Pakistan

Meaning

Proper Noun

• country in South Asia (continent)

Origin

• From Urdu پاکستان ("Land of the Pure"), from پاک and Persian ـستان. The word was coined by Choudhary Rahmat Ali, who published it in the pamphlet Now or Never issued on January 28, 1933, as an acronym of the names of the "Muslim homelands" of western India—Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh, and Balochistan. An i was later added to the name to ease pronunciation.