations, international politics and language lessons. A bilingual reference helps Kurdish learners, teachers and families find familiar names while comparing spelling across languages.
What is included?
The PDF has three columns: the English country name, its Kurmanji name, and the capital in a Kurdish-adapted spelling where one can be supplied responsibly. Entries are alphabetized by the English country name for easy lookup. The scope is 195 states: 193 UN members, the Holy See and Palestine.
Examples of countries and capitals
Almanya — Berlîn (Germany — Berlin); Fransa — Parîs (France — Paris); Îraq — Bexda (Iraq — Baghdad); Îran — Tehran (Iran — Tehran); Tirkiye — Enqere (Türkiye — Ankara); Sûriye — Şam (Syria — Damascus); and Japonya — Tokyo (Japan — Tokyo). The full guide includes all 195 entries.
Understanding Kurdish spellings
Kurdish comprises several language varieties, including Kurmanji and Sorani. This resource uses Latin-script Kurmanji as its principal reference variety. A country may have more than one familiar Kurdish form, and transliterations may differ between communities and publications. Some international place names are simply retained when a well-established Kurdish rendering cannot be confirmed.
The Kurdish country names are based principally on Kurdish locale terminology from Unicode CLDR, with selected editorial variants. This does not establish that every form is the only correct Kurdish spelling. Capital-name spellings are less consistently standardized and require continued linguistic review.
Special cases: more than one capital and disputed status
Not every country has a simple one-city capital arrangement. South Africa distributes executive, legislative and judicial functions across different cities. Bolivia, Benin and Eswatini also have distinctions between constitutional, administrative or governmental seats. These cases are noted in the PDF rather than compressed into misleading single-name answers.
The status of Jerusalem is disputed internationally. Israel designates Jerusalem as its capital; Palestine claims East Jerusalem as its capital, while Ramallah functions as an administrative centre. The PDF indicates this distinction without treating disputed political claims as uncontested facts.
How to use the free PDF
Readers can use the list for Kurmanji vocabulary study, classroom geography activities, translation practice and quick bilingual lookup. For formal publications, check individual country and capital spellings against up-to-date Kurdish-language and geographical sources.
Download the alphabetical PDF — World Countries and Capitals in Kurmanji. It is also listed in Books & Resources → PDF Resources.
Sources and further reading
United Nations — Member States; United Nations — Non-member States; Unicode CLDR language and territory data; and Kurdish geographical names reference. These sources support the list’s scope and terminology approach, but do not individually validate every capital transliteration.
This guide is part of Kurdistan Voice’s growing collection of free Kurdish-language educational resources. A separate future reference will address Kurdish names of cities and towns across Türkiye, Iran, Iraq and Syria.
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