Transoxiana (sometimes spelled Transoxania) / Ma Wara'un-Nahr (Arabic: ما وراء النهر) / Farārood (Persian: فرارود) is the largely obsolete name used for the portion of Central Asia corresponding approximately with modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and southwest Kazakhstan. Geographically, it means the region between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. When used in the present, it usually implies that one is talking about that region in the time prior to about the 8th century AD, although the term continued to remain in use among western historians for several centuries after.