Region of West Asia with a historical Kurdish presence
For other uses, see Kurdistan (disambiguation).
Kurdistan
کوردستان(Kurdish)
Kurdish-inhabited areas (according to the CIA, 1992)[1][2]
Main languages
Arabic
Kurdish
Persian
Turkish
Zaza–Gorani
Integrated parts of Iran and Turkey with varying degrees of autonomy in Iraq and Syria
Area
• Total
392,000 km2 (151,000 sq mi)[3]
Population
• Estimate
25-30 million[4]
Kurdistan (Kurdish: کوردستان, romanized: Kurdistan, lit. 'land of the Kurds'; [ˌkʊɾdɪˈstɑːn]ⓘ),[5] or Greater Kurdistan,[6][7] is a roughly defined geo-cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population[8] and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based.[9] Geographically, Kurdistan roughly encompasses the northwestern Zagros and the eastern Taurus mountain ranges.
Kurdistan generally comprises the following four regions: southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdistan), northern Iraq (Southern Kurdistan), northwestern Iran (Eastern Kurdistan), and northern Syria (Western Kurdistan).[3][10] Some definitions also include parts of southern Transcaucasia.[11] Certain Kurdish nationalist organizations seek to create an independent nation state consisting of some or all of these areas with a Kurdish majority, while others campaign for greater autonomy within the existing national boundaries.[12] Though, the delineation of the region remains disputed and varied, with some maps greatly exaggerating its boundaries.
Historically, the word "Kurdistan" is first attested in 11th century Seljuk chronicles.[13] Many disparate Kurdish dynasties, emirates, principalities, and chiefdoms were established from the 8th to 19th centuries. Administratively, the 20th century saw the establishment of the short-lived areas of the Kurdish state (1918–1919), Kingdom of Kurdistan (1921–1924), Kurdistansky Uyezd i.e. "Red Kurdistan" (1923–1929), Republic of Ararat (1927–1930), and Republic of Mahabad (1946).
Iraqi Kurdistan first gained autonomous status in a 1970 agreement with the Iraqi government, and its status was re-confirmed as the autonomous Kurdistan Region within the federal Iraqi republic in 2005.[14] There is also a Kurdistan Province in Iran, which is not self-ruled. Kurds fighting in the Syrian Civil War were able to take control of large sections of northern Syria and establish self-governing regions in an Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (commonly called Rojava), where they seek autonomy in a federal Syria after the war.[15]
^"Kurdish lands". Retrieved 6 November 2019.
^"The Kurdish lands". Library of Congress. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
^ abBois, Th; Minorsky, V.; MacKenzie, D. N. (2002). "Kurds, Kurdistān". Encyclopaedia of Islam (2 ed.). BRILL. ISBN 9789004161214. At present, the different provinces of Kurdistān cover around 190,000 km2 in Turkey, 125,000 km2 in Iran, 65,000 km2 in Irāḳ, and 12,000 km2 in Syria. The total area of Kurdistān can then be estimated at approximately 392,000 km2.
^"Kurdish People Fast Facts". CNN. 12 April 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
^"Kurdistan". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
^Turkey demands Google remove Greater Kurdistan map by Rudaw, December 25, 2018
^Kaya, Zeynep (2020). Mapping Kurdistan: Territory, Self-Determination and Nationalism. Cambridge University Press. pp. 2, 137, 177, 197.
^Zaken, Mordechai (2007). Jewish Subjects and Their Tribal Chieftains in Kurdistan: A Study in Survival. Leiden, The Netherlands: BRILL. pp. 1–2. ISBN 9789004161900. Kurdistan was never a sovereign state, though the area with an ethnic and linguistic majority of Kurdish population is defined as Kurdistan.
^M. T. O'Shea, Trapped between the map and reality: geography and perceptions of Kurdistan, 258 pp., Routledge, 2004. (see p. 77)
^Bengio, Ofra (2014). Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland. University of Texas Press. p. 2. Hence the terms: rojhalat (east, Iran), bashur (south, Iraq), bakur (north, Turkey), and rojava (west, Syria).
^Kurdistan (1 ed.). Oxford University Press. 2014. ISBN 9780199546091. Extensive mountainous and plateau region in sw Asia, inhabited by the Kurds and including parts of E Turkey, NE Iran, N Iraq, NE Syria, S Armenia and E Azerbaijan.{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
^Hamit Bozarslan “The Kurdish Question: Can it be solved within Europe?”, page 84 “The years of silence and of renewal” in Olivier Roy, ed. Turkey Today: A European Country?.
^Mitchell 2010.
^Iraqi Constitution, Article 113.
^"Kurds seek autonomy in democratic Syria". BBC. 16 August 2012.
Kurdistan (Kurdish: کوردستان, romanized: Kurdistan, lit. 'land of the Kurds'; [ˌkʊɾdɪˈstɑːn] ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo-cultural...
Kurdistan Region (KRI; Sorani Kurdish: هەرێمی کوردستان, romanized: Herêmî Kurdistan; Kurmanji Kurdish: Herêma Kurdistanê; Arabic: إقليم كردستان) is an...
Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan (Kurdish: باشووری کوردستان, romanized: Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq...
Turkish Kurdistan or Northern Kurdistan (Kurdish: Bakurê Kurdistanê) is the southeastern part of Turkey where Kurds form the predominant ethnic group...
Kurdistan or Kordestan province (Persian: استان کردستان, romanized: Ostān-e Kordestān; Kurdish: پارێزگای کوردستان, romanized: Parêzgay Kurdistan) is one...
flag of Kurdistan (Kurdish: ئاڵای کوردستان, Alaya Kurdistanê) is the flag of Kurds and was created by the Society for the Rise of Kurdistan in 1920....
Union of Kurdistan (PUK; Kurdish: یەکێتیی نیشتمانیی کوردستان, romanized: Yekêtîy Nîştimanîy Kurdistan) is a political party active in Kurdistan Region and...
Iranian Kurdistan or Eastern Kurdistan (Kurdish: ڕۆژھەڵاتی کوردستان, romanized: Rojhilatê Kurdistanê) is an unofficial name for the parts of northwestern...
and the primary investigative arm belonging to the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraqi Kurdistan, headquartered in Sulaymaniyah. The organization is...
party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government. It was founded in 1946 in Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan. The party states...
northeast. Syrian Kurdistan is often called Western Kurdistan or Rojava, one of the four "Lesser Kurdistans" that comprise "Greater Kurdistan", alongside Iranian...
Pêşmerge, transl. 'Those Who Face Death') comprise the standing military of Kurdistan Region, an autonomous political entity within the Republic of Iraq. According...
The main religions that exist or historically existed in Kurdistan are as follows: Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Yarsanism, Yazidism...
The Kingdom of Kurdistan was a short-lived Kurdish state proclaimed in the city of Sulaymaniyah following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. It lasted...
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) (Kurdish: حکوومەتی هەرێمی کوردستان, Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan) is the official executive body of the autonomous...
The Jews of Kurdistan are the Mizrahi Jewish communities from the geographic region of Kurdistan, roughly covering parts of northwestern Iran, northern...
The Parliament of Kurdistan (Kurdish: پەرلەمانی كوردستان ,Perlemanê Kurdistanê or simply Perleman, Arabic: برلمان كردستان), also called the Kurdish Parliament...
The coat of arms of Kurdistan Region is a Republican Eagle holding a sun on his wings and used by Kurdistan Region. Iraq portal Eagle of Saladin "Frontpage"...
Kurdistan Uezd, also known colloquially as Red Kurdistan, was a Soviet administrative unit within the Azerbaijan SSR that existed for six years from 1923...
The Kurdistan Communities Union (Kurdish: Koma Civakên Kurdistanê, KCK) is a Kurdish political organization committed to implementing Abdullah Öcalan's...
The Republic of Mahabad, also referred to as the Republic of Kurdistan (Kurdish: کۆماری کوردستان, romanized: Komara Kurdistanê; Persian: جمهوری مهاباد)...
modern-day Turkish Kurdistan, Iraqi Kurdistan, and Syrian Kurdistan, as well as a small part of Iranian Kurdistan. The term "Kurdistan" was used regularly...
Kurd) are an Iranic ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern...
Kurdistan Region on 30 September 2018 to elect Parliament. The election came a year after a failed bid for independence and left the ruling Kurdistan...
The Kurdistan Free Life Party, or PJAK (Kurdish: Partiya Jiyana Azad a Kurdistanê), is a Kurdish leftist anti-Islamic Republic of Iran armed militant...
The Kurdistan List (Kurdish: ليست كوردستان Lîstî Kurdistani), also known as the Kurdistan Alliance or the Brotherhood List, is the name of the electoral...