Why all the Stans?
 

KazakhSTAN, KyrgyzSTAN, TajikiSTAN, TurkmeniSTAN, UzbekiSTAN, AfghanaSTAN, PakiSTAN. Just wondering why all the STANS? Anyone know the answer?

Stan means "I dare you to pronounce this."

My understanding is it means "land of".

Surely it means "land" or country - - no different than EngLAND, ScotLAND, NetherLANDs, FinLAND, DeutschLAND, ThaiLAND and so on. <BR> <BR>Whoops - - and I forgot - - DisneyLAND!! <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

According to the Indo-European Etymology Dictionary at Leiden University, NL, http://iiasnt.leidenuniv.nl/ied/ <BR> <BR>-stan has the following meanings: <BR> <BR>Church Slavic: stanú `camp' <BR>Russian: stan `figure, torso, camp' <BR>Czech: stan `tent' <BR>Slovak: stan `tent <BR> <BR>Indo-European reconstruction: steh2-no- <BR> <BR>Other cognates: Skt. sthƒ´na- `abode, place' [n] <BR> <BR>Hope that helps!

Two of my favorite countries are Laurelstan and Kubrickstan.

I understand that Tanya Harding is making a comeback, but the U.S. Olympic committee has banned her for life. <BR> <BR>So she has decided to skate for Skankistan.

I thought originally it was all part of Poland & then things started to get broken up, so each Stan got his own region. I'm wrong? <BR>BC

And then there's Roperstan and Musialstan.

Jack, Musialstan might be an interesting place to live, but I'm afraid there might be a lot of hitting and slugging going on all the time in that country.

From what I remember, Richard is right on this one ("land of").

What about Hotdogstan and Lemonadestan?

One of my favorite movies was "Stan By Me."

Had a very bad boss with that name. Can barely say the word/name out loud. Consoled myself that he was only one letter removed from sAtan. <BR>

Cindy, remember the Tammy Wynette song, Stan By Your Man???? Well, I don't know about you, but I don't want Stan anywhere near MY man.....

Popeye just called. He's been reading this thread, and FYI it seems he's stood alls he can stan, and he can't stan no more.

Consider how silly these wouls ound: <BR> <BR>KazakhOLLIE <BR>KyrgyzOLLIE <BR>TajikiOLLIE <BR>TurkmeniOLLIE <BR>UzbekiOLLIE <BR>AfghanaOLLIE <BR>PakiOLLIE <BR> <BR>I rest my case. <BR> Just wondering why all the STANS? Anyone know the answer?

Yes, it just means "land of." <BR> <BR>Unfortunately, most of those countries are artificial political creations and aren't the land of just one people. <BR> <BR>For instance, when the British were moving out of India in the 1940s, they created Pakistan, which originally was divided into East Pakistan and West Pakistan, out of the Muslim regions, and the Hindu regions became India, which also had never before existed as one unified country. The very name of Pakistan is actually an acronym of the ethnic groups it included! <BR> <BR>http://www.slam33.freeserve.co.uk/pakistan.htm <BR> <BR>In the early 1970s, East Pakistan, tired of being overshadowed and exploited by West Pakistan, rebelled and after a very messy war, became independent Bangladesh. <BR> <BR>Even so, Pakistan is a reluctant federation of groups that traditionally haven't gotten along. One of them, the Pashtuns, are also heavily represented in Afghanistan and most of the Taliban are Pathan (Pashtuns), who get lots of support (financial etc.) from Pakistan. <BR> <BR>Other ethnic groups in Afghanistan, including Uzbeks and Tajiks, are descended from Turks, and fled INTO Afghanistan early in the twentieth century, when the Soviet Union was overtaking their regions and persecuting Muslims. So of course, they are in the north and have more allegiances to the Stans to the north. <BR> <BR>So that's the story of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the other Stans are just as messy. To keep this on-topic: You don't want to travel there right now.

With no disrepect to the serious replies -- thanks to the rest of you for making me laugh out loud -- haven't done much laughing the last few weeks. <BR> <BR>:-)

Thanks Joanne for the informative comments. I figured I better read it before the Fodors police removed it. <BR> <BR>By the way, has anyone been to Bookstan or Newstan? I hear their inhabitants are quiet intellectual!! ;-)