"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 more than 25 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 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."
Harb, Imad K. "Kurds." World Book Advanced, World Book, 2021, www.worldbookonline.com/advanced/article?id=ar305900.
Iraqi-Kurdish Conflict on JSTOR
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Hassanpour, Amir. “The Kurdish Experience.” Middle East Report, no. 189, 1994, pp. 2–23. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3013103.
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ROMANO, DAVID. “Iraqi Kurdistan: Challenges of Autonomy in the Wake of US Withdrawal.” International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-), vol. 86, no. 6, 2010, pp. 1345–1359. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40929766.
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Krajeski, Jenna. “The Future of Kurdistan.” Great Decisions, 2016, pp. 25–34. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44214818.
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