Turanian is a controversial term that has been used in reference to diverse groups of people. It has had currency in Turanism, Pan-Turkism, and historic Turkish nationalism.
Many of the uses of the word are obsolete. It may refer to:
The Turanid raceAn Iranian ethnic group mentioned in the Avesta; see TuranAny historical people of Transoxiana or present-day TurkistanObsolete term for any historical Ural–Altaic people, in particular:The Turkic peoples during Turkic expansionThe Huns described by the Europeans and ChineseThe Mongols, who are distantly related to the TurksSome sources have mentioned the Japanese and Korean peoplesThe Sami or Lapps of northern ScandinaviaFinno-Ugric peoples like the Finns, Estonians, and HungariansThe Dravidian people of southern India and Pakistan were theorized to have Turanian ancestorsSpeakers of Caucasian languagesNon-Semitic and non-Indo-European peoples of the Late Bronze Age were theorized to have Turanian ancestors; see Hurro-Urartian and EtruscansThe term formerly used for the Caucasian Avars