# What does -istan mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 23, 2001, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354 "2001-09-23T17:08:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Murasaki312a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Murasaki312a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Murasaki312a)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2001, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/1 "2001-09-23T17:08:36Z")
I assume it’s akin to -opolis, but I can’t find it anywhere. Sorry if it’s been addressed alread; couldn’t find it on a search. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2001, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/2 "2001-09-23T17:18:20Z")
It simply means “land” or “nation”. “opolis” generally refers to cities rather than whole areas. Afghanistan = “land of the Afghans”. Try a google search with “stan suffix meaning”. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2001, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/3 "2001-09-23T17:27:01Z")
Supplement from the AHD: > [@](#): > > Many central and south Asian states and regions end with the element –stan, such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Baluchistan, Kurdistan, and Turkistan. This –stan is formed from the Iranian root \*st–, “to stand, stay,” and means “place (where one stays), home, country.” Iranian peoples have been the principal inhabitants of the geographical region occupied by these states for over a thousand years. The names are compounds of –stan and the name of the people living there. Pakistan is a bit of an exception; its name was coined in 1933 using the suffix –istan from Baluchistan preceded by the initial letters of Punjab, Afghanistan, and Kashmir. •Interestingly, a word almost identical in form, etymology, and meaning to the Iranian suffix –stan is found in Polish which has a word stan meaning “state” (in the senses of both polity and condition). It can be found in the Polish name for the “United States of America,” Stany Zjednoczone Ameryki (literally “States United of America”) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2001, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/4 "2001-09-23T19:31:37Z")
Iranian _-stan_, English _stand, stay, station_ (\ **Author:** ![Dale\_The\_Bold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@Dale\_The\_Bold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_The_Bold)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2001, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/5 "2001-09-23T20:10:47Z") Perhaps it refers to the color of desert sand. Pak _is tan_, Afghan _is tan_, etc. Naturally, this is not true, it’s just “Istan” bull. ---
**Author:** ![Chickenhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Chickenhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chickenhead)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2001, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/6 "2001-09-23T20:33:00Z")
Ustan corrected. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2001, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/7 "2001-09-23T20:49:23Z")
**yabob** – where your cite mentions Afghanistan as being the A in [Pakistan](http://www.unigroup.com/PTIC/body_history.html#BACKGROUND%20TO%20PARTITION) it seems to be a little confusing. Didn’t the A originally refer to just the North-West (i.e. Afghan) Province, rather than the whole of Afghanistan as we’d find it on a map today? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2001, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/8 "2001-09-23T21:06:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by everton \* > \*\ ***yabob** – where your cite mentions Afghanistan as being the A in [Pakistan](http://www.unigroup.com/PTIC/body_history.html#BACKGROUND%20TO%20PARTITION) it seems to be a little confusing. Didn’t the A originally refer to just the North-West (i.e. Afghan) Province, rather than the whole of Afghanistan as we’d find it on a map today? \*\* Probably. It’s just the etymology entry in the dictionary for Pakistan - not terribly detailed. ---
**Author:** ![Lockfist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@Lockfist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lockfist)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2001, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/9 "2001-09-23T21:33:28Z")
FYI - **India** is also known as _Hindustan_, in case you were wondering why it was left out. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/10 "2001-09-24T00:57:11Z")
My encyclopedia says Pakistan is “Land of the pure.” Why is it Afghans not Afghanistanis while it is Pakistanis and not Paks? ---
**Author:** ![Nonny\_Mouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5e9695/32.png) [@Nonny\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonny_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/11 "2001-09-24T01:04:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Markxxx \* > \*\*My encyclopedia says Pakistan is “Land of the pure.” > > Why is it Afghans not Afghanistanis while it is Pakistanis and not Paks? \*\* It just is. Nonny “the ever-helpful” Mouse ---
**Author:** ![Mersavets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aca169/32.png) [@Mersavets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mersavets)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/12 "2001-09-24T02:28:10Z")
I believe there is a difference between Afghans and Afghanis these days. Afghanis are citizens of the country known as Afghanistan. As opposed to young Muslim men who fought with the Mujahadin against the Soviets. In that case, there are Filipino Afghans, Palestinian Afghans and even a few American Afghans. This is a new distinction I think as Afghan _used_ to be the name of the citizen. I think the train running across Australia is called the Ghan. This is in memory of the Afghan camel drivers that the train made redundant. [sub]That last bit sounds like I made it up doesn’t it?[/sub]e ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/13 "2001-09-24T02:51:50Z")
“-ania” ---
**Author:** ![pennylane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pennylane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pennylane)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/14 "2001-09-24T09:24:24Z")
**Markxxx** is right - the “Pak” in Pakistan comes from the Urdu word “Pak” meaning “pure”. Thus the word “Pakistan” translates to “land of the pure”. I did hear something about the letters P, A and K vaguely referring to something or the other, but the main reason the “Pak” part of the word was chosen was because of its meaning. ---
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/15 "2001-09-24T11:18:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mersavets \* > \*\*I think the train running across Australia is called the Ghan. This is in memory of the Afghan camel drivers that the train made redundant. > [sub]That last bit sounds like I made it up doesn’t it?[/sub]e \*\* [tangent] You’re pretty close. The train running across Australia (Sydney or Melbourne to Perth) is the Indian-Pacific. The trip takes about 67 hours straight IIRC. The Ghan doesn’t exactly span the country; it makes a right turn to head up into the red centre rather than continuing west, but it’s still an epic trip - either Sydney to Adelaide, or Melbourne to Adelaide then on to Alice Springs. Sydney to Alice Springs will take you from 1.10pm Sunday departure to 10.00am Tuesday arrival. [/tangent] ---
**Author:** ![TheThill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheThill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheThill)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/16 "2001-09-24T12:20:09Z")
The ending is also used in some other languages to mean the same thing. Turkish has “Macaristan” meaning Hungary (land of the Magyars), “Mongolistan” for Mongolia and even “Yunanistan” for Greece. ---
**Author:** ![Murasaki312a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Murasaki312a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Murasaki312a)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2001, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/17 "2001-09-24T15:56:33Z")
Thanks for answering my question so thoroughly. Interesting stuff. Deb ---
**Author:** ![Jai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Jai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jai)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2001, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/18 "2001-09-29T22:04:38Z")
“Sthan” means Land in Sanskrit. Thus the name of the Indian state Rajasthan, or “Land of the Kings”. -Sthan is often used by non-Moslems in place names, whereas the ancient Persian -Stan is used by Moslems (ex: Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc…) ---
**Author:** ![Jai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Jai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jai)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2001, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/19 "2001-09-29T22:08:45Z")
Yes, Hindus are apt to call India by the Persian name given to the land of those who follow Hinduism: “Hindustan”; but “Hindusthan” (note the Sanskrit terminology) is a term coined that describes “akhand Bharat” or “greater India” which includes India, Pak, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Tibet, etc… i.e. the historical land called Bharat (“BH’ar-ut”) by the inhabitants. ---
**Author:** ![DVous\_Means](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@DVous\_Means](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DVous_Means)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354/20 "2001-09-30T01:33:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tavalla \* > > The Ghan doesn’t exactly span the country; it makes a right turn to head up into the red centre rather than continuing west, but it’s still an epic trip - either Sydney to Adelaide, or Melbourne to Adelaide then on to Alice Springs. Sydney to Alice Springs will take you from 1.10pm Sunday departure to 10.00am Tuesday arrival. > > [/tangent] \*\* The Ghan actually originates in Adelaide. It runs to Alice Springs, and presumably will run to Darwin when the Alice to Darwin link is completed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-istan-mean/83354.md?page=2)