Kazakh-stan, Afghan-stan, Uzbek-stan, Tajik-stan, Kyrgyz-stan, Pakistan, Turkmen-istan – seven familiar suffixes on our maps, each meaning, simply, “land.” There is, however, an eighth that has been deliberately erased from the…

Kazakh-stan, Afghan-stan, Uzbek-stan, Tajik-stan, Kyrgyz-stan, Pakistan, Turkmen-istan – seven familiar suffixes on our maps, each meaning, simply, “land.” There is, however, an eighth that has been deliberately erased from the…