Means "land of the Turkmens"; a combination of Turkmen Türkmen, which is derived from Turkish Türk "Turk" and Sogdian -myn, -men "resembling, like" (in all meaning "resembling a Turk, like a Turk, co-Turk") and the Persian suffix ـستان (-stān) "land, place of", "country". Turkmenistan is a former Soviet state and a nation in Central Asia.