Turkestan

American  

[tur-kuh-stan, -stahn, tur-kuh-stan, -stahn] / ˈtɜr kəˌstæn, -ˌstɑn, ˌtɜr kəˈstæn, -ˈstɑn /

Or Turkistan

noun

1. a vast region in western and central Asia, east of the Caspian Sea: includes territory in the south central part of Xinjiang province in China Eastern Turkestan or Chinese Turkestan, a strip of northern Afghanistan, and the area Russian Turkestan comprising the republics of Kazakhstan, Kirghizia (Kyrgyzstan), Tadzhikistan (Tajikistan), Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

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Turkestan British  

/ ˌtɜːkɪˈstɑːn /

noun

1. an extensive region of central Asia between Siberia in the north and Tibet, India, Afghanistan, and Iran in the south: formerly divided into West ( Russian ) Turkestan (also called Soviet Central Asia), comprising present-day Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan and the S part of Kazakhstan, and East ( Chinese ) Turkestan , approximating to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China

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Other Word Forms

• Turkestanian
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Turkestan

First recorded in 1710–20; from Persian Torkestān; literally, “land of the Turks”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Turkestan

In 2025, Kazakhstan's Turkestan region experienced eight months without rain and very low humidity levels, regional agricultural official Kazbek Bedebayev told AFP.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

Ethnically Uighur, Mamat left China at age 12 after an uprising in the region of East Turkestan, where most of Mamat’s extended family still lives.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 20, 2023

One of the volunteer speakers associated with the museum is Rushan Abbas, who is Uyghur and was born in East Turkestan — otherwise known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China — in 1967.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 20, 2022

There have been reports that members of the Uighur’s East Turkestan movement, which is demanding an independent homeland in northwest China, have been in Afghanistan.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 24, 2022

The Paropamisus forms the southern face of the Turkestan plateau, which contains the sources of the Murghab river; the northern face of the same plateau is defined by the Band-i-Turkestan.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various