Some American hams are lucky enough to have four letter call signs such as: K1JT
Are American hams the only ones with the possibility of a four letter call sign? Is there another country that grants four letter call signs to individuals on a regular basis (and not just to the royal family, special events, clubs, etc).
The type of call signs that you referenced are referred to as 1x2 (one by two) call signs in the USA. Due to the limited number of such call signs and their historical significance, these are the most sought after in the USA.
But 1x2 call signs are not unique to the USA. Consider the well publicized (but commonly misunderstood) G5RV antenna, named after the UK 1x2 call sign holder that invented it. The call is currently held by a UK club in commemoration.
An even more rare call is a 2x0 call sign. A popular example of this was King Hussein of Jordan, JY1. While he could obviously obtain any Jordanian call sign, he was known for his personable on the air conversations despite his political standing.
In the USA, hams may apply for a 1x1 call sign that may be used for special events for a limited time. The call is then recycled for future applicants.
Note that the call sign prefix (the part before, or including, the number) is assigned by the ITU. A listing may be found here
You have 4 character call signs in Ireland as well.
Example would be EI0Z (you are likely to be prompted for login following this link)
They are rare, and are either "old" or given only to clubs and only for a specific purpose, such as contesting.
Russian hams can have four-character callsigns as well, and interestingly, they can be either 1x2 (R2AZ) or 2x1 (RA3Q; UA3A). Also of note is the fact that those are the only available "vanity" callsigns; you can't ask for a specific 1x3.
FCC reissued the 1x2 call signs a decade ago, as essentially all the original holders were dead. You needed an extra class license to get them, so I took a 20 word per minute code test and a technical test to qualify, and applied the minute reallocation opened. The code test is now no longer required. I got a 1x2 call sign with my initials, obviously there can be very few of these, so so it's rare. I suppose a few of these call signs will go back into allocation as hams become silent keys, That's what we call the ones who have passed on. But the best way to get these would be as a memorial station, either operated by a descendant or a club.
