-Stan Countries 2026

The suffix “-stan” is of Indo-European and Indo-Iranian origin. The suffix means “country” or “place of” in Persian. Countries and regions bearing this prefix are located throughout Asia, Russia, and other areas where Persian culture has been adopted. Seven countries have the suffix “-stan” in their English names: Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Of these nations, Kazakhstan is the largest by area. The smallest is Tajikistan. By population, Pakistan is the largest with a population of over 207 million. The smallest by population is Turkmenistan, which has a population of over 5.1 million.

There are also several nations whose Armenian, Persian, or Turkish names utilize the -stan suffix. In Armenian, this includes Armenia (Hayastan), Georgia (Vrastan), Greece (Hunastan), and Poland (Lehastan). In Persian, this includes Armenia (Armanestan), England (Engelestan), Georgia (Gorjestan), Hungary (Majarestan), India (Hindustan), Mongolia (Mogholestan), and Serbia (Serbestan). In Turkish, this includes Bulgaria (Bulgaristan), Croatia (Hirbatistan), Greece (Yunanistan), Hungary (Macaristan), India (Hindistan), Mongolia (Mogolistan), Saudi Arabia (Suudi Arabistan), and Serbia (Sirbistan).

There are also several sub-national regions and cities that feature the -stan suffix. These include the cities of Arghistan and Gulistan in Afghanistan, Burastan and Aygestan in Armenia, Takestan and Larestan in Iran, and other areas throughout Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, and Kazakhstan.