Kurds are a people of a mountainous region of southwest Asia. Their homeland extends mainly over parts of Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. The number of Kurds in the area has been estimated at between 30 and 35 million. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims. They speak Kurdish, an Indo-European language related to Persian.
Many Kurds live in rural communities. They farm and herd sheep and goats. Farm crops include cotton, tobacco, and sugar beets. They also weave carpets and make handicrafts. Other Kurds live in such cities as Mahabad, Sanandaj, and Bakhtaran in Iran; Arbil, Kirkuk, and As Sulaymaniyah in Iraq; and Diyarbakir and Van in Turkey. Since the late 1900’s, many Kurds have migrated to large cities outside the Kurdish homeland, such as Istanbul and Ankara in Turkey.
Historically, the name Kurdistan (a Persian word meaning the Land of the Kurds) has been used for the area where the Kurds live. But today, only a small province in Iran is officially named Kurdistan.
The Kurds have never been united under a government of their own. Their desire for cultural and political independence has led to conflicts between them and the governments under which they live.
In Turkey, the Kurds are the largest ethnic minority, forming about 15 percent of the population. They live in southeastern Turkey. Successive Turkish governments have deprived the Kurds of exercising their full cultural rights. Today, the most vocal political representative of the Kurds in Turkey is the People’s Democratic Party (HDP, for Halklarin Demokratik Partisi, the group’s name in Kurdish). The HDP holds seats in the Turkish parliament. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK, for Partiya Karkere Kurdistan), a radical militant group, began a violent uprising against the Turkish government in 1984. Originally, the PKK called for an independent Kurdish state within Turkey. Today, the group states that it seeks only greater autonomy. Since the early 1980’s, the conflict between the PKK and the Turkish government has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people.
In Syria, Kurds make up about 10 percent of the population. A Kurdish-led rebel alliance has controlled parts of northern Syria, near the Turkish border, since the Syrian Civil War began in 2011. Kurdish fighters formed a major force aiding United States troops battle Islamic State terrorists in northeastern Syria. In early 2019, they succeeded in ending the Islamic State’s presence in that area. Turkish troops then pushed the Kurds farther back into Syria, away from the Turkish border, to establish a security zone for Turkey.
In Iraq, Kurds make up about 20 percent of the population. They have sought self-government since the end of World War I (1914-1918), when the British temporarily ruled the area. Iraq became independent in 1932. Since then, the Kurds’ efforts at self-rule have been repeatedly crushed by successive Iraqi governments. Following the Persian Gulf War of 1991, the Kurds, with the support of the United States and other allied nations, secured a safe haven in northern Iraq. The Kurds established the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) there in 1992. The KRG administers three governorates (provinces) in northern Iraq, receiving annual funding from Iraq’s central government to do so. Under Iraq’s present political system, the president is a Kurd.
In Iran, Kurds make up about 10 percent of the population. They live in the northwest of the country. In 1946, the Kurds established the Republic of Kurdistan, based in Mahabad, with the help of the former Soviet Union. However, the new nation collapsed in less than a year, after the Soviets received oil concessions from Iran and withdrew their support from the Kurds. Some Iranian Kurds support the Iranian government in Tehran. However, the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK, for Partiya Jiyana Azad a Kurdistane) has been waging a nationalist, guerilla-like struggle for independence from Iran since the early 2000’s. The group, which operates from the border region of Iran and Iraq, is believed to be affiliated with Turkey’s PKK.
Kurds in Armenia are a minority group that is both an ethnic and a religious community. They are the largest minority ethnic group in Armenia, making up about 1 percent of the population. The majority of Kurds are Yazidis, a group whose religious practices include elements of many different religions. They speak a dialect of the Kurdish language and have their own customs. Kurds in Armenia generally enjoy a high standard of living and participate freely in political life. Most are rural inhabitants, but many live in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan.
