Kazakhstan map. Image courtesy of University of Texas Libraries/CIA
President Nursultan Nazarbayev is considering rebranding Kazakhstan under a new name with the “stan” suffix, to help differentiate the oil-rich nation from its poorer neighbours in central Asia.
Speaking during a visit to a school in Atyrau, Nazarbayev said:
“The name of our country ends in “stan” as other states of the Central Asia. At the same time, foreigners take an interest in Mongolia, the population of which makes up only two million, but its name does not end in “stan”. Perhaps, eventually it is necessary to consider an issue of changing the name of our country into the “Kazakh Nation”, but first of all, it should necessarily be discussed with people”
Foreign businesses have invested billions of dollars in the country since it gained independence from the USSR in 1991, but the country’s impressive landscape and mountains remain relatively unknown to the wider world.
A name change to differentiate the country from nearby Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan may just give convince people it may be somewhere to explore, improving the country’s tourism income and leaving behind the image of Borat.
