Jump to content

Portal:Kurdistan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Kurdistan Portal

Kurdish-inhabited areas (according to CIA, 1992)[1][2]

Kurdistan (Kurdish: کوردستان, romanizedKurdistan, lit.'land of the Kurds'; [ˌkʊɾdɪˈstɑːn] ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo-cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. 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). Some definitions also include parts of southern Transcaucasia. 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. 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. 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).

In Iraq, following the Aylūl Revolt, the government entered into an agreement with the rebellious Kurds, granting Kurds local self-rule. Soon after, however, the agreement collapsed. Later, during the Iraqi no-fly zones conflict, which followed the Gulf War, the Iraqi military withdrew from parts of northern Iraq, allowing the Kurds to fill the vacuum and regain lost control in those areas. After the invasion of Iraq, and since the creation of the new Iraqi federal state, the new constitution issued in 2005 recognises Kurdistan Region as a federal region; even though the constitution does not include the term “autonomy”, it emphasises decentralisation and devolution, allowing regions and governorates to administer local affairs. In practice, however, only Kurdistan Region has exercised this authority granted by the constitution. In September 2017, Iraqi Kurds held a one-sided independence referendum, which eventually failed and was abandoned. The subsequent effort by the Iraqi government to punish Kurdistan Region has resulted in the latter losing authorities it had previously possessed, and the future of Kurdish autonomy in Iraq has been called into question. Iraqi Kurdish officials have also complained of efforts by the Iraqi government to return to the pre-2003 centralized government and dismantle Kurdistan Region altogether.

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. (Full article...)

The Kurdistan Regional Parliament, also known as Kurdistan Parliament – Iraq (Kurdish: پەرلەمانی كوردستان; Arabic: برلمان اقليم كردستان), or simply Perleman, is the parliament of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq. It is made up of representatives from the various parties, lists or slates that are elected every four years by the inhabitants of Kurdistan Region, which is currently governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government. In 2009 an amendment was applied to the Kurdistan Election Law of the year 1992, changing the name of the body to Kurdish Parliament from its previous name: the Kurdish National Assembly.

The Parliament is a 100-member unicameral body in which 5 seats are reserved for non-Kurdish minority communities of the Kurdistan Region. The Parliament building is located in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

General images - load new batch

The following are images from various Kurdistan-related articles on Wikipedia.

Religions in Kurdistan


Arab states


Other countries

Selected picture

Credit: Wikimol
Ruins at the location of old city of Van

Did you know

Categories

Category puzzle
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories

Topics

New articles

This list was generated from these rules. Questions and feedback are always welcome! The search is being run daily with the most recent ~14 days of results. Note: Some articles may not be relevant to this project.

Rules | Match log | Results page (for watching) | Last updated: 2025-05-08 21:08 (UTC)

Note: The list display can now be customized by each user. See List display personalization for details.
















Things you can do

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Sources

  1. ^ "Kurdish lands". Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  2. ^ "The Kurdish lands". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
Discover Wikipedia using portals