# why do some islamic countries end in 'stan' **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 26, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566 "2003-02-26T04:42:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Calculus_of_Logic)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/1 "2003-02-26T04:42:19Z")
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbeckistan, tajikistan turkmenistan Does ‘stan’ mean something signifigant in Arabic? ---
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/2 "2003-02-26T04:47:58Z")
I believe it is a regional thing, not an Islamic one, since the home of Islam is in countries like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/3 "2003-02-26T04:49:20Z")
I CAN NOT believe I just blew my 1000th post on that response. Shit. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/4 "2003-02-26T04:49:42Z")
Here ya go: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=88975](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=88975) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Calculus_of_Logic)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/5 "2003-02-26T04:51:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rhum Runner \* > \*\*I CAN NOT believe I just blew my 1000th post on that response. Shit. \*\* HAHA, now you have to be my slave in the afterlife. ---
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/6 "2003-02-26T04:52:04Z")
And to top it all off, I will now triple post - > [@](#): > > Onward. I actually knew the answer to this question and was just about to go looking for some more details when I stumbled across a very helpful (translation: did my work for me) article on the subject by Chris Suellentrop in the online magazine Slate ([www.slate.com](http://www.slate.com)). “Stan” in several Middle and Near Eastern languages means “land,” so “Afghanistan” simply means “Land of the Afghans,” “Uzbekistan” translates as “Land of the Uzbeks,” and so on. “Pakistan” is a bit fancier, meaning “Land of the Pure.” According to the Slate article, there are seven countries ending in “istan” or “stan”: Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. I happen to know of one other region ending in “stan” not mentioned in the article, Tatarstan in the Russian Federation, and there may well be others, but I seem to have misplaced my map. [Cite.](http://www.word-detective.com/112701.html) ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/7 "2003-02-26T05:03:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rhum Runner \* > \*\*I believe it is a regional thing, not an Islamic one, since the home of Islam is in countries like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, etc. \*\* Like in the other thread mentioned, Indians(Hindus) also refer to India as _Hindustan_ where _stan_ is literally, location. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/8 "2003-02-26T07:18:50Z")
The paragraph Rhum Runner quoted featured the following sentence: **"Pakistan" is a bit fancier, meaning "Land of the Pure."** The country’s name is also an acronym for several of its constituent regions, as well as a few neighbors. The “P”, for example, represents Punjab, while the “K” honors Kashmir. While I’ve heard that the “stan” simply refers to Baluchistan, this site claims that the “T” signifies the historical region of Tukharistan, while the second “A” is a nod to Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the first “A” reflects the fact that “[t]he real name of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) is Afghania.” Only the “N” covers BaluchistaN. “I” represents Iran, while “S” stands for Sindh. [http://www.khyber.demon.co.uk/history/pakistan/history.htm](http://www.khyber.demon.co.uk/history/pakistan/history.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/9 "2003-02-26T08:47:13Z")
There are also the wannabe -stans, like Kurdistan and Khalistan (a would-be Sikh homeland). ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/10 "2003-02-26T08:53:07Z")
And there are the musical -stans, like those from REM: > [@](#): > > -stan in the place where you work (now face Mecca) 😃 ---
**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:** [February 26, 2003, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/11 "2003-02-26T11:01:22Z")
As I wrote in the other thread, it’s related to the English words _stand, stay_, and _stationary_. It’s related to the Latin _stare_ ‘to stand, stay’ and Sanskrit _sthana_ ‘stand, station’. Meaning **a place to stay, an abode.** It doesn’t actually mean ‘land’ as some would-be etymologists have guessed. The Persian word for land is _zamîn_. As a combining form in Persian, _-stân_ or _-istân_ is used in forming words that have to do with places; for example, a rose garden is _gulistân_, a graveyard is _qabristân_. Literally, the place where things stay. ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/12 "2003-02-26T12:34:30Z")
Britistan. Francostan. Deutschstan. Merkinstan. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/13 "2003-02-26T13:17:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Calculus of Logic \* > \*\*Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbeckistan, tajikistan turkmenistan > Does ‘stan’ mean something signifigant in Arabic? \*\* I’d just like to point out that none of these countries are Arabic, and nor is Iran (whence Persian is derived). ---
**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:** [February 26, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/14 "2003-02-26T22:33:12Z")
The Persian language has very widespread influence of all over the eastern Islamic world. From Bosnia through Turkey, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Afghanistan, to Pakistan and India, the Persian language for centuries was the language of high culture and belles lettres. The Ottoman Turkish, Chaghatai (forerunner of Uzbek), and Urdu languages were all replete with tons and tons of Persian loanwords. The literary and poetic forms in all these countries imitated the Persian models. Even Hindi and other Indian languages use huge amounts of Persian loanwords to this day. This is why Pakistan has a name in the Persian language (which was coined as a play on words). When Czechoslovakia separated into two countries in 1993 … Slovakia, all right, that sounds fine. But I never liked the name “The Czech Republic.” What a cumbersome name. Too many clunky syllables. I would like to propose a much snappier sounding name: **Czechistan**. It just rolls right off the tongue. ---
**Author:** ![slipster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@slipster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slipster)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/15 "2003-02-26T23:29:19Z")
The suffixes “a” and “ia” are Western equivalents of “stan”. Hence Albania, Argentina, Bolivia, Bugaria, Colombia, Dalmatia… ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/16 "2003-02-26T23:41:55Z")
I wish I could remember what it was Hindu Stan told his brother Hindu Bob. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/17 "2003-02-27T00:08:19Z")
Armenia, which is not a Muslim nation, is known in the native language as “Hayastan”, with “Hay” meaning “Armenian”. Also, regarding Bosnia, I once saw the name “Khorvatistan” (Croatia-stan) used to describe part of that area when it was ruled by the Turks…I have no idea if that was a common name though. ---
**Author:** ![Osip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4491bb/32.png) [@Osip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osip)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/18 "2003-02-27T04:09:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Calculus of Logic \* > \*\*HAHA, now you have to be my slave in the afterlife. \*\* You bastard… never have I had laughed so damn hard… My chest hurts. RHum runner is now your afterlife B\*\*ch 🙂 Soooo funny. Gonna have to go find me one now. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-some-islamic-countries-end-in-stan/157566/19 "2003-02-27T05:40:08Z")
Try [www.czechia.org](http://www.czechia.org)