Is Tazbekistan actually a real country?

Question: Is Tazbekistan, where the TV series Ambassadors is set, actually a real country?

Answer: The Central Asian Republic of Tazbekistan is in fact a fictional country, created purely for the show.

Speaking to the BBC, Ambassadors co-writer James Wood stated “We came up with a country called Tazbekistan, which is probably sort of near the Caucasus. It’s a little bit Uzbek, a little bit Kazak, a little bit Turkmenistan.”

Fellow series co-writer Rupert Walters added “It’s got bits of a lot of countries in it.”

When coming up with the name Tazbekistan, the writers clearly aimed to come up with something that sounded believable and like a real country, which they appeared to have done. Though with all the ‘stans’ in that region of Central Asia, it wasn’t too difficult. It’s basically Uzbekistan, just with Ta replacing the U.

Whether the creation of a fictional republic was to allow greater writing and filming freedom, or to help distance the show from any real world people or events, will likely depend on who you talk to.