View source for Place:Kurdistan

{{Short description|Region of West Asia with a historical Kurdish presence}}

{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Kurdistan
| common_name            = Kurdistan
| native_name            = {{Native name|ku|کوردستان}}
| image_map              = Kurdish-inhabited areas (orthographic projection with inset).svg
| languages_type         = Main languages
| languages              = {{Unbulleted list|[[Social:Arabic|Arabic]]|[[Social:Kurdish languages|Kurdish]]|[[Social:Persian language|Persian]]||[[Social:Turkish language|Turkish]]|Zaza–Gorani}}
| sovereignty_type       = Integrated parts {{nobold|of [[Religion:Iran|Iran]] and [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]] with varying degrees of autonomy in Iraq and [[Place:Syria|Syria]]}}
| area_km2               = 392000
| area_footnote          = <ref name=":0"/>
| population_estimate    = 25-30 million<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 April 2023 |title=Kurdish People Fast Facts |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/18/world/kurdish-people-fast-facts/index.html |access-date=24 December 2023 |website=CNN}}</ref>
| image_map_caption      = Kurdish-inhabited areas (according to the CIA, 1992)<ref>{{cite web |title=Kurdish lands |url=https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/kurdish_lands_92.jpg |access-date=6 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Kurdish lands. |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/93682579/ |website=Library of Congress|access-date=6 November 2019}}</ref>
}}

'''Kurdistan''' ({{lang-ku|کوردستان|Kurdistan|lit=land of the Kurds}}; {{IPA-ku|ˌkʊɾdɪˈstɑːn||Ku-Kurdistan.oga}}),<ref name="BritannicaKurdistan">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Kurdistan |title=Kurdistan |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |access-date=29 July 2010}}</ref> or '''Greater Kurdistan''',<ref>[http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/25122018 Turkey demands Google remove Greater Kurdistan map] by ''Rudaw'', December 25, 2018</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Kaya|first= Zeynep|date=2020|title= Mapping Kurdistan: Territory, Self-Determination and Nationalism |publisher= Cambridge University Press|pages= 2, 137, 177, 197|quote= }}</ref> is a roughly defined geo-cultural region in [[Place:West Asia|West Asia]] wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population<ref name="Zaken">{{cite book |last1=Zaken |first1=Mordechai |year=2007 |title=Jewish Subjects and Their Tribal Chieftains in Kurdistan: A Study in Survival |quote=Kurdistan was never a sovereign state, though the area with an ethnic and linguistic majority of Kurdish population is defined as Kurdistan. |publisher=BRILL |location=Leiden, The Netherlands |isbn=9789004161900 |pages=1–2}}</ref> and the Kurdish culture, [[Social:Kurdish languages|languages]], and [[Social:National identity|national identity]] have historically been based.<ref>M. T. O'Shea, ''Trapped between the map and reality: geography and perceptions of Kurdistan'', 258 pp., Routledge, 2004. (see p. 77)</ref> Geographically, Kurdistan roughly encompasses the northwestern [[Place:Zagros Mountains|Zagros]] and the eastern [[Place:Taurus Mountains|Taurus]] mountain ranges.<!--The name Kurdistan was used in 1150 by the Seljuk Sultan Sanjar for designating a portion of western [[Religion:Iran|Iran]].<ref>[http://www.kurdishglobe.net/displayArticle.jsp?id=8F45BFF7E739694E09A76D76AB92C3F8 Kurdish Globe], accessed: 1 March 2010.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.institutkurde.org/en/institute/who_are_the_kurds.php |title=Who Are the Kurds? |work=institutkurde.org}}</ref> with connotations of the older toponyms ''Curdia''<ref>Sir Anthony Sherley and His Persian Adventure, Sir Anthony Sherley, Edward Denison Ross, Published 2004 Routledge (first published 1933), 293 pages, {{ISBN|0-415-34486-7}}, page: 269</ref> and the ancient Corduene<ref name="A.D. Lee, 1991 pp. 366–374" />-->

Kurdistan generally comprises the following four regions: southeastern [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]] ([[Place:Turkish Kurdistan|Northern Kurdistan]]), northern Iraq ([[Place:Iraqi Kurdistan|Southern Kurdistan]]), northwestern [[Religion:Iran|Iran]] (Eastern Kurdistan), and northern [[Place:Syria|Syria]] ([[Place:Syrian Kurdistan|Western Kurdistan]]).<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|date=2002|title=Kurds, Kurdistān|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/kurds-kurdistan-COM_0544?s.num=167&s.start=100|journal=Encyclopaedia of Islam|edition=2|publisher=[[Company:Brill Publishers|BRILL]]|isbn=9789004161214|quote=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.|last1=Bois|first1=Th|last2=Minorsky|first2=V.|last3=MacKenzie|first3=D. N.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Bengio |first= Ofra |date=2014 |title= Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland  |publisher= University of Texas Press |page=2 |quote= Hence the terms: ''rojhalat'' (east, Iran), ''bashur'' (south, Iraq), ''bakur'' (north, Turkey), and ''rojava'' (west, Syria).}}</ref> Some definitions also include parts of southern [[Place:South Caucasus|Transcaucasia]].<ref>{{Cite book|date=2014|title=Kurdistan|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199546091.001.0001/acref-9780199546091-e-6409?rskey=qc0zxh&result=1|journal=World Encyclopedia|edition=1|publisher=[[Organization:Oxford University Press|Oxford University Press]]|isbn=9780199546091|quote=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.}}</ref> Certain Kurdish nationalist organizations seek to create an independent [[Social:Nation state|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.<ref>Hamit Bozarslan “The Kurdish Question: Can it be solved within Europe?”, [https://books.google.com/books?id=AJpvnC54S8EC&pg=PA84 page 84 “The years of silence and of renewal”] in Olivier Roy, ed. ''Turkey Today: A European Country?''.</ref> 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.{{sfn|Mitchell|2010}} Many disparate [[Place:List of Kurdish dynasties and countries|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), [[History:Kingdom of Kurdistan|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.<ref>Iraqi Constitution, Article 113.</ref> There is also a Kurdistan Province in Iran, but it 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 [[Place:Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria|Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria]] (commonly called Rojava), where they seek autonomy in a federal Syria after the war.<ref>{{cite news |title=Kurds seek autonomy in democratic Syria |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19291072 |date=16 August 2012}}</ref>

== Etymology and delineation ==
Kurdistan means "Land of the Kurds"<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Vanly|first1=Ismet Chérif|last2=Vanly|first2=Ismet Cheriff|date=1977|title=Coup d'oeil sur la culture nationale Kurde|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25816505|journal=Oriente Moderno|volume=57|issue=9/10|pages=445|doi=10.1163/22138617-0570910007|jstor=25816505|issn=0030-5472}}</ref> and was first attested in 11th-century Seljuk chronicles.{{sfn|Mitchell|2010}}The exact origins of the name ''Kurd'' are unclear. The suffix ''-stan'' ([[Social:Persian language|Persian]]: ـستان, <small>[[Social:Romanization of Persian|translit.]]</small> ''stân'') is [[Social:Persian language|Persian]] for land.

"Kurdistan" was also formerly spelled ''Curdistan''.<ref>The Edinburgh encyclopaedia, conducted by D. Brewster—Page 511, Original from Oxford University—published 1830</ref><ref>An Account of the State of Roman-Catholick Religion, Sir Richard Steele, Published 1715</ref> One of the ancient names of Kurdistan is ''Corduene''.<ref>N. Maxoudian, "Early Armenia as an Empire: The Career of Tigranes III, 95–55 BC", ''Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society'', Vol. 39, Issue 2, April 1952, pp. 156–63.</ref><ref name="A.D. Lee, 1991 pp. 366–374">A.D. Lee, ''The Role of Hostages in Roman Diplomacy with Sasanian Persia'', Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, Vol. 40, No. 3 (1991), pp. 366–74 (see p. 371)</ref> The 19th-century Kurdistan Eyalet was the first time that the [[Place:Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Empire]] used the term 'Kurdistan' to refer to an administrative unit rather than a geographical region.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FJsqDwAAQBAJ&q=kurdistan+eyaleti&pg=PA96|title=The Political Economy of the Kurds of Turkey|isbn=9781107181236|last1=Yadirgi|first1=Veli|date=3 August 2017|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref>

Albeit admitting a thorough delineation is difficult, the ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' delineated Kurdistan as following:<ref name="BRILL">{{Cite journal|date=2002|title=Kurds, Kurdistān|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/kurds-kurdistan-COM_0544?s.num=167&s.start=100|journal=Encyclopaedia of Islam|edition=2|publisher=[[Company:Brill Publishers|BRILL]]|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0544|isbn=9789004161214|last1=Bois|first1=Th|last2=Minorsky|first2=V.|last3=MacKenzie|first3=D. N.}}</ref>{{Blockquote|text=In Turkey, the Kurds inhabit the whole of the eastern region of the country. According to Trotter (1878), the limit of their extent to the north was the line Divriği—Erzurum—Kars... The Kurds also occupy the western slopes of Ararat, the districts of Kağızman and Tuzluca. On the west they extend in a wide belt beyond the course of the Euphrates, and, in the region of Sivas, in the districts of Kangal and Divriği. Equally, the whole region includes areas to the east and south-east of these limits... [[Place:Turkish Kurdistan|Turkish Kurdistan]] numbers at least 17 of them almost totally: in the north-east, the provinces of Erzincan, Erzurum and Kars; in the centre, going from west to east and from north to south, the provinces of Malatya, Tunceli, Elazığ, Bingöl, Muş, Karaköse (Ağrı), then Adıyaman, [[Place:Diyarbakır Province|Diyarbakır]], Siirt, Bitlis and Van; Finally, the southern provinces of [[Place:Şanlıurfa Province|Şanlıurfa]], [[Place:Mardin Province|Mardin]] and Çölamerik (Hakkarî)...

[Kurds] inhabit the north-west of Iran. Firstly in the provinces of West Azerbaijan, to the east of Lake Rida'iyya..., the districts of Maku, Kotur, Shahpur, and to the south of the lake, Mahabad (ex-Sabla); in the province of Ardalan, called the province of Kurdistan, whose capital is Senna or [[Place:Sanandaj|Sanandaj]], Hawraman; in the province of Kermanshah, Qasr-e Shirin...

In Iraq, the Kurds occupy the north and northeast of the country in the liwaʾs or provinces of [[Place:Duhok Governorate|Duhok]]... Left outside  their administration are Sinjar and [[Place:Ain Sifni|Shekhan]], peopled by the [[Unsolved:Yazidis|Yazidis]]; the liwaʾs of Kirkuk, [[Place:Erbil Governorate|Arbil]] and Sulaymaniyah (entirely Kurdish) and, in the... nahiyas of [[Place:Khanaqin|Khanaqin]] and Mandali, where they are neighbours of the Kurds of Iran to the west of the Zagros.

In Syria, they constitute three distinct belts, in the north of the country and to the south of the highway which forms a frontier and where they are in direct contact with their compatriots in Turkey... [I]n the Kurd Dagh;..., to the east of the [[Place:Euphrates|Euphrates]] where the river enters Syria near Jarablus; and finally, a belt of 250 km. in length by 30 km. in depth in the Jazira.|author=|title=|source=}}Many of the maps delineating Kurdistan are greatly exaggerated, also incorporating non-Kurdish regions, which has made the subject very controversial.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sheyholislami |first1=Jaffer |title=Kurdish Identity, Discourse, and New Media |date=6 June 2011 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |pages=224–225}}</ref><ref name="Kaya" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=O'Shea |first1=Maria T. |title=Routledge Library Editions: History of the Middle East |date=25 August 2021 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=47}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Tinti |first1=Alessandro |title=Oil and National Identity in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Conflicts at the Frontier of Petro-Capitalism |date=29 November 2021 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=71}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Ancient history ===
{{multiple image
|total_width = 500
|image1      = Alexander den stores rike, Nordisk familjebok.jpg
|caption1    = Ancient Kurdistan as Kard-uchi, during Alexander the Great's Empire, 4th century BCE
|image2      = Near East ancient map.jpg
|caption2    = 19th-century map showing the location of the Kingdom of Corduene in 60 BCE
}}
Various groups, among them the [[History:Gutian people|Guti]], Hurrians, Mannai (Mannaeans), and Armenians, lived in this region in antiquity.<ref>[http://kurdistanica.com/english/history/articles-his/his-articles-02.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501191513/http://kurdistanica.com/english/history/articles-his/his-articles-02.html|date=1 May 2008}}</ref> The original Mannaean homeland was situated east and south of the Lake Urmia, roughly centered around modern-day Mahabad.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9050086 |title=Mahabad |encyclopedia=Britannica Online Encyclopedia |access-date=13 May 2011}}</ref> The region came under [[Place:Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] rule during the reign of Cyrus the Great and Darius I.

The Kingdom of Corduene, which emerged from the declining [[Place:Seleucid Empire|Seleucid Empire]], was located to the south and south-east of Lake Van between Persia and Mesopotamia and ruled northern Mesopotamia and southeastern [[Earth:Anatolia|Anatolia]] from 189 BC to AD 384 as vassals of the vying [[History:Parthian Empire|Parthian]] and Roman empires. Corduene became a vassal state of the Roman Republic in 66 BC and remained allied with the Romans until AD 384. After 66 BC, it passed another 5 times between [[History:Ancient Rome|Rome]] and Persia<!-- Do not link to the disambiguation page, "Persian Empire"; link to a specific iteration of this topic -->. Corduene was situated to the east of Tigranocerta, that is, to the east and south of present-day [[Place:Diyarbakır|Diyarbakır]] in south-eastern Turkey.

Some historians have correlated a connection between Corduene with the modern names of Kurds and Kurdistan;<ref name="A.D. Lee, 1991 pp. 366–374" /><ref>Rawlinson, George, ''The Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World, Vol. 7'', 1871. [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/16167 (copy at Project Gutenberg)]</ref><ref>Revue des études arméniennes, vol. 21, 1988–1989, p. 281, by Société des études armeniennes, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Published by Imprimerie nationale, P. Geuthner, 1989.</ref> ''T. A. Sinclair'' dismissed this identification as false,<ref>T. A. Sinclair, "Eastern Turkey, an Architectural and Archaeological Survey", 1989, volume 3, page 360.</ref> while a common association is asserted in the ''[[Columbia Encyclopedia]]''.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Kurds.aspx Kurds], ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', Sixth Edition, 2001.</ref>

Some of the ancient districts of Kurdistan and their corresponding modern names:<ref>J. Bell, ''A System of Geography. Popular and Scientific (A Physical, Political, and Statistical Account of the World and Its Various Divisions)'', pp. 133–4, Vol. IV, Fullarton & Co., Glasgow, 1832.</ref>
# Corduene or Gordyene (Siirt, Bitlis and Şırnak)
# Sophene (Diyarbakır)
# Zabdicene or Bezabde (''Gozarto d'Qardu'' or ''Jazirat Ibn'' or [[Place:Cizre|Cizre]])
# Basenia (Bayazid)
# Moxoene (Muş)
# Nephercerta (''Miyafarkin'')
# Artemita (Van)

One of the earliest records of the phrase ''land of the Kurds'' is found in an Assyrian Christian document of [[History:Late antiquity|late antiquity]], describing the stories of Assyrian saints of the [[Place:Middle East|Middle East]], such as Abdisho. When the Sasanian Marzban asked Mar Abdisho about his place of origin, he replied that according to his parents, they were originally from ''Hazza,'' a village in [[Place:Assyria|Assyria]]. However, they were later driven out of Hazza by pagans, and settled in ''Tamanon,'' which according to Abdisho was in the ''land of the Kurds.'' Tamanon lies just north of the modern Iraq-Turkey border, while Hazza is 12&nbsp;km southwest of modern [[Place:Erbil|Erbil]]. In another passage in the same document, the region of the Khabur River is also identified as ''land of the Kurds''.<ref>J. T. Walker, ''The Legend of Mar Qardagh: Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq'' (368 pages), University of California Press, {{ISBN|0-520-24578-4}}, 2006, pp. 26, 52, 108.</ref> According to Al-Muqaddasi and Yaqut al-Hamawi, Tamanon was located on the south-western or southern slopes of [[Unsolved:Mount Judi|Mount Judi]] and south of [[Place:Cizre|Cizre]].<ref>T. A. Sinclair, "Eastern Turkey, an Architectural and Archaeological Survey", Vol. 3, Pindar Press, {{ISBN|978-1-904597-76-6}}, 1989, page 337.</ref> Other geographical references to the Kurds in [[Organization:Syriac Orthodox Church|Syriac]] sources appear in Zuqnin chronicle, writings of [[Biography:Michael the Syrian|Michael the Syrian]] and Bar Hebraeus. They mention the mountains of Qardu, city of Qardu and country of Qardawaye.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mouawad |first=R. J. |date=1992 |title=The Kurds and Their Christian Neighbors: The Case of Orthodox Syriacs |journal=Parole de l'Orient |volume=XVII |pages=127–141 }}</ref>

=== Post-classical history ===
[[File:Old Kurdistan Map, Ibn Hawqal.png|thumb|225px|left|Map of [[Place:Jibal|Jibal]] (mountains of northeastern Mesopotamia), highlighting "Summer and winter resorts of the Kurds", the Kurdish lands. Redrawn from Ibn Hawqal, 977 CE.]]
[[File:Kashgari map.jpg|thumb|225px|The map from Mahmud al-Kashgari's ''Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk'' (1072–74), included Kurdistan.<ref name = "Gunes">{{cite book |editor1-last=Gunes |editor1-first=Cengiz |editor2-last=Bozarslan |editor2-first=Hamit |editor3-last=Yadirgi |editor3-first=Veli |title=The Cambridge History of the Kurds |date=22 April 2021 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=31}}</ref>]]

In the tenth and eleventh centuries, several Kurdish principalities emerged in the region: in the north the Shaddadids (951–1174) (in east [[Place:Transcaucasia|Transcaucasia]] between the Kur and Araxes rivers) and the Rawadids (955–1221) (centered on [[Place:Tabriz|Tabriz]] and which controlled all of [[Place:Azerbaijan (Iran)|Azerbaijan]]), in the east the Hasanwayhids (959–1015) (in Zagros between Shahrizor and Khuzistan) and the Annazids (990–1116) (centered in Hulwan) and in the west the Marwanids (990–1096) to the south of [[Place:Diyarbakır|Diyarbakır]] and north of Jazira.<ref>Maria T. O'Shea, ''Trapped between the map and reality: geography and perceptions of Kurdistan '', 258 pp., Routledge, 2004. (see p. 68)</ref><ref>I. Gershevitch, ''The Cambridge history of Iran: The Saljuq and Mongol periods'', Vol. 5, 762 pp., Cambridge University Press, 1968. (see p. 237 for "Rawwadids")</ref>

Kurdistan in the [[History:Middle Ages|Middle Ages]] was a collection of semi-independent and independent states called [[Social:Emirate|emirate]]s. It was nominally under indirect political or religious influence of Khalifs or Shahs. A comprehensive history of these states and their relationship with their neighbors is given in the text of ''Sharafnama'', written by Prince Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi in 1597.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mazdapublishers.com/book/sharafnama |title=Sharafnama: History of the Kurdish Nation |publisher=Mazdapublishers.com |access-date=10 December 2017}}</ref><ref>For a list of these entities see [http://www.kurdistanica.com/english/geography/maps/map-03.html Kurdistan and its native Provincial subdivisions] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051118033137/http://www.kurdistanica.com/english/geography/maps/map-03.html |date=18 November 2005 }}</ref> The emirates included Baban, Soran, Badinan and Garmiyan in the south; Bakran, Bohtan (or Botan) and Badlis in the north, and Mukriyan and Ardalan in the east.

The earliest medieval attestation of the toponym ''Kurdistan'' is found in a 12th-century [[Social:Armenian language|Armenian]] historical text by Matteos Urhayeci. He described a battle near [[Place:Diyarbakır|Amid]] and Siverek in 1062 as to have taken place in ''Kurdistan''.<ref>Matt'eos Urhayec'i, {{in lang|hy}} ''Ժամանակագրություն'' (Chronicle), ed. by M. Melik-Adamyan et al., Erevan, 1991. (p. 156)</ref><ref>G. Asatrian, ''Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds'', Iran and the Caucasus, Vol. 13, pp. 1–58, 2009. (see p. 19)</ref> The second record occurs in the prayer from the colophon of an Armenian manuscript of the Gospels, written in 1200.<ref>A.S. Mat'evosyan, ''Colophons of the Armenian Manuscripts'', Erevan, 1988. (p. 307)</ref><ref>G. Asatrian, ''Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds'', Iran and the Caucasus, Vol. 13, pp. 1–58, 2009. (p. 20)</ref>

A later use of the term ''Kurdistan'' is found in Empire of Trebizond documents in 1336<ref>Zehiroglu, Ahmet M. "Trabzon Imparatorlugu" 2016 ({{ISBN|978-605-4567-52-2}}); p. 169</ref> and in ''Nuzhat al-Qulub'', written by Hamdallah Mustawfi in 1340.<ref>G. Asatrian, ''Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds'', Iran and the Caucasus, Vol. 13, pp. 1–58, 2009. (see p. 20)</ref>[[File:British Government memoranda regarding Article 25 of the Palestine Mandate with respect to Transjordan, March 1921.jpg|thumb|left|British Government 1921 proposal from the Colonial Secretary, Winston Churchill, for an autonomous region of Kurdistan.]]
[[File:Cedid Atlas (Middle East) 1803.jpg|thumb|300px|1803 map from the ''Cedid Atlas'', the first Muslim atlas, showing Kurdistan in blue]]
According to Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi in his Sharafnama, the boundaries of the Kurdish land begin at the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf and stretch on an even line to the end of Malatya and Marash.<ref>{{cite book |last=Özoğlu |first=Hakan |date=2004 |title=Kurdish Notables and the Ottoman State |publisher=State University of New York Press |pages=27–28 |isbn=978-0-7914-5993-5}}</ref> Evliya Çelebi, who traveled in the region between 1640 and 1655, mentioned that Kurdistan includes  Erzurum, Van, Hakkari, [[Place:Cizre|Cizre]], [[Place:Amadiya|Imaddiya]], [[Place:Mosul|Mosul]], [[Place:Shahrizor|Shahrizor]], Harir, Ardalan, [[Place:Baghdad|Baghdad]], Derne, Derteng, until [[Place:Basra|Basra]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Özoğlu |first=Hakan |date=2004 |title=Kurdish Notables and the Ottoman State |publisher=State University of New York Press |page=34 |isbn=978-0-7914-5993-5}}</ref>

In the 16th century, after prolonged wars, Kurdish-inhabited areas were split between the Safavid and [[Place:Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] empires. A major division of Kurdistan occurred in the aftermath of the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514, and was formalized in the 1639 Treaty of Zuhab.<ref>C. Dahlman, "The Political Geography of Kurdistan", ''Eurasian Geography and Economics'', Vol.43, No.4, pp.271–299, 2002.</ref> In a geography  textbook of late Ottoman military school by Ahmet Cevad Kurdistan span over the cities Erzurum, Van, [[Place:Urfa|Urfa]], [[Place:Sulaymaniyah|Sulaymanyah]], [[Place:Kirkuk|Kirkuk]], [[Place:Mosul|Mosul]] and [[Place:Diyarbakır|Diyarbakir]] among others and was one out of six regions of Ottoman Asia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Özkan |first=Behlül |date=2014-05-04 |title=Making a National Vatan in Turkey: Geography Education in the Late Ottoman and Early Republican Periods |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00263206.2014.886569 |journal=Middle Eastern Studies |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=461 |doi=10.1080/00263206.2014.886569 |s2cid=144455272 |issn=0026-3206}}</ref>

=== Modern history ===
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Allies contrived to split Kurdistan (as detailed in the ultimately unratified Treaty of Sèvres) among several countries, including Kurdistan, [[Place:Armenia|Armenia]] and others. However, the reconquest of these areas by the forces of Kemal Atatürk (and other pressing issues) caused the Allies to accept the renegotiated Treaty of Lausanne (1923) and the borders of the modern Republic of Turkey, leaving the Kurds without a self-ruled region.<ref>Sardar Aziz (2013). "Re-conceptualizing Kurdistan as a Battlefield." ''"Un mondo senza stati è un mondo senza guerre". Politisch motivierte Gewalt im regionalen Kontext'', ed. by Georg Grote, Hannes Obermair and Günther Rautz (EURAC book 60), Bozen–Bolzano, {{ISBN|978-88-88906-82-9}}, pp. 45–61.</ref> Other Kurdish areas were assigned to the new British and French mandated states of Iraq and Syria.

[[File:WholeRegionSevres.gif|thumb|300px|Kurdistan (shaded area) as suggested by the Treaty of Sèvres]]

At the San Francisco Peace Conference of 1945, the Kurdish delegation proposed consideration of territory claimed by the Kurds, which encompassed an area extending from the Mediterranean shores near Adana to the shores of the Persian Gulf near [[Place:Bushehr|Bushehr]], and included the Lur inhabited areas of southern Zagros.<ref>C. Dahlman, ''The Political Geography of Kurdistan'', Eurasian Geography and Economics, Vol.43, No.4, p. 274.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.akakurdistan.com/kurds/map/map.html |title=The map presented by the Kurdish League Delegation, March 1945 |publisher=Akakurdistan.com |access-date=13 May 2011}}</ref>

The historian Jordi Tejel has identified "Greater Kurdistan" as being one of the "Kurdish myths" that the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria (KDPS) were involved in promoting to Kurds in Syria.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tejel|first=Jordi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lh9AgAAQBAJ&q=%22Kurdish+myths+%28Kawa+and+%22Greater+Kurdistan%22%29%22|title=Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society|publisher=Routledge|year=2008|isbn=9780415613460|location=|pages=92|language=en|quote="The KDPS continued to promote the teaching of the Kurdish language in Latin characters and to cultivate the nationalist doctrine of the Syrian Kurds, using Kurdish myths (Kawa and "Greater Kurdistan")"}}</ref>

An academic source published by the [[Organization:University of Cambridge|University of Cambridge]] has described maps of greater Kurdistan created in the 1940s and forward as: "These maps have become some of the most influential propaganda tools for the Kurdish nationalist discourse. They depict a territorially exaggerated version of the territory of Kurdistan, extending into areas with no majority Kurdish populations. Despite their production with political aims related to specific claims on the demographic and ethnographic structure of the region, and their questionable methodologies, they have become 'Kurdistan in the minds of Kurds' and the boundaries they indicate have been readily accepted."<ref name = "Kaya">{{cite book| last =Kaya| first =Zeynep N.| title=Mapping Kurdistan: Territory, Self-Determination and Nationalism |publisher=Cambridge University Press| date =2020|pages=108| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=qRzhDwAAQBAJ|isbn =9781108474696}}</ref>

At the end of the 1991 Gulf War, the Coalition established a no-fly zone over northern Iraq to provide humanitarian relief to and safeguard the Kurds who would be subjected to Iraqi air attacks. Amid the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from three northern provinces, Kurdistan Region emerged in 1992 as an autonomous entity inside Iraq with its own local government and parliament.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Gareth R. V. Stansfield|title=Iraqi Kurdistan - Political development and emergent democracy|year=2003|isbn=0-415-30278-1|pages=146–152|publisher=RoutledgeCurzon |citeseerx=10.1.1.465.8736}}</ref>

A 2010 US report, written before the instability in Syria and Iraq that exists as of 2014, attested that "Kurdistan may exist by 2030".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2012/12/turkey4356.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121112352/http://ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2012/12/turkey4356.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 January 2013 |title=Turkey may be divided, a Kurdish state could become a reality by 2030: U.S. Intelligence report |work=ekurd.net }}</ref> The weakening of the Iraqi state following the 2014 Northern Iraq offensive by the [[Religion:Islamic State|Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] has also presented an opportunity for independence for Iraqi Kurdistan,<ref name="opportunity" /> augmented by Turkey's move towards acceptance of such a state although it opposes moves toward Kurdish autonomy in Turkey and Syria.<ref name="turkey_ok" />

==== Northern Kurdistan ====

[[File:Abdullah Öcalan.png|thumb|Abdullah Öcalan pictured 1997]]
The incorporation into Turkey of the Kurdish-inhabited regions of eastern Anatolia was opposed by many Kurds, and has resulted in a long-running separatist conflict in which tens of thousands of lives have been lost. The region saw several major Kurdish rebellions, including the Koçgiri rebellion of 1920 under the Ottomans, then successive insurrections under the Turkish state, including the 1924 Sheikh Said rebellion, the Republic of Ararat in 1927, and the 1937 Dersim rebellion. All were forcefully put down by the authorities. The region was declared a closed military area from which foreigners were banned between 1925 and 1965.<ref>M.M. Gunter, ''The Kurds and the future of Turkey'', 184 pp., Palgrave Macmillan, 1997. (see p. 6)</ref><ref>G. Chaliand, ''A people without a country: the Kurds and Kurdistan'', 259 pp., Interlink Books, 1993. (see p. 250)</ref><ref>Joost Jongerden, ''The settlement issue in Turkey and the Kurds: an analysis of spatial policies, modernity and war'', 354 pp., BRILL Publishers, 2007. (see p. 37)</ref>

In an attempt to [[Social:Denial of Kurds by Turkey|deny their existence]], the Turkish government categorized Kurds as "Mountain Turks" until 1991.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/turkey/26.htm |title=Turkey – Linguistic and Ethnic Groups }}</ref><ref>Bartkus, Viva Ona, ''The Dynamic of Secession'', (Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 90–1.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Çelik |first=Yasemin |title=Contemporary Turkish foreign policy |year=1999 |publisher=Praeger |location=Westport, Conn. |isbn=978-0-275-96590-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y9PXcwFOLNcC&q=mountain+turks&pg=PA3 |edition=1. publ. |page=3}}</ref> The words "Kurds", "Kurdistan", or "Kurdish" were officially banned by the Turkish government.<ref name=bahar /> Following the military coup of 1980, the Kurdish language was officially prohibited in public and private life.<ref name=NYTK>Toumani, Meline. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/magazine/17turkey-t.html?ex=1361854800&en=df64cf85326e2103&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink Minority Rules], ''{{wipe|New York Times}}'', 17 February 2008</ref> Many people who spoke, published, or sang in Kurdish were arrested and imprisoned.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aslan |first1=Senem |title=Nation Building in Turkey and Morocco |date=2014 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-05460-8 |page=134 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wTAWBQAAQBAJ}}</ref> Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, political parties that represented Kurdish interests were banned.<ref name=bahar>{{cite book |last1=Baser |first1=Bahar |title=Diasporas and Homeland Conflicts: A Comparative Perspective |date=2015 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=978-1-4724-2562-1 |page=63 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8MTVBgAAQBAJ}}</ref>

In 1983, the Kurdish provinces were included in the state of emergency region, which was placed under martial law in response to the activities of the militant separatist organization the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).<ref name="hue">Kurd, ''The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia including Atlas'', 2005</ref><ref name="nytimes">"[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/world/africa/28iht-28iraq.7671792.html], NY Times, 28 September 2007</ref> A guerrilla war took place through the 1980s and 1990s in which much of the countryside was evacuated, thousands of Kurdish villages were destroyed by the government, and numerous [[Social:Summary execution|summary execution]]s were carried out by both sides.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ibrahim |first1=Ferhad |title=The Kurdisch conflict in Turkey : obstacles and chances for peace and democracy |date=2000 |publisher=Lit ; St. Martin's press |location=Münster : New York, N.Y. |isbn=978-3-8258-4744-9 |page=182 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3kgierPu_7EC}}</ref><ref name=cengiz>{{cite book |last1=Gunes |first1=Cengiz |title=The Kurdish National Movement in Turkey: From Protest to Resistance |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-58798-6 |page=130 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OMB7pMf8TL4C}}</ref><ref name="ocpw">Martin van Bruinessen, "Kurdistan." ''The Oxford Companion to the Politics of the World'', 2nd edition. Joel Krieger, ed. Oxford University Press, 2001.</ref> Food embargoes were placed on Kurdish villages and towns.<ref name=olson>{{cite book |last1=Olson |first1=Robert |title=The Kurdish nationalist movement in the 1990s: its impact on Turkey and the Middle East |date=1996 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |location=Lexington, Ky. |isbn=978-0-8131-0896-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/kurdishnationali00olso/page/16 16] |url=https://archive.org/details/kurdishnationali00olso|url-access=registration }}</ref><ref name=muftah>{{cite web |last1=Shaker |first1=Nadeen |title=After Being Banned for Almost a Century, Turkey's Kurds Are Clamoring to Learn Their Own Language |url=http://muftah.org/turkey-kurds-learning-kurdish-ban/ |publisher=Muftah}}</ref> Tens of thousands were killed in the violence and hundreds of thousands were forced to leave their homes.<ref name="bbc">"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6537751.stm Kurdish rebels kill Turkey troops]", BBC News, 8 May 2007</ref>

Turkey has historically feared that a Kurdish state in Northern Iraq would encourage and support Kurdish separatists in the adjacent Turkish provinces, and have therefore historically strongly opposed Kurdish independence in Iraq. However, following the chaos in Iraq after the US invasion, Turkey has increasingly worked with the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-06-18/half-price-kurdish-oil-threatens-iraq-breakup-with-turkish-help |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140829062511/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-06-18/half-price-kurdish-oil-threatens-iraq-breakup-with-turkish-help |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 August 2014 |title=Bloomberg Business |work=Bloomberg.com}}</ref> The word 'Kurdistan', whether written or spoken, can still lead to detention and prosecution in Turkey.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Khalidi|first=Ari|date=1 May 2017|title=Three raising Kurdistan flag during May Day arrested in Turkey|url=https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/9e53bc1a-9f82-4ade-8245-f4d1957e38f7/Three-raising-Kurdistan-flag-during-May-Day-arrested-in-Turkey|access-date=2020-10-04|website=www.kurdistan24.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=English|first=Duvar|date=2021-10-29|title=Police detain Kurdish man for calling Turkey's southeast 'Kurdistan'|url=https://www.duvarenglish.com/police-detain-kurdish-man-for-calling-turkeys-southeast-kurdistan-news-59378|access-date=2022-02-07|website=www.duvarenglish.com |language=tr-TR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=October 2021|title=Police detain citizen who told İYİ Party Chair Akşener 'Kurdistan is denied'|url=https://m.bianet.org/english/human-rights/252577-police-detain-citizen-who-told-iyi-party-chair-aksener-kurdistan-is-denied|access-date=7 February 2022|website=Bianet}}</ref> Kurdistan has been characterized as an "international colony" by the scholar Ismail Besikci.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://merip.org/2020/08/tracing-the-conceptual-genealogy-of-kurdistan-as-international-colony/ |author=Deniz Duruiz |title=Tracing the Conceptual Genealogy of Kurdistan as International Colony |issue=295 |date=Summer 2020 |publisher=Middle East Research and Information Project |journal=Middle East Report |editor1=Ayҫa Alemdaroğlu |editor2=Elif Babül |editor3=Arang Keshavarzian |editor4=Nabil Al-Tikriti |access-date=9 January 2021}}</ref>[[File:Syrian, Iraqi, and Lebanese insurgencies.svg|thumb|240px|Military situation on {{#invoke:Iraq_Syria_map_date|date}}:<br />{{legend|#ffffa6|Controlled by Syrian Kurds}}{{legend|#d2cd7e|Controlled by Iraqi Kurds}}{{legend|#b4b2ae|Controlled by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIL, ISIS, IS)}}]]

==== Iraqi Kurdistan ====
The successful 2014 Northern Iraq offensive by the [[Religion:Islamic State|Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]], with the resultant weakening of the ability of the Iraqi state to project power, also presented a "golden opportunity" for the Kurds to increase their independence and possibly declare an independent Kurdish state.<ref name="opportunity">{{cite web |url=https://www.thecairoreview.com/tahrir-forum/the-rise-of-isis-a-golden-opportunity-for-iraqs-kurds/ |title=The Rise of ISIS, a Golden Opportunity for Iraq's Kurds |work=aucegypt.edu |date=27 June 2014}}</ref> The [[Religion:Islamic State|Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant]], who took more than 80 Turkish persons captive in Mosul during their offensive, is an enemy of Turkey, making Kurdistan useful for Turkey as a buffer state. On 28 June 2014 Hüseyin Çelik, a spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), made comments to the ''[[Social:Financial Times|Financial Times]]'' indicating Turkey's readiness to accept an independent Kurdistan in northern Iraq.<ref name="turkey_ok">{{cite web |url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/turkey-ready-accept-kurdish-state-northern-iraq-1454556 |title=Turkey Ready To Accept Kurdish State in Northern Iraq |work=International Business Times UK |date=28 June 2014}}</ref>

==== Syrian Civil War ====
Various sources have reported that [[Religion:Al-Nusra Front|Al-Nusra]] has issued a fatwā calling for Kurdish women and children in Syria to be killed,<ref>See * [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-l-phillips/iraqi-kurds-no-friend-but_b_4045389.html David Phillips (World Post column)] "President Masoud Barzani of Iraqi Kurdistan has pledged protection for Syrian Kurds from al-Nusra, a terrorist organization, which issued a [[Religion:Fatwa|fatwa]] calling for the killing of Kurdish women and children"
*[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-l-phillips/unintended-consequneces-o_b_3902414.html David Phillips (World Post column)] "Al-Nusra Front, Syria's Al-Qaeda affiliate, issued a fatwa condoning the killing of Kurdish women and children"
*[http://www.itnsource.com/en/shotlist//RTV/2013/08/20/RTV200813025/?v=1 ITNsource.com] "A fatwa (edict) has been issued permitting the shedding of the blood of the Kurds and they called from the mosque loudspeakers that the shedding of the Kurdish blood is halal"</ref> and the fighting in Syria has led tens of thousands of refugees to flee to Iraq's Kurdistan region.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unhcr.org/521360479.html |title=Some 30,000 Syrians flee to Iraq's Kurdistan region, more expected |date=20 August 2013 |publisher=UNHCR}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/18/syrian-kurds-refugees-iraq |title=Syrian Kurds continue to flee to Iraq in their thousands |author=Martin Chulov |date=19 August 2013 |work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rferl.org/media/photogallery/iraq-syria-refugees-/25080506.html |title=Syrian Kurds Flee To Iraq by the Thousands |date=20 August 2013 |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty}}</ref> As of 2015, Turkey was actively supporting Al-Nusra,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-crisis-turkey-and-saudi-arabia-shock-western-countries-by-supporting-antiassad-jihadists-10242747.html |title=Turkey and Saudi Arabia alarm the West by backing Islamist extremists the Americans had bombed in Syria |author=Kim Sengupta |newspaper=The Independent |date=12 May 2015}}</ref> but as of January 2017, Turkey's foreign ministry has said that Al-Nusra is a terrorist group and has acted accordingly.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-turkey-nusra/turkey-sees-nusra-front-as-terrorist-group-acts-accordingly-source-idUSKBN15A12U |title=Turkey sees Nusra Front as terrorist group, acts accordingly: source Reuters Staff |author= |date=26 January 2017 |work=Reuters |access-date=26 September 2017}}</ref>

== People ==
According to 2016 estimate Kurdish Institute of Paris, total population of Kurdistan is around 34.5 million, and Kurds making 86% of population of Northern Kurdistan.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=The Kurdish population |url=https://www.institutkurde.org/en/info/the-kurdish-population-1232551004 |access-date=15 June 2023 |website=Kurdish Institute of Paris}}</ref> There are Arab, Turkish, Assyrian (Syriac), Armenian and Azerbaijani minorities in Northern Kurdistan.<ref name=":2" /> In Southern Kurdistan there are [[Religion:Christians|Christian]] (Assyrian and Armenian) and Turkish (Turkmen) minorities as well.<ref name=":2" /> Iraqi and Syrian Turkmen share close ties with Turkish people and do not identify with the Turkmen of Turkmenistan and [[Place:Central Asia|Central Asia]].<ref name="Peyrouse2015">{{cite book |last=Peyrouse |first=Sebastien |title=Turkmenistan: Strategies of Power, Dilemmas of Development |publisher=[[Company:Routledge|Routledge]] |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-230-11552-1 |page=62}}</ref><ref name="TheNewYorkTimes">{{cite news |author=The New York Times |year=2015 |title=Who Are the Turkmens of Syria? |newspaper={{wipe|The New York Times}} |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/world/middleeast/who-are-the-turkmens-of-syria.html?_r=1 |url-status=live |access-date=3 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114085556/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/world/middleeast/who-are-the-turkmens-of-syria.html?_r=1 |archive-date=14 January 2017}}</ref><ref name="Kushner1987p202">{{cite journal |last=Kushner |first=David |year=1987 |title=Pan-Turkism Today: Contemporary Turkey and the "Outside Turks" |journal=Asian and African Studies: Journal of the Israel Oriental Society |volume=21 |issue=2 |page=202 |issn=0066-8281 |quote=}}</ref>{{sfn|Triana|2017|p=168}}<ref name="Bassem2016">{{cite web |last=Bassem |first=Wassim |year=2016 |title=Iraq's Turkmens call for independent province |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/10/turkmens-iraq-mosul-tal-afar.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912130041/https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2016/10/turkmens-iraq-mosul-tal-afar.html |archive-date=12 September 2021 |publisher=Al-Monitor |quote=Iraqi Turkmens, who are citizens of Iraq with Turkish origins, have been calling for their own independent province in the Tal Afar district west of Mosul, located in the center of the Ninevah province...Turkmens are a mix of Sunnis and Shiites and are the third-largest ethnicity in Iraq after Arabs and Kurds, numbering around 3 million out of the total population of about 34.7 million, according to 2013 data from the Iraqi Ministry of Planning.}}</ref> Kurdistan has also significant Caucasian population, Caucasians of Kurdistan included Chechens and Ingushes in Varto,<ref name="checheningush2">{{cite book |title=Caucasian battlefields: A History of the Wars on the Turco-Caucasian Border, 1828–1921 |date=2011-02-17 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-01335-2 |page=104}}</ref> Ossetians in Ahlat<ref name="Gorman2">{{cite book |author1=Anthony Gorman |title=Diasporas of the Modern Middle East |date=2015-05-29 |isbn=978-0-7486-8611-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Çerkes fıkraları |date=1994 |publisher=University of Wisconsin – Madison |page=10 |language=tr}}</ref> and Circassians. From early stage on, these Caucasians went through a process of [[Social:Kurdification|Kurdification]] and thereby had Kurdish as their mother tongue.<ref>Ahmet Buran Ph.D., Türkiye'de Diller ve Etnik Gruplar, 2012</ref><ref name="cerkes">{{cite book |author1=Yeldar Barış Kalkan |title=Çerkes halkı ve sorunları: Çerkes tarih, kültür, coğrafya ve siyasetine sınıfsal yaklaşım |date=2006 |page=175}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Dursun Gümüşoğlu |title=Anadolu'da bir köy: Eskikonak : antropolojik inceleme |date=2008}}</ref>

== Geography ==
[[File:Ancient Kurdistan.png|thumb|225px|Historic map from 1721 showing borders of Curdistan provinces in Persia]]

According to the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', Kurdistan covers about 190,000&nbsp;km² (or 73,000 square miles), and its chief towns are [[Place:Diyarbakır|Diyarbakır]] (Amed), Bitlis (Bedlîs) and Van (Wan) in Turkey, [[Place:Erbil|Erbil]] (Hewlêr) and [[Place:Sulaymaniyah|Sulaymaniyah]] in Iraq, and [[Place:Kermanshah|Kermanshah]] (Kirmanşan), [[Place:Sanandaj|Sanandaj]] (Sine), [[Place:Ilam, Iran|Ilam]] and Mahabad (Mehabad) in Iran.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/325241/Kurdistan Kurdistan], ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''</ref> According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, Kurdistan covers around 190,000&nbsp;km² (73,000 sq. mi.) in Turkey, 125,000&nbsp;km² (48,000 sq. mi.) in Iran, 65,000&nbsp;km² (25,000 sq. mi.) in Iraq, and 12,000&nbsp;km² (5,000 sq. mi.) in Syria, with a total area of approximately 392,000&nbsp;km² (151,000 sq. mi.).<ref name=":0" />

[[Place:Turkish Kurdistan|Turkish Kurdistan]] encompasses a large area of Eastern Anatolia Region and southeastern Anatolia of Turkey and it is home to an estimated 6 to 8 million Kurds.<ref>{{cite news |last=Myrie |first=Clive |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7062971.stm |title=Middle East &#124; Kurds show coded support for PKK |work=BBC News |date=26 October 2007 |access-date=13 May 2011}}</ref>

=== Subdivisions (Upper and Lower Kurdistan) ===
In ''A Dictionary of Scripture Geography'' (published 1846), John Miles describes Upper and Lower Kurdistan as following:
[[File:Kurdish States 1902 -outlined.jpg|thumb|The States outlined in red are two Kurdish States named Hakkiari and Mosul in this 1902 map. They are referred to as Upper Kurdistan and Lower Kurdistan respectively.]]
{{blockquote|Modern Curdistan is of much greater extent than the ancient Assyria, and is composed of two parts the Upper and Lower. In the former is the province of Ardelan, the ancient Arropachatis, now nominally a part of Irak Ajami, and belonging to the north west division called Al Jobal. It contains five others namely, Betlis, the ancient Carduchia, lying to the south and south west of the lake Van. East and south east of Betlis is the principality of Julamerick, south west of it is the principality of Amadia. the fourth is Jeezera ul Omar, a city on an island in the Tigris, and corresponding to the ancient Bezabde. the fifth and largest is Kara Djiolan, with a capital of the same name. The pashalics of Kirkook and Solimania also comprise part of Upper Curdistan. Lower Curdistan comprises all the level tract to the east of the Tigris, and the minor ranges immediately bounding the plains and reaching thence to the foot of the great range, which may justly be denominated the Alps of western Asia.<ref name="auto">A Dictionary of Scripture Geography, p 57, by John Miles, 486 pages, Published 1846, Original from Harvard University</ref>}}

The northern, northwestern and northeastern parts of Kurdistan are referred to as upper Kurdistan, and includes the areas from west of Amed to Lake Urmia.

The lowlands of southern Kurdistan are called lower Kurdistan. The main cities in this area are Kirkuk and Arbil.

=== Climate ===
Much of the region is typified by a [[Earth:Continental climate|continental climate]] – hot in the summer, cold in the winter. Despite this, much of the region is fertile and has historically exported grain and livestock. Precipitation varies between 200 and 400&nbsp;mm a year in the plains, and between 700 and 3,000&nbsp;mm a year on the high plateau between mountain chains.<ref name=":0" /> The mountainous zone along the borders with Iran and Turkey experiences [[Earth:Mediterranean climate|dry summers]], rainy and sometimes snowy winters, and damp springs, while to the south the climate progressively transitions toward [[Earth:Semi-arid climate|semi-arid]] and [[Earth:Desert climate|desert]] zones.

=== Flora and fauna===
Kurdistan is one of the most mountainous regions in the world with a [[Earth:Continental climate|cold climate]] receiving annual precipitation adequate to sustain temperate forests and shrubs. Mountain chains harbor pastures and forested valleys, totaling approximately 16 million hectares (160,000&nbsp;km²), including [[Biology:Fir|fir]]s and countryside is mostly [[Biology:Oak|oak]]s, [[Conifer cone|conifers]], [[Biology:Platanus|platanus]], [[Biology:Willow|willow]], [[Biology:Populus|poplar]] and, to the west of Kurdistan, olive trees.<ref name=":0" />

The region north of the mountainous region on the border with Iran and Turkey features meadow grasses and such wild trees as, [[Biology:Abies cilicica|Abies cilicica]], [[Biology:Fagus sylvatica|Fagus sylvatica]], [[Biology:Quercus calliprinos|Quercus calliprinos]], [[Biology:Quercus brantii|Quercus brantii]], [[Biology:Quercus infectoria|Quercus infectoria]], [[Biology:Quercus ithaburensis|Quercus ithaburensis]], [[Biology:Quercus macranthera|Quercus macranthera]], [[Biology:Cupressus sempervirens|Cupressus sempervirens]], [[Biology:Platanus orientalis|Platanus orientalis]], [[Biology:Pinus brutia|Pinus brutia]], [[Biology:Juniperus foetidissima|Juniperus foetidissima]], [[Biology:Juniperus excelsa|Juniperus excelsa]], [[Biology:Juniperus oxycedrus|Juniperus oxycedrus]], [[Biology:Prunus cerasus|Prunus cerasus]], [[Biology:Salix alba|Salix alba]], [[Biology:Fraxinus excelsior|Fraxinus excelsior]], [[Biology:Paliurus spina-christi|Paliurus spina-christi]], [[Biology:Olea europaea|Olea europaea]], [[Biology:Ficus carica|Ficus carica]], [[Biology:Populus euphratica|Populus euphratica]], [[Biology:Populus nigra|Populus nigra]], [[Biology:Crataegus monogyna|Crataegus monogyna]], [[Biology:Crataegus azarolus|Crataegus azarolus]], [[Biology:Prunus cerasifera|Prunus cerasifera]], [[Biology:Rose hip|rose hip]]s, [[Biology:Cercis siliquastrum|Cercis siliquastrum]], pistachio trees, [[Biology:Pyrus elaeagrifolia|pear]] and [[Biology:Sorbus graeca|Sorbus graeca]]. The desert in the south is mostly [[Earth:Steppe|steppe]] and would feature xeric plants such as [[Biology:Arecaceae|palm trees]], [[Biology:Tamarix|tamarix]], [[Biology:Date palm|date palm]], [[Biology:Fraxinus|fraxinus]], [[Biology:Poa|poa]], white wormwood and chenopodiaceae.<ref>Village on the Euphrates: From Foraging to Farming at Abu Hureyra, by A.M.T Moore, G.C. Hillman and A.J Legge, Published 2000, Oxford University Press</ref><ref name="auto"/> The [[Earth:Steppe|steppe]] and desert in the south, by contrast, have such species as [[Biology:Arecaceae|palm trees]] and [[Biology:Date palm|date palm]].

Animals found in the region include the [[Biology:Syrian brown bear|Syrian brown bear]], wild boar, gray wolf, the [[Biology:Golden jackal|golden jackal]], [[Biology:Indian crested porcupine|Indian crested porcupine]], the [[Biology:Red fox|red fox]], [[Biology:Goitered gazelle|goitered gazelle]], [[Biology:Eurasian otter|Eurasian otter]], [[Biology:Striped hyena|striped hyena]], [[Biology:Persian fallow deer|Persian fallow deer]], [[Biology:Long-eared hedgehog|long-eared hedgehog]], [[Biology:Onager|onager]], [[Biology:Mangar (fish)|mangar]] and the [[Biology:Euphrates softshell turtle|Euphrates softshell turtle]].<ref>Al-Sheikhly, O.F.; and Nader, I.A. (2013). ''[http://www.otterspecialistgroup.org/Bulletin/Volume30/AlSheikhly_Nadar_2013.pdf The Status of the Iraq Smooth-coated Otter Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli Hayman 1956 and Eurasian Otter Lutra lutra Linnaeus 1758 in Iraq.]'' IUCN Otter Spec. Group Bull. 30(1).</ref> Birds include, the [[Biology:Hooded crow|hooded crow]], [[Biology:Common starling|common starling]], [[Biology:Eurasian magpie|Eurasian magpie]], [[Biology:European robin|European robin]], [[Biology:Water pipit|water pipit]], [[Biology:Spotted flycatcher|spotted flycatcher]], [[Biology:Namaqua dove|namaqua dove]], saker falcon, [[Biology:Griffon vulture|griffon vulture]], [[Biology:Little crake|little crake]] and [[Biology:Collared pratincole|collared pratincole]], among others.<ref>{{cite web |title=Iraq's Marshes Show Progress toward Recovery |url=http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/good-iraqimarshes.html#cr |publisher=Wildlife Extra |access-date=7 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100509195006/http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/good-iraqimarshes.html#cr |archive-date=9 May 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Mountains ===
Mountains are important geographical and symbolic features of Kurdish life, as evidenced by the saying "Kurds have no friends but the mountains."<ref>John Bulloch and Harvey Morris, ''No Friends but the Mountains: The Tragic History of the Kurds'', {{ISBN|0-19-508075-0}}</ref> Mountains are regarded as sacred by the Kurds.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-l-phillips/iraqi-kurds-no-friend-but_b_4045389.html |title=Iraqi Kurds: "No Friend but the Mountains" |work=The Huffington Post |date=7 October 2013}}</ref> Included in the region are [[Unsolved:Mount Judi|Mount Judi]] and Ararat (both prominent in Kurdish folklore), [[Place:Zagros Mountains|Zagros]], Qandil, [[Unsolved:Sinjar Mountains|Shingal]], Mount Abdulaziz, Kurd Mountains, Jabal al-Akrad, Shaho, Gabar, Hamrin, and Nisir.

=== Water resources ===
Iraqi Kurdistan is a region relatively rich in water, especially for countries in the [[Place:Middle East|Middle East]] region. It is the source for much of the water supply for neighboring countries. It means that political stability and peace in the region are important to the water supply of the region and preventing wars.<ref>{{cite web |last1=King |first1=Marcus |title=A Watershed Moment for Iraqi Kurdistan: Subnational Hydropolitics and Regional Stability |url=https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2018/05/watershed-moment-iraqi-kurdistan-subnational-hydropolitics-regional-stability/ |website=Environmental Change and Security Program Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars |date=22 May 2018 |access-date=24 May 2019}}</ref> Many think that for conserving the water "returning to traditional water-conserving cultivation techniques" will be needed, as well as "communal economy"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Keller |first1=Sean |title=Agriculture and Autonomy in the Middle East |url=https://www.localfutures.org/agriculture-autonomy-middle-east/ |website=Local Futures – Economics of Happiness |publisher=International Society for Ecology and Culture |access-date=24 May 2019|date=6 February 2018 }}</ref>

'''Rivers'''

The plateaus and mountains of Kurdistan, which are characterized by heavy rain and snow fall, act as a water reservoir for the Near and Middle East, forming the source of the [[Place:Tigris|Tigris]] and [[Place:Euphrates|Euphrates]] rivers, as well as other numerous smaller rivers, such as the Little Khabur, [[Place:Khabur (Euphrates)|Khabur]], Tharthar, Ceyhan, Araxes, Kura, Sefidrud, Karkha, and Hezil. Among rivers of historical importance to Kurds are the Murat (Arasān) and Buhtān rivers in Turkey; the Peshkhābur, the Little Zab, the Great Zab, and the Diyala in Iraq; and the Jaghatu (Zarrinarud), the Tātā'u (Siminarud), the Zohāb (Zahāb), and the Gāmāsiyāb in Iran.<ref name=":1" />

These rivers, which flow from heights of three to four thousand meters above sea level, are significant both as water sources and for the production of energy. Iraq and Syria dammed many of these rivers and their tributaries. Turkey has an extensive dam system under construction as part of the [[Place:Southeastern Anatolia Project|GAP (Southeast Anatolia Project)]]; though incomplete, the GAP already supplies a significant proportion of Turkey's electrical energy needs.<ref name=":1" /> Due to the extraordinary archaeological richness of the region, almost any dam impacts historic sites.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2018-10-11 |title=The Water |url=https://kurdistanica.com/494/the-water/ |access-date=2022-11-05 |website=Kurdistanica, The Encyclopedia of Kurdistan |language=en-US}}</ref> With the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, Turkey was accused of withholding water from the reservoir Lake Assad in Syria, while filling the Atatürk dam in Turkey.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-08-11 |title=Turkish dams threaten northeast Syria with ecological and economic blight |url=https://syriadirect.org/turkish-dams-threaten-northeast-syria-with-ecological-and-economic-blight/ |access-date=2022-11-05 |website=Syria Direct |language=en-US}}</ref>

'''Lakes'''

Kurdistan extends to Lake Urmia in Iran on the east. The region includes Lake Van, the largest body of water in Turkey; the only lake in the Middle East with a larger surface is Lake Urmia – though not nearly as deep as Lake Van, which has a much larger volume. Urmia, Van, as well as Zarivar Lake west of Marivan, and Lake Dukan near the city of [[Place:Sulaymaniyah|Sulaymaniyah]], are frequented by tourists.<ref name="Kurdistanica">{{cite web |title=Economy: Water |url=http://www.kurdistanica.com/?q=node/113 |access-date=14 December 2017 |publisher=The Encyclopædia of Kurdistan}}</ref>

=== Petroleum and mineral resources ===
Kurdistan Region is estimated to contain around {{convert|45|Goilbbl}} of oil, making it the sixth largest reserve in the world. Extraction of these reserves began in 2007.

[[Place:Al-Hasakah Governorate|Al-Hasakah]] province, also known as [[Place:Upper Mesopotamia|Jazira]] region, has geopolitical importance of [[Chemistry:Petroleum|oil]] and is suitable for agricultural lands.

In November 2011, Exxon challenged the Iraqi central government's authority with the signing of oil and gas contracts for exploration rights to six parcels of land in Kurdistan, including one contract in the disputed territories, just east of the Kirkuk mega-field.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.westernzagros.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/121126_operator_activity_EXTERNAL.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109173803/http://www.westernzagros.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/121126_operator_activity_EXTERNAL.pdf|url-status=dead|title=westernzagros.com|archive-date=9 November 2013}}</ref> This act caused Baghdad to threaten to revoke Exxon's contract in its southern fields, most notably the West-Qurna Phase 1 project.<ref>{{cite news |title=Exxon's Kurdistan |url=http://www.zawya.com/story/ZAWYA20120304053739/ |access-date=31 December 2012 |newspaper=Zawya |date=4 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417231147/http://www.zawya.com/story/ZAWYA20120304053739/ |archive-date=17 April 2012}}</ref> Exxon responded by announcing its intention to leave the West-Qurna project.<ref>{{cite news |title=Iraq says expects Exxon to finish West Qurna Sale by December |url=https://news.yahoo.com/iraq-says-expects-exxon-finish-west-qurna-sale-104523440--finance.html |agency=Reuters |access-date=31 December 2012}}</ref>

As of July 2007, the Kurdish government solicited foreign companies to invest in 40 new oil sites, with the hope of increasing regional oil production over the following five years by a factor of five, to about {{convert|1|Moilbbl/d|m3/d}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/19228 |title=Iraqi Kurds open 40 new oil sites to foreign investors |publisher=Iraq Updates |date=9 July 2007 |access-date=13 May 2011 |archive-date=12 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012181216/http://iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/19228 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Gas and associated gas reserves are in excess of {{convert|100|e12cuft|km3|abbr=on|order=flip}}. Notable companies active in Kurdistan include [[Company:ExxonMobil|ExxonMobil]], [[Company:Total S.A.|Total]], [[Company:Chevron Corporation|Chevron]], Talisman Energy, Genel Energy, Hunt Oil, Gulf Keystone Petroleum, and [[Company:Marathon Oil|Marathon Oil]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Kurdistan Oil and Gas Activity Map |url=http://www.westernzagros.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/121126_operator_activity_EXTERNAL.pdf |publisher=Western Zagros |access-date=31 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109173803/http://www.westernzagros.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/121126_operator_activity_EXTERNAL.pdf |archive-date=9 November 2013 }}</ref>

Other mineral resources that exist in significant quantities in the region include [[Earth:Coal|coal]], [[Chemistry:Copper|copper]], [[Chemistry:Gold|gold]], [[Chemistry:Iron|iron]], [[Earth:Limestone|limestone]] (which is used to produce cement), [[Chemistry:Marble|marble]], and [[Chemistry:Zinc|zinc]]. The world's largest deposit of rock sulfur is located just southwest of [[Place:Erbil|Erbil]].<ref>[http://www.kurdistancorporation.com/Oil_and_gas.htm Official statements on the oil and gas sector in the Kurdistan region] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012180933/http://kurdistancorporation.com/Oil_and_gas.htm |date=12 October 2007 }}, Kurdistan Development Corporation.</ref>

In July 2012, Turkey and the Kurdistan Region signed an agreement by which Turkey would regularly supply the KRG with refined petroleum products in exchange for crude oil.<ref>{{cite web |title=First Shipment of Kurdistan Crude Arrives in Turkey |url=http://www.brightwire.com/news/229205-first-shipment-of-kurdistan-crude-arrives-in-turkey |publisher=BrightWire |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130118132757/http://www.brightwire.com/news/229205-first-shipment-of-kurdistan-crude-arrives-in-turkey |archive-date=18 January 2013 }}</ref>

== Media ==

=== Television ===
*''Azhdar Show''

== Gallery ==
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Newen village in Hawraman 2015.jpg|A typical Kurdish village in Hawraman, Kurdistan
File:Canyon, north eastern Kurdistan.jpg|Canyon in Rawanduz in northern Iraqi Kurdistan
File:Zebar valley.jpg|Zê river in Zebari region, Iraqi Kurdistan.
File:Piranshahr2014.jpg|The city of Piranshahr, center of Mokrian district, northwestern Iran
File:Batman(city).jpg|The city of Batman, Northern Kurdistan (eastern Turkey)
File:20190510 174828.Sargallu.Sulaymaniyah.Kurdistan.jpg|Countryside in Sulaymaniyah
File:Afrin,south.jpg|A picture of the city of Efrîn, taken in 2009 from the southern side. ([[Place:Syrian Kurdistan|Western Kurdistan]])
</gallery>

== See also ==
* ''A Modern History of the Kurds'' by David McDowall
* [[Unsolved:Noah's Ark|Ark]] of Nuh or Noah
* [[Earth:Armenian highlands|Armenian highlands]]
* [[Place:Assyrian homeland|Assyrian homeland]]
* [[Social:Irredentism|Irredentism]]
* Lists of active separatist movements
* [[Unsolved:Mountains of Ararat|Mountains of Ararat]]
* Thamanin
* [[Place:Zagros Mountains|Zagros Mountains]]
** [[Unsolved:Mount Judi|Mount Judi]]

== References ==
{{reflist
| colwidth = 30em
| refs = 
}}

== Sources ==
* {{cite encyclopedia | title = Kurdistan | last = Mitchell | first = Colin Paul | editor-last = Bjork | editor-first = Robert E. | url = https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662624.001.0001/acref-9780198662624-e-3359?rskey=2GHfaB&result=2 | encyclopedia  = The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages  | publisher = Oxford University Press| year = 2010 | isbn = 978-0199574834}} 
* {{cite book |last=Triana |first=María |title=Managing Diversity in Organizations: A Global Perspective |year=2017 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-42368-3}}

== Further reading ==
* Beşikçi, İsmail. ''Selected Writings [about] Kurdistan and Turkish Colonialism''. London: Published jointly by Kurdistan Solidarity Committee and Kurdistan Information Centre, 1991. 44 p. Without ISBN
* {{cite book|last=Beşikçi|first=İsmail|title=International Colony Kurdistan|publisher=Gomidas Institute|place=London|date=2015|isbn=978-1-909382-20-6}}
* King, Diane E. ''Kurdistan on the Global Stage: Kinship, Land, and Community in Iraq'' (Rutgers University Press; 2014) 267 pages; Scholarly study of traditional social networks, such as patron-client relations, as well as technologically mediated communication, in a study of gender, kinship, and social life in Iraqi Kurdistan.
* Öcalan, Abdullah. ''Interviews and Speeches [about the Kurdish cause]''. London: Published jointly by Kurdistan Solidarity Committee and Kurdistan Information Centre, 1991. 46 p. Without ISBN
* Reed, Fred A. ''Anatolia Junction: a Journey into Hidden Turkey''. Burnaby, B.C.: Talonbooks [sic], 1999. 320 p., ill. with b&w photos. ''N.B''.: Includes a significant coverage of the Turkish sector of historic Kurdistan, the Kurds, and their resistance movement. {{ISBN|0-88922-426-9}}

== External links ==
{{EB1911 poster|Kūrdistān}}
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* [http://www.krg.org/ Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Northern Iraq].
* [http://www.institutkurde.org/en/ The Kurdish Institute of Paris] Provides news, bulletins, articles and conference information on the situation in Kurdistan.
* [http://www.theotheriraq.com/ Official Investment Website of Kurdistan]
* [http://www.polosbastards.com/artman/publish/article_32.shtml Troubled Times—A Brief History Of Kurdistan]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2207534,00.html Calls for freedom make the jigsaw of Europe more complicated than ever (Kurdistan in 2010s)] [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2207383,00.html] [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2207484,00.html]
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[[Category:Historical regions]]

{{Sourceattribution|Kurdistan}}