Ancient History Archives – Page 2 of 13

April 23, 2026April 23, 2026

T is for Tajikistan

The seven “stans” with Tajikistan highlighted. Generated from Mapchart.

Fast Facts:

Named for: Persian: تاجیک, romanized: tājīk, the Tayy tribe, whose first member may have been named “he who plastered the well”
Capital: Dushanbe
Long/Lat: 38.30 N/68.5 E , 7100 miles or 13 hours east of Castro Valley
Population: 10.8 million or 164 CVs
Size: 55,300 sq mi,or 3100 CVs
Avg temp in April: 68 F/ 20 F
Median income: $1,100 annually
Ethnicity: 86% Tajiks, 11% Uzbeks
Main industries: Aluminum, cotton, immigrant remittances (workers in other countries sending $$ home)

Like many of you, I have always been confused with the “-stans,” the seven Central Asian countries whose suffix means “land.” Everyone jokes about being unable to tell them apart–well, “everyone” who doesn’t live anywhere near there. I am sure that Tajikistanis would look at the USA and laugh at us creating Colorado and Wyoming. Squares? Americans have no imaginations! Why does Florida look like a man’s–

In the ongoing A-Z spirit of educating ourselves, I decided to make “T” Tajikistan, even though it’s not an especially small country. It’s 94th in size, which is in the middle of the list; it’s in the middle of the -stans, and the middle of Asia, the middle of what was once Persia, the middle of the Silk Road. It is in the middle.

April 20, 2026April 20, 2026

Q is for Qatar

Fast Facts:

Named for: Ancient land of Catarhei, according to Pliny the Elder.
Capital: Doha
Long/Lat: 25.2 N/51.3 E, 8000 miles and 16 hours east of Castro Valley
Population: 3.2 million, or 48 CVs. Approx 90% are migrant workers or expatriates.
Size: 4400 sq mi, 240 CVs. High population density.
Avg temp in April: 93 F/32 C
Median household income: $75,000 annually
Ethnicity: 48% Arab, 43% South Asian
Main industries: Oil, trade, commerce, tourism

Qatar is the only country that starts with a “Q,” and I never do this challenge if I can’t manage the Q, so there you go. Even though I just wrote of Oman, here we are again at another country right in the middle of the Strait of Hormuz.

In fact, yesterday the NYTimes pointed out that Qatar is between a rock and a hard place. That is, they are friendly with the U.S., meaning strong business ties and a military base, but they are also on good relations with Iran. Neither country is cheerful about dealing with a compromiser. As a result, Qatar has been subject to 700 missile and drone attacks since the Trump War started.

April 19, 2026April 19, 2026

P is for Panama

The country of Panama, on the isthmus situated between Costa Rica and Colombia.

Fast Facts

Named for: Possibly “butterflies” or “bannaba”=distant place or “place of many fish,” both in indigenous tongue.
Capital: Panama City
Long/Lat: 8.6 N/79.3 W, only 6 hours or 3000 miles SE of Castro Valley. Very close to the equator.
Population: 4.3 million, 65 Castro Valleys
Size: 29,000 sq mi, or 1600 Castro Valleys
Avg temp in April: 90 F/32 C (humidity 85%/ CV usually around 70%)
Median household income: $7,800
Ethnicity: 65% mestizo (mixed), 12% indigenous, 10% Black, 7% white.
Main industries: Trade, commerce, shrimp, copper, hydropower

Sometimes there is serendipity; the stars align. Things can be helped along by choice, but happy accidents may begin the process. Today is the day to write a post on “P” and today, as it happens, we are going through the Panama Canal. The A to Z challenge meets the travel blogs! Due to this exciting circumstance, I will write two posts. Today, I will cover the country of Panama in the same fashion as before, A through O. Tomorrow we will talk about the reason for the trip: going through the Canal.

The Most Ancient History of Panama

Today, let’s focus on early pre-Canal history. Really early, 200 million years ago: Pangaea.

If long-lived intelligent beings were to look through a telescope at this part of Earth, they might ask, Can’t they make up their minds? First, it’s all land, then it’s all sea, then land, then sea, then land… In other words: Pangaea, the Central American Seaway (CAS), the isthmus, the canal, then all the bridges. Humans want all the ways to go, sometimes through the water and sometimes on the roads.