Wednesday, September 23, 2009

New York-stan



'Tis a comment, of course, on the names of Central Asian nations, which were suddenly thrust upon the American consciousness a few months earlier. Here's a complete list of nations which end in "stan":
  • Afghanistan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Pakistan
  • Tajikistan
  • Turkmenistan
  • Uzbekistan
Relaxing the rules slightly, there are a number of other entities that could potentially also qualify as "-stans":
  • Bashkortostan: "Subject of Russia" acting as an ethnic autonomy
  • Dagestan: "Subject of Russia" acting as an ethnic autonomy
  • East Turkestan is actually Xinjiang province in China and has a government in exile
  • Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province inside Tajikistan
  • Hayastan is an alternative name for Armenia
  • Hindustan: In the Kashmiri language this is the name for India
  • Iraqi Kurdistan: This is a federal region inside Iraq, but the Kurds would dearly love to have their own nation of "Kurdistan". But the idea isn't popular in the region.
  • Karakalpakstan: Autonomous republic inside Uzbekistan
  • Tatarstan: "Subject of Russia" acting as an ethnic autonomy
Relax the rules a little more, to allow any nation who's name ends in "-an", and this still adds a few more nations in the region:
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bhutan
  • Iran
  • Jordan
  • Oman
  • Sudan
But that could make the rules too loose, since it could also include the following:
  • Cayman Islands (Part of the British Commonwealth)
  • Golan (disputed by Israel, Syria, and Palestine)
  • Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (Part of the British Commonwealth)
  • Taiwan (claimed by China)
  • Vatican City

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