Ariana (Aryana), the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek  Ar(e)iane (inhabitants: ; Ar(e)ianoi), was a general geographical term used by some Greek and Roman authors of the ancient period for a district of wide extent between Central Asia and the Indus River, comprehending the eastern provinces of the Achaemenid Empire that covered the whole country of modern day Afghanistan, and a few parts of India, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.