The Stan Countries

The Stan countries are a group of seven nations located in central Asia whose names, in English, end with the suffix Stan.

The word Stan originates from the Persian language and means country of or land of, therefore most of the world's languages with Persian, Arabic or Turkic origins will also use the Stan suffix.

The names of the countries of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

therefore all mean land of the - Afghans, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, Turkmen and Uzbeks.

The name of Pakistan however comes from the word PAKSTAN, which is an acronym of the names of the five northern regions of the former British Raj, which were -

Punjab

Afghania

Kashmir

I - Inserted for ease of pronunciation.

Sindh

BaluchisTAN.

There Are Also A Number Of Country Regions Around The World Which Include the Stan Suffix Including -

The Iranian provinces and towns of Ardestan, Baluchestan, Chamestan, Dashtestan, Khalajastan, Larestan, Golestan, Khuzestan, Kurdistan, Mehrestan, Parchestan, Sarvestan, Shahrestan, Takestan and Tangestan.

The Pakistani provinces of Balochistan and Gilgit–Baltistan.

The Russian republics of Bashkortostan, Dagestan and Tatarstan.

The Afghan towns and provinces of Nuristan, Hazaristan and Shahristan.

The Pakistani towns and provinces of Balochistan / Baluchistan, Baloristan, Baltistan, the Cholistan Desert, Dardistan and Waziristan, which is divided into North and South.

Gobustan Rayon in Azerbaijan.

Karakalpakstan in Uzbekistan.

Rajasthan in India.

Turkistan in Kazakhstan.

The native name of Armenia, which is Hayastan and the native name for India, which is Hindustan.

Khalistan, which is a proposed Sikh nation state located in the Indian Punjab.

Kurdistan, which is an ethno - cultural region located in northern Iraq and southern Iran.

The Word Has Also Gone On To Become The Root Of Several Other Place Names Around The World, Including -

Stand used in English means to position one's self.

Stadt used in German means city.

Sted used in Dutch and the Scandinavian languages which also means city.

Stan used in Polish means state.

Stan used in Croat and Serbian means habitat.

Stan used in Czech and Slovakian means headquarters.

CTAH (stan) used in Russian to mean to position one's self in a particular place.

HISTORICALLY

The ancient Silk Road, a vast trading route which linked China to Europe between the cities of Beijing in China and Istanbul in Turkey, was located along the mountain passes of each of the Stan countries. The most famous of these passes is the Khyber Pass, pictured below, which links Pakistan and Afghanistan via the Spin Ghar Mountains of the Wakhan Corridor.

GEOGRAPHICALLY

All of the Stan countries have vast mountainous terrains, Pakistan which is home to five peaks over eight thousand meters, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are home to several peaks over seven thousand meters, Uzbekistan is home to several peaks over four thousand meters and Turkmenistan is home to several peaks over three thousand meters.

Each of the seven Stan countries are located along side one another in an area which is located east of the Caspian Sea, due west of China and due south of central Russia.

POLITICALLY

With the exception of Pakistan, each of the Stan countries has had some form of colonial history with the former Soviet Union - USSR - Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were all at one time Soviet Socialist Republics, each of which gained independence when the union was disbanded after the Cold War in 1991.

Afghanistan, although not part of the USSR, also had the Soviet Union as a major power broker within the country for several decades. It has also had the most turbulent history of all the Stan countries, having suffered several wars and colonisations, both from the British and the Russians. The country has also been ruled by several different styles over the years, having been an Empire, an Emirate, a Kingdom, a Republic, a Taliban Republic and an Islamic Republic.

Pakistan on the other hand was once part of India. The country separated from India in 1947 to become an independent dominion for the Muslim majority who lived in the area, where the country became known as East Pakistan and West Pakistan. In 1956 the two nations became one, where they were then known as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, but a civil war in 1971 resulted in the area known as the former East Pakistan separated and became modern day, Bangladesh, and West Pakistan becoming the Pakistan we know today.

THEOCRATICALLY

The predominant religion in all of the Stan countries is Islam. With the exception of Pakistan, each of them has also had several Russian Orthodox churches and cathedrals built in them, a religion which is still respected and tolerated in the area to this day.

LINGUISTICALLY

The languages spoken by the people of the Stan countries originate from three main language groups.

Urdu is the official language of Pakistan. Urdu originates from the Indo - European language group and uses the Arabic script in it's written form.

Dialects of Persian, otherwise known as Farsi, are spoken in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, where the two Persian languages of Dari and Pashtu are also spoken, with the Arabic script used in the written form.

In Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan variants of several Turkic languages are spoken. The Turkic languages are part of the Altaic language group and use the Latin script in their written form.

All of the Stan countries, with the exception of Pakistan, also have Russian as an official language, where the Russian Cyrillic alphabet is used both in the writing style of the Russian language and their own Turkic or Persian languages.

CULTURALLY

Each of the Stan countries are made up of various ethnic tribal clans. This gives rise to each one of them hosting a varied mix of lifestyle, language, cuisine, music, arts and architectural styles, both from country to country and within the limits of each country.

THE KHYBER PASS - Image courtesy of James Mollison, wikmedia commons

AFGHANISTAN - Is the only Stan country to have been a Kingdom, having had eight kings during a two hundred and twenty six year monarchy from 1747 until a bloodless coup ousted the country's last king in 1973.

Afghanistan is home to the world's highest located motorway tunnel, the 2.6 kilometer long, Salang Tunnel, situated at an elevation of 3,878 meters above sea level.

KAZAKHSTAN - Is the largest of the Stan countries at 2.7 million square kilometers, making it the world's largest land locked country.

Kazakhstan was the last of the five Stan countries to become a Soviet Socialist Republic when it joined the union in 1936, twelve years after it's Stan neighbours who all joined in 1924.

KYRGYZSTAN - Is the world's country which is located furthest from any ocean coastline.

The rivers which flow through Kyrgyzstan all flow into closed drainage basins, meaning non of them actually flow into any of the world's oceans.

Kyrgyzstan Is also the site of the world's second largest mountain lake, Lake Issyk Kul, located at an altitude of 1,607 meters above sea level and covering a surface area of 6,236 square kilometers.

PAKISTAN - Is the site of five out of the world's fourteen mountains over eight thousand meters high, including the world's second highest mountain after Mount Everest, the 8,611 meter high K2.

TAJIKISTAN - Is the smallest of the Stan countries at just 143,100 square kilometers. Despite it's size it still has room for the world's largest glacier out side of the world's Polar regions, the 700 square kilometer, Fedchenko Glacier.

The country's capital city, Dushanbe, is also the site of the world's tallest flag pole, at 165 meters.

TURKMENISTAN - Is one of only two countries in the world which has an authoritarian / totalitarian government - North Korea is the other one - The country is highly secretive with an ideology which encourages total self sufficiency and discourages all forms of foreign visitors.

The country is rich in oil and gas deposits which has enabled it to build an extensive infrastructure which includes the world's second longest canal, the 1,375 kilometer, Guragam Canal, and several vibrant modern cities, where the country's capital city, Ashgabat, is home to the world's largest, enclosed ferris wheel.

Upon the formation of the new republic, the country's first president, Supamurat Niyazov, changed the names of the days of the week with names of family members and the names of the months of the year after Turkmen national heroes.

UZBEKISTAN - Is one of only two countries in the world classified as a double land locked country - The other one is Liechtenstein in Europe - That is a land locked country surrounded by other land locked countries.

The official language of Uzbekistan, Uzbek, is the only language in the world which has it's official written form in the three different alphabets / scripts of Arabic, Cyrillic and Latin.

Want to learn more about the Individual Stan countries? Then Visit our sister site - CountryFactsInc

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