Kurdish people
ethnic group in western Asia / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kurds (Kurdish: کورد, romanized: Kurd) or Kurdish people are an Indo-European Iranian[1][2][3] ethnic group indigenous to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northern Syria. There are exclaves of Kurds in Central Anatolia, Khorasan, and the Caucasus, as well as significant Kurdish diaspora communities in the cities of western Turkey (in particular Istanbul) and Western Europe (primarily in Germany). The Kurdish population is estimated to be between 60 and 80 million.
Total population | |
---|---|
70–80 million[4] (Kurdish Institute of Paris, 2017 estimate.) | |
Turkey | est. 25–31 million (inc. Ancestrial)[4] |
Iran | est. 12 - up to 27 million (inc. Ancestrial)[4] |
Iraq | est. 8–13 million (inc. Ancestrial)[4] |
Syria | 3.6–4[5][6] |
Germany | 1.5–2.5 million[7][8] |
Turkmenistan | 50,000[9] |
Azerbaijan | 180,000 - 4 million (inc. Ancestrial)[9] |
France | 150,000 - 300,000[10] |
Netherlands | 100,000 - 210,000[11] |
Sweden | 83,600 - 115,600[12] |
Russia | 63,818 - 130,000[13] |
Belgium | 50,000[14] |
United Kingdom | 49,841 - 186,000[15][16][17] |
Kazakhstan | 46,348[18] |
Switzerland | 51,000[19] |
Denmark | 30,000[20] |
Jordan | 30,000[21] |
Austria | 110,000[22] |
Greece | 61,000[23] |
United States | 20,591[24] |
Canada | 16,315[25] |
Finland | 15,368[26] |
Georgia | 13,861[27] |
Kyrgyzstan | 13,200[28] |
Australia | 10,551[29] |
Armenia | 37,470 - 900,000 (inc. Ancestrial)[30] |
Languages | |
Kurdish In their different varieties: Sorani, Kurmanji, Pehlewani, Laki[31] Zaza, Gorani[32] | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Sunni Islam with minorities of Shia Islam and Alevism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Iranian people |
Kurds are one of the largest and most important ethnic groups in the Middle East. There are between about 60 million and about 80 million Kurds.[33]: 19 Most of the Kurdish population lives in Kurdistan. Kurdistan is the area where Kurds live. Today, it is a border country with lands in the east and southeast of Turkey, in the north-west of Iran, in the north of Iraq, and in the north-east of Syria.[33]: 19 (Lands in Armenia and Azerbaijan also have small Kurdish populations.)[33]: 19, 21 After most of these borders came into existence after World War I, many Kurds went out of Kurdistan. They migrated to the large cities in the Middle East and to Western Europe.[33]: 21 Since the Middle Ages, there have also been Kurdish communities in Cairo, Beirut, Damascus, and Aleppo.[33]: 20 [34]: 38 Since the Early Modern Period, there have also been Kurdish communities in Khorasan (north-eastern Iran and Afghanistan).[33]: 21
Many Kurds speak the Kurdish language. The two largest Kurdish dialects are Kurmanji Kurdish and Sorani Kurdish. The Kurds of Turkish Kurdistan(Bakur)and of Syrian Kurdistan(Rojava)speak Kurmanji. About half of Kurds in Iranian Kurdistan(Rojhelat)and Iraqi Kurdistan(Bashur)speak Kurmanji, but other Kurds there speak Sorani. Some other Kurds in Iranian Kurdistan(Rojhelat)speak the Gorani Kurdish dialect, and others in Turkish Kurdistan(Bakur) speak Zazaki Kurdish.[33]: 26–27
Until the 20th century, most Kurds were nomadic people.[33]: 23 The Kurds' economy had a close connection with pastoralism and animal husbandry.[33]: 23 In the 21st century, nomadism is not common among Kurds.[33]: 23–24 Most Kurds now live in cities.[33]: 27 In the economy of the 21st century, farming is the most important work in Kurdistan. Industrialization means that fewer Kurds work as farmers, and this has caused urbanization of the Kurdish population. In the past, Kurds were part of the Silk Road economic system. Trade routes form connections between different countries through Kurdistan.[33]: 24
The Kurds share their lands with other ethnic groups. Some of the Kurds' neighbours are Turks, Arabs, Persians, Jews, Armenians, and Assyrians.[33]: 24 In the past, some Arabic and Turkic people became Kurds by cultural assimilation.[33]: 25–26 In the nationalist period, the governments of the states that control Kurdistan tried to assimilate the Kurds into Turkish, Iranian, and Arabic culture.[35][33]: 26 These states (Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria) also moved Turks, Persians, and Arabs into Kurdistan.[35][33]: 26 The governments of these states have used genocide, ethnocide, linguicide, and ethnic cleansing against Kurds.[36] The Soviet Union also forced Kurds from the Caucasus to migrate to Central Asia. When the Soviet Union ended, the First Nagorno-Karabakh War between Armenia and Azerbaijan affected most of the Kurds in the Caucasus.[37]
Most Kurds are Muslims. Most are part of Sunni Islam. Most Kurds are part of the Shafi'i school of jurisprudence, but some Kurds are part of the Hanafi school. Sufism is also common among Kurds. There are also Kurds who are part of Shia Islam and Kurds who are part of Alevism. There are also Kurdish Jews and Yazidis.[33]: 26