Working with the “Stans”

When we tell people the IPM project collaborates with colleagues in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, they are often unsure where these countries are. But, if we say they are located by all the other "stan" countries, then we get a flash of recognition.

The suffix "stan" means "land of," so Uzbekistan is the land of the Uzbeks, and Tajikistan is the land of the Tajiks and so forth. These countries have overlapping populations of various ethnic groups with distinct cultures. During the 20th century, they were part of the Soviet Union until it was dissolved in the early 1990's.

Our travel in late May and early June will take us via Amsterdam to Istanbul, Turkey; Aleppo, Syria; and then Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Here's a map that shows the region (courtesy of the library of Univ of Texas web site). Kyrgyzstan is a little hard to read -- it is the blue-green country at the far right of the map.


Posted by JL.