126. All the "stans" in the World

Ever wondered exactly how many “-stans” there are in the world? These are the countries or regions whose names end with the suffix -stan. In Persian, stan means “place” or “land.” For example, Uzbekistan means “land of the Uzbeks,” and Afghanistan means “land of the Afghans.” Its equivalent in English is -land, as in England or Scotland.

It is difficult to give a definite number of “-stans” in the world because the names of some regions have changed and are now part of history. Others are historical regions that are no longer in use or relevant. The count also depends on the language you speak. For instance, if you are a Turkish speaker, you might add more than ten additional “-stans” to the list. Most of these are not independent sovereign states but administrative regions within different countries. Almost all of them are located in Asia and in the northern hemisphere. Out of them, eight are independent countries. The list is given below.

No.	Country	Population	%	Area Km2	%	Density
1	Pakistan	212,745,000	66.57	881,913	15.93	226.6
2	Uzbekistan	33,250,000	10.40	447,400	8.08	67.5
3	Afghanistan	31,575,000	9.88	652,230	11.78	43.5
4	Kazakhstan	18,312,000	5.73	2,724,900	49.21	6.3
5	Tajikistan	9,050,000	2.83	143,100	2.58	55.9
6	Kyrgyzstan	6,020,000	1.88	199,900	3.61	27.8
7	Turkmenistan	5,660,000	1.77	488,100	8.81	10.5
8	Hayastan (Armenia)	2,951,745	0.92	29,743	0.54	99.25
Total		319,563,745		5,537,543		57.71

	World	Stans	%
Population	7,594,000,000	319,563,745	4.21
Area	148,940,000	5,537,543	3.72

A map of all the stans in the world. 

As we have noted above Pakistan is the most populous of all the countries with the suffix, -stan. It has nine sub -stans, details of which is given below:

	Pakistan
No.	Region	Description	Population	Area Km2
1	Balochistan	Province	12,344,408	347,190
2	Waziristan North	District of KP Province	543,254	4,707
3	Waziristan South	District of KP Province	674,065	6,500
4	Kohistan	District of KP Province	784,711	7,492
5	Baltistan	Administrtative Unit	510,392	39,370
6	Kohistan-e-Namak	Mountains Range
7	Cholistan	Desert in Punjab
8	Dardistan	Historic Region
9	Baloristan	Historic name of northern regions of Pakistan
Total			14,856,830	405,259

The above map shows the location of stans in Pakistan. 

Uzbekistan is the second biggest country in this category and it has one large and one small administrative unit with this suffix and three towns. 

	Uzbekistan
No.	Region	Description	Population	Area Km2
1	Karakalpakstan	Division	1,817,500	161,358
2	Gulistan	District	77,000	350
3	Shakhristan	Town
4	Bakhoristan	Town
5	Buston	Town
Total			1,894,500	161,708

Being the home of the Persian language, no wonder Iran has the largest number of "stans" with many provinces, historical regions, districts, and towns. 

	Iran
No.	Region	Description	Population	Area Km2
1	Baluchestan va Sistan	Province	2,775,014	180,726
2	Golestan	Province	1,868,819	20,195
3	Kordestan	Province	1,603,011	29,137
4	Lorestan	Province	1,760,649	28,294
5	Khuzestan	Province	4,710,509	64,055
6	Mazandran	Historic Tabaristan	3,283,582	23,701
7	Azadistan	Historic Region (A short-lived state in 1920)
Total			16,001,584	325,913

No.	Region	Description	Province
1	Takestan	District	Qazvin
2	Chamestan	Distrcit	Mazandaran
3	Bajestan	Distrcit	Razavi Khorasan
4	Ardestan	Distrcit	Isfahan
5	Sarvestan	Distrcit	Fars
6	Larestan	Distrcit	Fars
7	Dashstestan	Distrcit	Bushehr
8	Tangestan	Distrcit	Bushehr
9	Mehrestan	Distrcit	Baluchestan
10	Khajastan	District	QOM
11	Burestan	Town
12	Takestan	Town
13	Golestan	Town
14	Shahrestan	Town

Afghanistan also has regions with the suffix of "stan". One of them is a province and the second, Zabulistan, is a historic region, roughly encompassing the provinces of Zabul and Ghazni. 

	Afghanistan
No.	Region	Description	Population	Area Km2
1	Nuristan	Province	147,967	9,225
2	Zabulistan (Ghazni + Zabul)	Historic Region	1,532,957	40,258
3
4	Takhar	Historically Takharistan
5	Gulistan	Farah Province
6	Arghistan	Kandahar Province
7	Arjistan	Ghazni Province
8	Malistan	Ghazni Province
9	Shahristan	Dayakundi Province
10	Kohistan	Kapisa
11	Raghistan	Badakhshan
12	Rigestan	Desert

Before 1991, most of the above-mentioned "stans" were part of the USSR. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, these states became independent. However, the successor state, Russia, has three administrative areas that have the suffix "stans."  

	Russia
No.	Region	Description	Population	Area Km2
1	Dagestan	Republic	3,779,265	68,000
2	Tatarstan	Republic	2,576,531	50,300
3	Bashkortostan	Republic	4,104,336	143,600
Total			10,460,132	261,900

Iraq has a large Kurdish population, inhabiting north-eastern regions of Iraq. After the uprising in 1991 Kurds were able to establish a semi-independent state for the first time in the recent history of Kurds. Since then it has survived in various degrees of authority and borders. Kurds claim many areas outside their control but they still have to reach an agreement with the Iraqi government. 

	Iraq
No.	Region	Description	Population	Area Km2
1	Kurdistan	Autonomous Region	5,122,747	41,220

	Azerbaijan
No.	Region	Description	Population	Area Km2
1	Gobustan	District	41,100	1,370

China's Xinjiang autonomous region was eastern part of Turkestan, a vast area inhabited by Turks in central Asia. It is often referred to as Chinese Turkestan or East Turkestan. But China does not recognize any such name. 

	China
No.	Region	Description	Population	Area Km2
1	East Turkestan	Historic Region	24,870,000	1,664,897

Now the last four "stans" in the list. Hindustan is the historic name of India and is still widely used in and outside India, especially among Urdu, Persian, and Turkish-speaking peoples. One of its administrative units is also called Rajasthan. The suffix "isthan" does not fully rhyme with "stan" but has the same meaning. And Hindi, being a language of the Indo-Aryan group of languages, as Persian is, leaves little doubt that "isthan" has the same origin and meaning.

Two more "stans" in India were just an idea and were proposed at the time of independence in 1947. One of them was Usmanistan, proposed as an independent state of Hyderabad. Hyderabad actually tried to maintain an independent status but failed. Similarly, some Sikhs thought of creating an independent country for Sikhs, on the lines of Pakistan for the Muslims. But the idea did not gain widespread support. However, in the 1980s, some groups of Sikhs launched a bloody insurgency, which was suppressed with considerable difficulty and bloodshed. By the 1990s, the movement had lost its momentum and support.

	India
No.	Region	Description	Population	Area Km2
1	Rajasthan	State	68,548,437	342,239 km
2	Hindustan	Historic
3	Khalistan	A proposed region centered on Indian Punjab
4	Usmanistan	A proposed region based on Hyderabad state

South African government under the policy of Apartheid, designated some territories for the black peoples, to keep them segregated from the rest of the country. These territories, called homelands, were also referred to as Bantustan. 

The map given above, shows the homelands of black peoples, referred to as Bantustan. 

(Map from Wikipedia)

In Armenia and Turkey I found  5 more stans:

	Armenia / Turkey
No.	Name	Description	Country
1	Mrgastan	Town	Armenia
2	Burastan	Town	Armenia
3	Aygestan	Town	Armenia
4	Dzorastan	Town	Armenia
5	Elbistan	Town	Turkey

In this post, I have listed 8 countries and 58 administrative or historic areas and almost a dozen more cities and towns in the map given below at the end. But if you count the names of the countries as pronounced in some languages you can discover a dozen more stans: (I have taken the list from Wikipedia)

No.	English Name	Persian Name	Turkish Name	Armenian Name
01	Armenia	Armanestân	Ermenistan	Hayastan
02	Bulgaria	Bulgharestân	Bulgaristan
03	Croatia		Hırvatistan
04	England	Engelestân
05	Georgia	Gorjestân	Gürcistan	Vrastan
06	Greece		Yunanistan	Hunastan
07	Hungary	Majarestan	Macaristan
08	India	Hindustan	Hindistan	Hndkastan
09	Mongolia	Mogholestan	Moğolistan
10	Poland	Lahestân		Lehastan
11	Saudi Arabia	Arabestân-e Sa'udi	Saudi Arabistan
12	Serbia	Serbestân	Sırbistan

So I managed to find almost 90 stans. More imaginary "stans" can still be discovered or contrived, but that will take us to the borders of Absurdistan (yes, that too is a stan). So let us consider this sufficient for our study. Anyway, you are welcome to inform me about a "stan" you can find on a map and not just in your imagination.

Tariq Amir

April 29, 2020.

Doha - Qatar.