-stan "koborsthan" ( "") "graveyard/cemetery", known as "Qabaristan" as (). Originally an independent noun, this morpheme evolved into a suffix by virtue of appearing frequently as the last part in nominal compounds. It is of Indo-Iranian and ultimately Indo-European origin: It is cognate with Sanskrit "" (Devanagari: ), meaning "the act of standing", from which many further meanings derive, including "place, location; abode, dwelling", and ultimately descends from Proto-Indo-Iranian . The Proto-Indo-European root from which this noun is derived is (older reconstruction ) "to stand" (or "to stand up, to step (somewhere), to position (oneself)"), which is also the source of
Tatarstan Republic of Tatarstan are Tatar and Russian. "Tatarstan" derives from the name of the ethnic group—the Tatars—and the Persian suffix "-stan" (meaning "state" or "country" of, an ending common to many Eurasian countries). Another version of the Russian name is "" ("Tatariya"), which was official along with "Tatar ASSR" during the Soviet rule. The republic is located in the center of the East European Plain, approximately east of Moscow. It lies between the Volga River and the Kama River (a tributary of the Volga), and extends east to the Ural mountains. Major rivers include (Tatar names are given in parentheses):