Name of Afghanistan

The name Afghānistān (Persian: افغانستان‎, Afġānestān [avɣɒnesˈtɒn], Pashto: افغانستان‎ Afġānistān [avɣɒnisˈtɒn, abɣɒnisˈtɒn]) means "land of the Afghans", which originates from the ethnonym Afghan. Historically, the name Afghan mainly designated the Pashtun people, the largest ethnic group of Afghanistan. The earliest reference to the name is found in the 10th-century geography book known as Hudud ul-'alam. The last part of the name, -stān is a Persian suffix for "place". In 1857, in his review of J.W. Kaye's The Afghan War, Friedrich Engels describes "Afghanistan" as:

Name of Afghanistan

The name Afghānistān (Persian: افغانستان‎, Afġānestān [avɣɒnesˈtɒn], Pashto: افغانستان‎ Afġānistān [avɣɒnisˈtɒn, abɣɒnisˈtɒn]) means "land of the Afghans", which originates from the ethnonym Afghan. Historically, the name Afghan mainly designated the Pashtun people, the largest ethnic group of Afghanistan. The earliest reference to the name is found in the 10th-century geography book known as Hudud ul-'alam. The last part of the name, -stān is a Persian suffix for "place". In 1857, in his review of J.W. Kaye's The Afghan War, Friedrich Engels describes "Afghanistan" as: