STAN COUNTRIES
Looking at the Seven countries whose names end with stan, the countries I know most about are Pakistan and Afghanistan. But for ease of compiling information I am listing the countries alphabetically.
1 Afghanistan
2 Kazakstan
3 Krygysztan
4 Pakistan
5 Tajikistan
6 Turkmenistan
7 Uzbekistan
Since travel anywhere is off limits, the countries which are far away are just as near on the internet as those nearest us geographically. Whilst we are stuck at home, not travelling to work, or socialising, or taking overseas holidays or business trips, we have time to catch up on those countries we have always wanted to know more about.
STAN COUNTRIES' CAPITALS
James Elroy Flecker, born in Britain, wrote about the Golden Journey to Samarkand, a city on the famed Silk Road. The Silk Road ran East-West for miles across Europe and Asia to and from China in the Far East. Samarkand is in Uzbekistan, a country of mosques and mausoleums. Romantically, first in my mind, although alphabetically it is last on my list. Afghanistan and Pakistan I know a bit about, What of the two countries starting with K, Kazakstan and Krygyszstan, the two starting with T, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
On Sunday 12 April 2020, I discovered I had two hundred readers in Turkmenistan. Now, I thought, is a good day to find out about Turkmenistan and all the other nearby countries.
Stan means place or country. So Afghanistan is the land of the Afghans. And so on.
First, which is where?
Looking at the map above, Afghanistan is to the right of, East of Iran (which used to be called Persia).
1 Afghanistan
Afghanistan Flag
This is one of a small number of national flags which show a building, in this case a mosque. It is also a flag showing two flags.
Afghanistan (Kabul and Bamian)
The capital is Kabul
The Buddhas at Bamian were destroyed by the Taliban.
The people and languages are Pashtun, and Dari (version of Persian spoken in Afghanistan).
Lots of Afghans live in London, England.
If you want to try Afghan food, several restaurants in London, England, during the Coronavirus situation are offering take away food through delivery services.
2 Kazakhstan (Nur-Sultan)
Wikivoyage says do not mention Borat.
The capital is Nur-Sultan.
Kazakhstan flag
Which countries are on the Caspian Sea and which are landlocked?
3 Kyrgyzstan
To remember the country name, first knock off the stan. You are left with a word starting with K, and another sound similar to k, which is g. Think of Keg. The letter y appears twice. The third letter is r. think of cure. It ends with the last two letters of the alphabet, yz. Think of Kylie as in Kylie Minogue and gynae as in gynaecology. KYrGYZ.
The capital is Bishkek. How do you remember the spelling of Bish-kek?
BI - a BIg busy city where you will surely want to KicK off your travels.
The second city Osh. Think of Osh Kosh by gosh.
4 Pakistan
Flag of Pakistan
The white on the left does not show up on this white back ground page.
Pakistan - Capital
The capital is Islamabad. Other well-known cities are Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar from which we get delicious Peshwari nan.
In London, England, many 'Indian' restaurants are owned and operated by Pakistanis with waiters of Pakistani origin and the menus often feature my favourite Nan or flat bread, filled with sweet fruits, coconut, nuts and raisins or other ingredients.
In Pakistan several terrorist attacks on hotels made the country dangerous for western visitors. When a member of my family went there twice on business, he did not stay in hotels but with families and travelled to work with a local person (a colleague from the office there) and interpreter.
5 Tajikistan
Capital Dushanbe.
Landlocked.
6 Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan flag
Showing the Muslim symbols of the colour green and the crescent moon, and the red carpets with local symbols which are a feature of the country.
The capital is Ashgabat. How do I remember the capital. Turkish men's coffee was cooked and burned to Ash, Turkmenistan, Ashgabat.
7 Uzbekistan (Tashkent and Samarkand)
Uzbekistan is the land of the Uzbeks (and others). It was the centre of the silk road from China in the East going west across Asia and Europe.
Romantic names you know. Tashkent, the capital and largest city. Samarkand, the second city.
Tashkent
Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent was rebuilt after the 1966 earthquake and has many modern buildings, mosques and museums.
Samarkand
Samarkand is the second city of Uzbekistan. Samarkand's name means stone town (or fortress or think of it as land).
Wikivoyage helpfully and succinctly says:
USEFUL WEBSITES
*1 Afghanistan
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Afghanistan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_cuisine
* 2 Kazakhstan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakhstan
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Kazakhstan
* 3 Kyrgyzstan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrgyzstan
* 4 Pakistan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan
* 5 Tajikistan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajikistan
* 6 Turkmenistan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkmenistan
* 7 Uzbekistan
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Samarkand
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Elroy_Flecker
QUICK QUIZ
? 1 AFGHANISTAN
What is the capital of Afghanistan?
Name two languages spoken.
Where were the Buddhas destroyed?
? 2 KAJIKISTAN
How do you spell Kajikistan? Or Kajikstan?
What is the capital?
? 3 KAZAKHSTAN
How do you spell it? Kazak or Kazak h
What is the capital?
4 PAKISTAN?
What is the capital?
? 5 TAJIKSTAN
What is the capital?
^6 TURKMENISTAN
What is the capital?
? 7 UZBEKISTAN
What is the capital?
Is Samarkand the first or second city?
When was the earthquake? In which city?
Who wrote the Golden Journey to Samarkand?
Shakespeare. Hemingway. Marco Polo. Percy Bysshe Shelley. Keats. James Elroy Flecker.
Other Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naan
More later. To be continued in other posts.
About the Author
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See previous post on Turkmenistan. Please share links to your favourite posts.
Looking at the Seven countries whose names end with stan, the countries I know most about are Pakistan and Afghanistan. But for ease of compiling information I am listing the countries alphabetically.
1 Afghanistan
2 Kazakstan
3 Krygysztan
4 Pakistan
5 Tajikistan
6 Turkmenistan
7 Uzbekistan
Since travel anywhere is off limits, the countries which are far away are just as near on the internet as those nearest us geographically. Whilst we are stuck at home, not travelling to work, or socialising, or taking overseas holidays or business trips, we have time to catch up on those countries we have always wanted to know more about.
STAN COUNTRIES' CAPITALS
James Elroy Flecker, born in Britain, wrote about the Golden Journey to Samarkand, a city on the famed Silk Road. The Silk Road ran East-West for miles across Europe and Asia to and from China in the Far East. Samarkand is in Uzbekistan, a country of mosques and mausoleums. Romantically, first in my mind, although alphabetically it is last on my list. Afghanistan and Pakistan I know a bit about, What of the two countries starting with K, Kazakstan and Krygyszstan, the two starting with T, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
On Sunday 12 April 2020, I discovered I had two hundred readers in Turkmenistan. Now, I thought, is a good day to find out about Turkmenistan and all the other nearby countries.
Stan means place or country. So Afghanistan is the land of the Afghans. And so on.
First, which is where?
Looking at the map above, Afghanistan is to the right of, East of Iran (which used to be called Persia).
1 Afghanistan
Afghanistan Flag
This is one of a small number of national flags which show a building, in this case a mosque. It is also a flag showing two flags.
Holding the Afghanistan flag.
The capital is Kabul
The Buddhas at Bamian were destroyed by the Taliban.
The people and languages are Pashtun, and Dari (version of Persian spoken in Afghanistan).
Lots of Afghans live in London, England.
If you want to try Afghan food, several restaurants in London, England, during the Coronavirus situation are offering take away food through delivery services.
2 Kazakhstan (Nur-Sultan)
Wikivoyage says do not mention Borat.
The capital is Nur-Sultan.
Kazakhstan flag
Which countries are on the Caspian Sea and which are landlocked?
3 Kyrgyzstan
To remember the country name, first knock off the stan. You are left with a word starting with K, and another sound similar to k, which is g. Think of Keg. The letter y appears twice. The third letter is r. think of cure. It ends with the last two letters of the alphabet, yz. Think of Kylie as in Kylie Minogue and gynae as in gynaecology. KYrGYZ.
The capital is Bishkek. How do you remember the spelling of Bish-kek?
BI - a BIg busy city where you will surely want to KicK off your travels.
The second city Osh. Think of Osh Kosh by gosh.
4 Pakistan
Flag of Pakistan
The white on the left does not show up on this white back ground page.
Pakistan - Capital
The capital is Islamabad. Other well-known cities are Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar from which we get delicious Peshwari nan.
In London, England, many 'Indian' restaurants are owned and operated by Pakistanis with waiters of Pakistani origin and the menus often feature my favourite Nan or flat bread, filled with sweet fruits, coconut, nuts and raisins or other ingredients.
In Pakistan several terrorist attacks on hotels made the country dangerous for western visitors. When a member of my family went there twice on business, he did not stay in hotels but with families and travelled to work with a local person (a colleague from the office there) and interpreter.
5 Tajikistan
Capital Dushanbe.
Landlocked.
6 Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan flag
Showing the Muslim symbols of the colour green and the crescent moon, and the red carpets with local symbols which are a feature of the country.
The capital is Ashgabat. How do I remember the capital. Turkish men's coffee was cooked and burned to Ash, Turkmenistan, Ashgabat.
7 Uzbekistan (Tashkent and Samarkand)
Uzbekistan is the land of the Uzbeks (and others). It was the centre of the silk road from China in the East going west across Asia and Europe.
Romantic names you know. Tashkent, the capital and largest city. Samarkand, the second city.
Tashkent
Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent was rebuilt after the 1966 earthquake and has many modern buildings, mosques and museums.
Samarkand
Samarkand is the second city of Uzbekistan. Samarkand's name means stone town (or fortress or think of it as land).
Wikivoyage helpfully and succinctly says:
It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2001 as Samarkand - Crossroad of Cultures.
Turkmen Food
Turkmen Food
Russian cuisine is served in restaurants. As in Uzbekistan, plov and more central Asian-type fare can be found in markets. Sturgeon from the Caspian Sea is sometimes prepared in a 'tempura' style.
Starters
Meals often start with a soup, as chorba, a meat and vegetable soup.
Main dishes:
Another national dish is plov (pilaf), rice with mutton, onions, carrots, spices, raisins, peas or quinces.
Manty are steamed dumplings filled with lamb.
Ku'urma is lamb, cooked in its own fat.
Ichlekli is a meat and onion pie.
gutap is a pie filled with meat, potatoes, spinach and pumpkin.
Melon
Turkmens are very proud of their melons and the second Sunday in August is Melon Day. August 9th 2020.
Melon
Turkmens are very proud of their melons and the second Sunday in August is Melon Day. August 9th 2020.
History
USEFUL WEBSITES
*1 Afghanistan
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Afghanistan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_cuisine
* 2 Kazakhstan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakhstan
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Kazakhstan
* 3 Kyrgyzstan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrgyzstan
* 4 Pakistan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan
* 5 Tajikistan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajikistan
* 6 Turkmenistan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkmenistan
* 7 Uzbekistan
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Samarkand
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Elroy_Flecker
QUICK QUIZ
? 1 AFGHANISTAN
What is the capital of Afghanistan?
Name two languages spoken.
Where were the Buddhas destroyed?
? 2 KAJIKISTAN
How do you spell Kajikistan? Or Kajikstan?
What is the capital?
? 3 KAZAKHSTAN
How do you spell it? Kazak or Kazak h
What is the capital?
4 PAKISTAN?
What is the capital?
? 5 TAJIKSTAN
What is the capital?
^6 TURKMENISTAN
What is the capital?
? 7 UZBEKISTAN
What is the capital?
Is Samarkand the first or second city?
When was the earthquake? In which city?
Who wrote the Golden Journey to Samarkand?
Shakespeare. Hemingway. Marco Polo. Percy Bysshe Shelley. Keats. James Elroy Flecker.
Other Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naan
More later. To be continued in other posts.
About the Author
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See previous post on Turkmenistan. Please share links to your favourite posts.
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