The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), (Kurdish: حکومەتی هەرێمی کوردستان, Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan, Arabic: حكومة إقليم كردستان, Hukũmah Iqlīm Kūrdistān), is the official ruling body of the predominantly Kurds-populated Kurdistan Region in Northern Iraq. The KRG consists of a unicameral parliament with 111 seats known as the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament (IKP).

The cabinet is selected by the majority party or list who also select the prime minister of the Kurdistan Region. The president of Kurdistan Region is directly elected by the electorate of the region and is the head of the cabinet and chief of state who delegates executive powers to the cabinet. The prime minister is traditionally the head of the legislature body but also shares executive powers with the president.^[1] The president of Kurdistan Region is also the commander-in-chief of the Peshmerga Armed Forces.^[2] Parliament creates and passes laws by a majority vote, and the president has the power to veto any bill.

Election process[link]

Since 1992, the governing bodies have been primarily based in Erbil (Kurdish: Hewlêr), officially declared the capital of the Region. The KRG parliament, or the Iraqi- Kurdistan Parliament (KP-I), is elected by popular vote. Voters are given one vote and may choose a single party from the list. The cabinet is selected by the majority party or parties. The majority party or coalition appoints and negotiates terms for the prime minister of the Kurdistan Region. The president of the Kurdistan Region is directly elected by the citizens of the region.^[2]

Currently, the cabinet is composed of the largest two governing parties, the KDP and the PUK and their allies.

Parliament[link]

Position		Portfolio	Name	Party
	President	General Affairs	Massoud Barzani	Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq
	Vice President	General Affairs	Vacant since 2009[3]	Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
	Prime Minister	General Affairs	Nechervan Idris Barzani	Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq
	Deputy Prime Minister	General Affairs	Imad Ahmad Sayfour	Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
	Minister	Minister for the Interior	Abdul Karim Sultan Sinjari	Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq
	Minister	Minister for Finance & the Economy	Bayiz Talabani	Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
	Minister	Minister for Justice	Sherwan Haidary
	Minister	Minister of Peshmerga Affairs	Jafar Mustafa Ali	Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
	Minister	Minister for Transport and Communication	Jonson Siyaoosh
	Minister	Minister for Education	Asmat Muhamad Khalid
	Minister	Minister for Health	Rekawt Hama Rasheed
	Minister	Minister for Labour and Social Affairs	Asos Najib Abdullah	Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
	Minister	Minister for Endowments & Religious Affairs	Kamil Ali Aziz	Islamic Movement of Kurdistan
	Minister	Minister for Agriculture & Water Resources	Serwan Baban
	Minister	Minister for Housing and Reconstruction	Kamaran Ahmed Abdullah
	Minister	Minister for Planning	Ali Osman Haji Badri Sindi
	Minister	Minister for Higher Education and Scientific Research	Ali Saeed
	Minister	Minister for Martyrs and Anfal Affairs	Majid Hamad Amin Jamil	Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
	Minister	Minister for Culture & Youth	Kawa Mahmoud Shakir	Kurdistan Communist Party
	Minister	Minister for Electricity
	Minister	Minister for Natural Resources	Ashti Hawrami
	Minister	Minister for Municipalities & Tourism	Dilshad Shahab
	Minister	Minister for Trade & Industry	Sinan Abdulkhalq Ahmed Chalabi
Source: Official Website of the Kurdistan Regional Government

1992 Elections[link]

On May 19, 1992, 6 months after Kurds had gained their freedom, the first elections were held. Due to the 7% threshold the only parties which had a chance of winning seats in parliament were the KDP and the PUK. The election resulted in a narrow victory for the KDP, which with 45% of the vote gained 51 seats while the PUK with 44% of the vote gained 49 seats. However due to allegations of election fraud they divided the seats 50-50 and created a unity government. The government however collapsed and resulted in a civil war breaking out in 1994. The last parliamentary meeting was held in 1996.^[4] It resulted in the creation of two Kurdish states, a PUK-controlled state based in Silemani and a KDP-controlled state based in Hewler, both recognised themselves as legitimate rulers of Kurdistan.^[5]

The primary goal of the 2005 elections was to end party-rule in the Iraqi Kurdistan and unify the two major parties - the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) - who fought a civil war in the mid-1990s over territorial disputes and control of the Kurdistan Region. Previously, the region was divided up by administrative provinces that were under control of either the KDP or the PUK. In 2004, the two parties created one unified list or coalition called the Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan, which included several smaller parties as well. Not surprisingly, the coalition received the majority of votes (an overwhelming 90%) allowing the KDP and PUK to effectively divide key positions in government. The coalition achieved 104 of the 111 seats in parliament.^[6]

In June, the IKP held its first official meeting with Massoud Barzani as the elected president. After six long months, the IKP finally agreed on administration positions. In 2006, the government was selected with Nechervan Idris Barzani as prime minister.^[6] The parties also negotiated terms for the prime minister. Nechervan Barzani, who is a member of the KDP, was expected to serve two years and would be replaced with a PUK candidate in 2008.

Governorate elections were held in Iraq, in 2005, including in the three Kurdish provinces. The elections resulted in a KDP victory in Hewler and Duhok with PUK a victory in Silemani. In total the PUK won the most votes during in these 3 provinces together with a total of 765,544 votes (43.4%) however they won only 48 seats while the KDP with 741,483 votes (42%) won 62 seats. Other parties won only 4 seats in Kurdish provinces. Kurdish parties also won majorities in Ninawa and Kirkuk.^[7]

2009 Elections[link]

25 July 2009 election results

The latest parliamentary elections were held on 25 July 2009. Kurdistan List, a joint list of KDP and PUK, won the largest share of seats and was tasked to form the next government. Major opposition parties include Change List and Reform List with 25 and 13 seats respectively. The new prime minister, Barham Salih of PUK, assumed office on 28 October 2009. Minority Turkmen have five seats and Christians (Chaldeans and Armenians) are represented with four seats. The new KRG government has 19 ministries.^[8]

In 2005, Massoud Barzani was elected as President of Iraqi Kurdistan by the parliament. In 2009, the KRG decided that the president would no longer be selected by parliament, and instead, direct elections would take place. In the 2009 elections, President Barzani ran for reelection and faced a host of candidates running against him including Halow Ibrahim Ahmed, Kamal Mirawdily, Ahmed Mohammed Rasul and Hussein Garmiyani. The election was a landslide victory for Barzani as he won approximately 70% of the votes. Kemal Mirawdily came in second with 25%.^[9]

Role in Iraq[link]

The KRG has assumed the role of a government in a federal region of Iraq. As stipulated by the Iraqi constitution, Iraq will be divided into federal regions that will handle their own domestic affairs while the Baghdad central government will deal with international affairs. The single most controversial issue regarding federalism is oil. The KRG under Nechervan Barzani has signed several oil contracts with foreign states, including companies in the United States and China.^[10] While the KRG asserts that such contracts are legal under Iraqi law and the constitution, many disputes remain.

The main Kurdish parties and Peshmerga cooperated with the US-led coalition during the 2003 invasion of Iraq that led to Saddam Hussein's overthrow. Kurdish politicians were represented in the Iraqi governing council. On January 30, 2005 three elections were held in the region: 1) for Transitional National Assembly of Iraq 2) for Iraqi Kurdistan National Assembly and 3) for provincial councils.^[11] The Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period recognized the autonomy of the Kurdistan Regional Government during the interim between "full sovereignty" and the adoption of a permanent constitution.

The Kurdistan Regional Government currently has constitutionally recognised authority over the provinces of Erbil, Duhok, and Silemani, as well as de facto authority over parts of Diyala and Ninawa and Kirkuk (at-Ta'mim) provinces.

One particularly difficult issue yet to be resolved is the future boundaries of the region. Many Kurds wish it to be expanded to include the largely Kurdish cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, but this is complicated by the Assyrian, Turkmen and Arab populations of both cities and the opposition of Turkey, which is concerned about the region's potential to break away from Iraq (with possible consequences for its own Kurdish minority). The final boundaries of the autonomous region are set to be decided through a number of referendums which were scheduled to be held before the end of 2007 as stipulated in the Iraqi constitution. However, the preparations needed for such a referendum to take place have not been made by the Iraqi central government, and the promised referendums have been postponed for up to six months.^[12]

In the wake of the ratification of the Iraqi constitution in October 2005, Iraqi Kurdistan reconstituted itself as a federal region under the new constitutional framework. Kirkuk's status with respect to the federal region should, under that framework, be decided by a simple majority vote in the provinces.

The Kurdistan Regional Government has inaugurated a movement to distinguish itself from the rest of Iraq, entitled "Kurdistan - The Other Iraq", in a bid to attract investors by showing its security and economic progress amidst the Iraqi War.^[13]

The Iraqi Kurdistan region has recently established a sister-state relationship with the US State of Oregon.^[14]

References[link]

Kurdistan

Kurdish-inhabited areas.
Language	Kurdish, Turkish, Arabic and Persian
Location	Western and Northwestern Iranian Plateau: Upper Mesopotamia, Zagros, Southeastern Anatolia, including parts of northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey[1]
Area (Est.)	190,000 km²–390,000 km² 74,000 sq.mi–151,000 sq.mi
Population	25 to 30 Million (Kurdish Population) (Est.)[2]

Kurdistan ( (listen) (help·info) "Land of the Kurds";^[3] also formerly spelled Curdistan;^[4][5] ancient name: Corduene^{[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]}) is a roughly defined geo-cultural region wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population, and Kurdish culture, language, and national identity have historically been based.^[13]

Contemporary use of Kurdistan refers to parts of eastern Turkey (Turkish Kurdistan), northern Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan), northwestern Iran (Iranian Kurdistan) and northern Syria inhabited mainly by Kurds.^[14] Kurdistan roughly encompasses the northwestern Zagros and the eastern Taurus mountain ranges,^[15] and covers small portions of Armenia.

Iraqi Kurdistan first gained autonomous status in 1970 agreement with the Iraqi government and its status was re-confirmed as an autonomous entity within the federal Iraqi republic in 2005.^[16] There is also a province by the name Kurdistan in Iran, although it does not enjoy self-rule.

Some Kurdish nationalist organizations seek to create an independent nation state of Kurdistan, consisting of some or all of the areas with Kurdish majority, while others campaign for greater Kurdish autonomy within the existing national boundaries.^[17][18]

History[link]

Ancient period[link]

Various groups, among them the Guti, Hurrian, Mannai (Mannaeans), and Armenians had lived in this region in antiquity^[19] The original Mannaean homeland was situated east and south of the Lake Urmia, roughly centered around modern-day Mahabad.^[20] The Medes came under Persian rule during the reign of Cyrus the Great and Darius.

The Kingdom of Corduene, which emerged from the declining Seleucid Empire, was located to the south and south-east of Lake Van between Persia and Mesopotamia and ruled northern Mesopotamia and southeastern Anatolia from 189 BC to AD 384. At its zenith, the Roman Empire ruled large Kurdish-inhabited areas, particularly the western and northern Kurdish areas in the Middle East. Corduene became a vassal state of the Roman Republic in 66 BC and remained allied with the Romans until AD 384. Corduene was situated to the east of Tigranocerta, that is, to the east and south of present-day Diyarbakır in south-eastern Turkey.

Ancient Kurdistan as Kard-uchi, during Alexander the Great's Empire, 4th century BC

Some historians have correlated a connection between Corduene‎ with the modern names of Kurds and Kurdistan;^[7][21][22] T. A. Sinclair dismissed this identification as false,^[23] while a common association is asserted in the Columbia Encyclopedia.^[24]

Some of the ancient districts of Kurdistan and their corresponding modern names:^[25]

1. Corduene or Gordyene (Siirt, Bitlis and Şırnak)
2. Sophene (Diyarbakır)
3. Zabdicene or Bezabde (Gozarto d'Qardu or Jazirat Ibn or Cizre)
4. Basenia (Bayazid)
5. Moxoene (Muş)
6. Nephercerta (Miyafarkin)
7. Artemita (Van)

19th-century map showing the location of the Kingdom of Corduene in 60 B.C

One of the earliest records of the phrase land of the Kurds is found in a Syriac Christian document of late antiquity, describing the stories of Christian saints of the Middle East, such as the Abdisho. When the Sassanid Marzban asked Mar Abdisho about his place of origin, he replied that according to his parents, they were originally from Hazza, a village in 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 km southwest of modern Irbil. In another passage in the same document, the region of the Khabur River is also identified as land of the Kurds.^[26]

Medieval period[link]

Map by Mahmud al-Kashgari (1074), showing Arz ul Akrad Arabic for land of Kurds located between Arz ush Sham (Syria), and Arz ul Iraqeyn (Iraq Arabi and Iraq Ajami).

In the tenth and eleventh centuries, several Kurdish principalities emerged in the region: in the North the Shaddadid (951–1174) (in east Transcaucasia between the Kur and Araxes rivers) and the Rawadid (955–1221) (centered in Tabriz and ruled all of Azarbaijan), in the East the Hasanwayhid (959–1015) (in Zagros between Shahrizor and Khuzistan) and the Annazid (990–1116) (centered in Hulwan) and in the West the Marwanid (990–1096) in south of Diyarbakır and north of Jazira.^[27][28]

Kurdistan in the Middle Ages was a collection of semi-independent and independent states called "emirates". 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.^[29][30] The emirates included Baban, Soran, Badinan and Garmiyan in present-day Iraq; Bakran, Bohtan (or Botan) and Badlis in Turkey, and Mukriyan and Ardalan in Iran.

The earliest medieval attestation of the toponym Kurdistan is found in a 12th century Armenian historical text by Matteos Urhayeci. He described a battle near Amid and Siverek in 1062 as to have taken place in Kurdistan.^[31][32] The second record occurs in the prayer from the colophon of an Armenian manuscript of the Gospels, written in 1200.^[33][34]

A later use of the term Kurdistan is found in Nuzhat-al-Qulub, written by Hamdollah Mostowfi in 1340.^[35]

Modern period[link]

Kurdish Independent Kingdoms and Autonomous Principalities circa 1835.

In the 16th century, after prolonged wars, Kurdish-inhabited areas were split between the Safavid and 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.^[36] Prior to World War I, most Kurds lived within the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire in the province of Kurdistan.^{[citation needed]}. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Allies contrived to create several countries within its former boundaries – according to the never-ratified Treaty of Sèvres, Kurdistan, along with Armenia, were to be among them. 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 and the borders of the modern Republic of Turkey – leaving the Kurds without a self-ruled region. Other Kurdish areas were assigned to the new British and French mandated states of Iraq and Syria.

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 Bushehr, and included the Lur inhabited areas of southern Zagros.^[37][38]

At the end of the First Gulf War, the Allies established a safe haven in northern Iraq. Amid the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from three northern provinces, Iraqi Kurdistan emerged in 1992 as an autonomous entity inside Iraq with its own local government and parliament.

People[link]

The Kurds are a people of Indo-European origin. They speak an Iranic language known as Kurdish, and comprise the majority of the population of the region – however, included therein are Arab, Armenian, Assyrian, Azeri, Jewish, Ossetian, Persian, and Turkic communities. Most inhabitants are Muslim, but adherents to other religions are present as well- including Yazidis, the Yarsan, Alevis, Christians,^[39] and Jews.^[40]

The Zagros Mountains from space, September 1992.

Geography[link]

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Kurdistan covers about 190,000 km², and its chief towns are Diyarbakır (Amed), Bitlis (Bedlîs) and Van (Wan) in Turkey, Arbil (Hewlêr) and Slemani in Iraq, and Kermanshah (Kirmanşan), Sanandaj (Sine) and Mahabad (Mehabad) in Iran.^[41] According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, Kurdistan covers around 190,000 km² in Turkey, 125,000 km² in Iran, 65,000 km² in Iraq, and 12,000 km² in Syria, with a total area of approximately 392,000 km².^[42]

Historic map from 1721, showing borders of Curdistan provinces in Persia.

Iraqi Kurdistan is divided into six governorates, three of which (and parts of others) are under the control of the Kurdistan Regional Government. Iranian Kurdistan encompasses Kurdistan Province and the greater parts of West Azerbaijan, Kermanshah, and Īlām provinces. Syrian Kurdistan (Kurdish: Kurdistana Binxetê^[43]) is located primarily in northeastern Syria, and covers the greater part of the province of Al Hasakah. The major cities in this region are Al-Qamishli (Kurdish: Qamişlû) and Al Hasakah (Kurdish: Hesaka).

Turkish Kurdistan encompasses a large area of south eastern Turkey and it is home to an estimated 15 to 20 million Kurds.^[44]

Subdivisions (Upper and Lower Kurdistan)[link]

In A Dictionary of Scripture Geography (published 1846), John Miles describes Upper and Lower Kurdistan as following:

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.^[45]

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[link]

Much of the region is typified by an extreme continental climate – hot in the summer, bitterly 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 mm a year in the plains, and between 700 and 3,000 mm a year on the high plateaux between mountain chains.^[42]

Forests[link]

Kurdistan is a mountainous region with a 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 km²), including firs and other conifers, oaks, platanus, willow, and poplar.^[42]

Mountains[link]

Canyon in northern Iraq.

Mountains are important geographical and symbolic features of Kurdish life, as evidenced by the saying "Kurds have no friends but the mountains".^[46] Included in the region are Mount Judi and Ararat (both prominent in Kurdish folklore), Zagros, Shingar, Qendil, Shaho, Gabar, Hamrin, and Nisir.

Rivers[link]

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 Tigris and Euphrates rivers, as well as other numerous smaller rivers, such as the Khabur, Tharthar, Ceyhan, Araxes, Kura, Sefidrud, Karkha, and Hezil. Among rivers of historical importance to Kurds are the Murat (Arasān) and Buhtān rivers in 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.

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, and Turkey has an extensive dam system under construction as part of the GAP (Southeast Anatolia Project); though incomplete, the GAP already supplies a significant proportion of Turkey's electrical energy needs. Due to the extraordinary archaeological richness of the region, almost any dam impacts historic sites.^[47]

Lakes[link]

Kurdistan extends to Lake Urmia in Iran on the east and to semi-contiguous Kurdish-inhabited regions to the west on the Mediterranean. 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 Sulaymaniyah, are frequented by tourists.^[47]

Petroleum and mineral resources[link]

KRG-controlled parts of Iraqi Kurdistan are estimated to contain around 45 billion barrels (7.2×10^⁹ m³) of oil, making it the sixth largest reserve in the world. Extraction of these reserves began in 2007. Iraq's former Baath regime controls the resources of Kirkuk and Mosul, cities claimed by the KRG to be included in its territory.

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 5 years by a factor of five, to about 1 million barrels per day (160,000 m³/d).^[48] Gas and associated gas reserves are in excess of 100×10^¹² cu ft (2,800 km³).

Other mineral resources that exist in significant quantities in the region include coal, copper, gold, iron, limestone (which is used to produce cement), marble, and zinc. The world's largest deposit of rock sulfur is located just southwest of Arbil (Hewlêr).^[49]

Conflict and controversy[link]

Kurdish PKK militant.

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 thousands of lives have been lost. The region saw several major Kurdish rebellions, including the Koçkiri Rebellion of 1920 under the Ottomans, then successive insurrection 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.^[50][51][52]

The city of Batman, eastern Turkey

In 1983, the Kurdish provinces were placed under martial law in response to the activities of the militant separatist and terrorist organization, Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).^[53][54] A guerrilla war took place through the 1980s and 1990s in which much of the countryside was evacuated, thousands of Kurdish-populated villages were destroyed, and numerous extrajudicial summary executions were carried out by both sides.^[55] More than 37,000 people were killed in the violence and hundreds of thousands more were forced to leave their homes.^[56] Volatility in the region eased following the capture of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in 1999, and, with the encouragement of European Union, the adoption of tolerance policies toward Kurdish cultural activities by the Turkish state. After 2004, political violence increased, and the Turkish-Iraqi border region remains tense.^[57]

Education[link]

See also[link]

Kurdistan portal

• Kurdistan Okrug
• Kurdistan Regional Government
• Turkish Kurdistan
• Iranian Kurdistan
• Iraqi Kurdistan
• Kurds in Syria
• List of Kurdish dynasties and countries

References[link]

Coordinates: 37°00′N 43°00′E / 37°N 43°E / 37; 43

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2011)

For "administrative division" in the sense of a company department, see: Division (business).

World administrative divisions

An administrative division, subnational entity, or country subdivision is a portion of a country or other political division, established for the purpose of government. Administrative divisions are each granted a certain degree of autonomy, and are required to manage themselves through their own local governments. Countries are divided up into these smaller units to make managing their land and the affairs of their people easier. For example, a country may be divided into provinces, which in turn are divided into counties, which in turn may be divided in whole or in part into municipalities. These are only a few of the names given to administrative subdivisions; more examples are provided below.

Administrative divisions are conceptually separate from dependent territories, with the former being an integral part of the state and the other being only under some lesser form of control. However, the term "administrative division" can include dependent territories as well as accepted administrative divisions (for example, in geographical databases).

Examples of administrative divisions[link]

English terms[link]

In many of the following terms corresponding to British cultural influence, areas of relatively low mean population density might bear a title of an entity one would expect to be either larger or smaller. There is no fixed rule, for "all politics is local" as is perhaps well demonstrated by their relative lack of systemic order. In the realm of self-government, any of these can and does occur along a stretch of road—which for the most part is passing through rural unsettled countryside. Since the terms are administrative political subdivisions of the local regional government their exact relationship and definitions are subject to home rule considerations, tradition, as well as state statute law and local governmental (administrative) definition and control. In the British cultural legacy, most regional entities begin with fairly expansive counties which encompass an appreciable territorial area and proceed down in size to smaller entities.

Within those entities are the large and small cities or towns, which may or may not be the county seat. Some of the world's larger cities culturally, if not officially, span into multiple counties and those crossing state or provincial boundaries culturally are quite common as well, but are rarely incorporated within the same municipal government. Many sister cities share a water boundary which quite often serves as a border of both cities and counties. For example, Cambridge and Boston, Massachusetts appear to the casual traveler as one large city, while locally they each are quite culturally different and occupy different counties.

• Area
• Autonomous communities, as in the Autonomous communities of Spain
• Commune
• County
• Country - the United Kingdom is subdivided into 'constituent countries' e.g. Scotland
• Constituency - usually refers to an electoral division (which is not an administrative division), but in Namibia and in Canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland, "constituency" means "administrative division".
• Department
• Despotate (not subnational)
• District
• Division
• Duchy (partial subnational)
• Empire (not subnational)
• Härad, Herred, Hundred, Kihlakunta
• Kingdom
• Local council
• Municipality
  • Rural
  • Regional
  • Regional county
• Okrug
• Parish
• Prefecture
• Principality (partial subnational)
• Province
• Public body (the general denomination for administrative divisions in the Netherlands)
• Region
• Republic (partial subnational)
• Riding
• State
• Special administrative region
• Territory
• Voivodship

Urban or rural regions:

• Borough or alternatively, "boro"
• Burgh
• City
• Shire
• Town
• Township
• Village

Indigenous:

• Tribe
• Indian reservation
• Indian reserve
• Band

Native terms[link]

See: List of terms for administrative divisions

Consistent translation from original language is sometimes difficult.

Compare[link]

• Sovereign state, a national or supra-national division.
• Country, a national or supra-national division.
• Empire, a supra-national division.

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Subnational entities

• Political division
• Administrative division codes of the People's Republic of China
• ISO 3166-2 Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions — Part 2
• List of terms for administrative divisions
• List of etymologies of country subdivision names
• List of country subdivisions by population
• List of the largest country subdivisions by area
• Table of administrative country subdivisions by country
• List of administrative division name changes
• List of current constituent monarchs
• GADM, a high-resolution database of country administrative areas

External links[link]

• United Nations' Second Administrative Level Boundaries (SALB) dataset
• "Statoids" - an international convention with standard two-letter, multi-level summaries (e.g. GH.AH.AE represents Adansi East in the Accra Home region in Ghana)

Doctor Barham Salih MP
2nd Prime Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan
In office 1 September 2009 – 17 January 2012
President	Massoud Barzani
Deputy	Imad Ahmad Sayfour
Preceded by	Nechervan Idris Barzani
Succeeded by	Nechervan Idris Barzani
Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq
In office 22 April 2006 – 20 August 2009[1]
President	Jalal Talebani
Prime Minister	Nouri al-Maliki
Preceded by	Rowsch Shaways
Succeeded by	Rowsch Shaways
Interim Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq
In office 28 June 2004 – 3 May 2005
President	Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer
Prime Minister	Iyad Allawi
Preceded by	Coalition Provisional Authority
Succeeded by	Rowsch Shaways
Personal details
Born	(1960-09-12) 12 September 1960 (age 51) Sulaymaniyah, Iraq
Nationality	Kurdish
Political party	Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
Spouse(s)	Dr. Sarbagh Salih (women’s rights activist)[2]
Residence	Arbil
Religion	Sunni Islam
Website	www.barhamsalih.net

Barham Ahmad Salih (Kurdish: به‌رهه‌م ئه‌حمه‌د ساڵح or Berhem Salih; Arabic: برهم أحمد صالح‎; born 1960) is an Iraqi Kurdish politician. He is the former prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraqi Kurdistan and a former deputy prime minister of the Federal government of Iraq. He is married and has a daughter who attended Princeton University and a son who graduated from King's Academy in Madaba, Jordan and who currently attends Columbia.

Early life[link]

Dr. Barham Salih was born in 1960 in the city of Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan. He was arrested in 1979 by the Baathist regime twice on charges of involvement in the Kurdish national movement and spent 43 days in detention in a Special Investigation Commission prison in Kirkuk where he was tortured.^[3] His release is a source of speculation since politically active Kurds were particularly targeted for summary execution. Once release he finished high school honors and was ranked the first in Kurdistan and the third in Iraq with a grade of 96.5%. He left Iraq for the United Kingdom because of continuous persecution.

Career at the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan[link]

Salih joined the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in late 1976 where he became a member of the PUK department of Europe, and was in charge of PUK foreign relations in London. In addition to the political struggle, he finished his university studies and received a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering and Construction from the Cardiff University in 1983. He continued to study and obtained a Doctorate degree in Statistics and Computer Applications in Engineering from the University of Liverpool in 1987.

He was elected a member of the PUK leadership at the first party conference when Iraqi Kurdistan was liberated from the Ba'ath Party following the first Gulf War. He was assigned the task of heading the PUK Office in the United States.

After the fall of the Baathist regime, he became Deputy Prime Minister in the Interim Iraqi Government (in mid-2004), Minister of Planning in the Transitional Government (in 2005), and Deputy Prime Minister in the elected Iraqi Government (Nouri al-Maliki’s Cabinet) in charge of the economic portfolio and Head of the Economic Committee. Representing the Iraqi Government, he launched the International Compact with Iraq – an initiative of mutual commitment between Iraq and the international community to help Iraq in meeting its obligations of “building a prosperous, democratic and federal country, in peace with itself and with the region and the world”.

Salih appeared on The Colbert Report on June 10, 2009, broadcast from Baghdad, and was interviewed by the host. He praised the U.S. military for freeing Iraq, and acknowledged that many Kurds desire independence.

Career as Prime minister[link]

Barham Salih spearheaded the Kurdistani List in the Iraqi Kurdistan legislative election, 2009. The list won 59 of 111 seats. He succeeded Nechervan Idris Barzani as the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government. His term was marked by a turbulence time with the rise of an opposition(Movement for Change) to challenge the government while his own party was scrambling to stay together after losing the stronghold city of Sulaymaniyah. He survived the first motion of no confidence in Iraqi Kurdistan following the 2011 Sulaymaniyah protests. He signed the first mayor oil contract with Exxon Mobile after drafting and amending a new oil law^[4]. He relinquished the post of Prime Minister to Nechervan Idris Barzani on the 17 January 2012 as part of a political agreement between the ruling KDP-PUK coalition^[5]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Dr. Barham Salih's official website
• Dr. Barham Salih on Facebook
• Dr. Barham Salih on Twitter
• Dr. Barham Salih on YouTube

Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria making up 9% of the country's population.^[1] Most of them are Sunni Muslims; there are also Yazidi and Yarsan Kurds in Syria and small numbers of Christians and Alawis. They face routine discrimination and harassment by the Syrian government.^[2][3]

Demographics[link]

The majority of Kurds in Syria originally came from Turkey in the 1920s.^[4] The community in Syria is quite small compared to their compatriots in Iran, Iraq and Turkey. However in the years 1980-1990, Kurds in Syria changed their tactics. During this period, violent clashes of community members with authorities resulted in mass arrests and deaths in 1986 and 1992.

Considering that the State department and CIA did not acknowledge the existence of the Kurds in Syria in 1970s and 1980s, Syrian government officially does not acknowledge the existence of Kurds in Syria, and lack of transparent census in Syria; it would be difficult to predicate the true and accurate percentage.

Geography[link]

Light colored region indicates Kurdish inhabited regions of Syria

Kurds mostly live in a geocultural region in northeastern Syria. This region covers the greater part of the governorate of Al Hasakah (formerly the Al-Jazira province), a region also inhabited by many Assyrians. The main cities in this region are Al-Qamishli and Al Hasakah. Another region with significant Kurdish population is Kobanê (Ayn al-Arab) in the northern part of Syria near the town of Jarabulus. The Kurdish-inhabited northern and northeastern parts of Syria in Kurdish are called "Kurdistana Binxetê". An area of Kurdish concentration is Kurd-Dagh in the northwest, around the town of Afrin in Aleppo Governorate, a region that extends to the Turkish districts Islahiye and Kırıkhan. Also many Kurds live in metropolitan areas and large cities of the country, e.g. the neighborhood of Rukn al-Din in Damascus, formerly known as Hayy al Akrad (Quarter of the Kurds).^[5][6]

Politics[link]

French Mandate period[link]

In December 1931 - January 1932 the first elections under the new Syrian constitution were held.^[7] Among the deputies there were three members of the Syrian Kurdish nationalist Xoybûn (Khoyboun) party, Khalil bey Ibn Ibrahim Pacha (Al-Jazira province), Mustafa bey Ibn Shahin (Jarabulus) and Hassan Aouni (Kurd Dagh).^[8]

KDPS, Jazira and Barzani[link]

Osman Sabri and Daham Miro along with some Kurdish politicians, founded the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria (KDPS) in 1957. The objectives of KDPS were promotion of Kurdish cultural rights, economic progress and democratic change. KDPS was never legally recognized by the Syrian state and remains an underground organization, especially after a crackdown in 1960 during which several of its leaders were arrested, charged with separatism and imprisoned. After the failure of Syrian political union with Egypt in 1961, Syria was declared an Arab Republic in the interim constitution. On 23 August 1962, the government conducted a special population census only for the province of Jazira which was predominantly Kurdish. As a result, around 120,000 Kurds in Jazira were arbitrarily categorized as aliens. In fact, the inhabitants had Syrian identity cards and were told to hand them over to the administration for renewal. However those Kurds who submitted their cards received nothing in return. A media campaign was launched against the Kurds with slogans such as Save Arabism in Jazira! and Fight the Kurdish threat!. These policies coincided with the beginning of Barzani's uprising in Iraqi Kurdistan and discovery of oilfields in the Kurdish inhabited areas of Syria. In June 1963, Syria took part in the Iraqi military campaign against the Kurds by providing aircraft, armoured vehicles and a force of 6,000 soldiers. Syrian troops crossed the Iraqi border and moved into Kurdish town of Zakho in pursuit of Barzani's fighters^[9]

Arab cordon[link]

In 1965, the Syrian government decided to create an Arab cordon (Hizam Arabi) in the Jazira region along the Turkish border. The cordon was 300 kilometers long and 10-15 kilometers wide, stretched from the Iraqi border in the east to Ras Al-Ain in the west. The implementation of the Arab cordon plan began in 1973 and Bedouin Arabs were brought in and resettled in Kurdish areas. The toponymy of the area such as village names were Arabized. According to the original plan, some 140,000 Kurds had to be deported to the southern desert near Al-Raad. Although Kurdish farmers were dispossessed of their lands, they refused to move and give up their houses. Among these Kurdish villagers, those who were designated as alien are not allowed to own property, to repair a crumbling house or to build a new one.^[10]

1986 Demonstrations[link]

In March 1986, a few thousand Kurds wearing Kurdish costume gathered in the Kurdish part of Damascus to celebrate the spring festival of Newroz. Police warned them that Kurdish dress is prohibited and it fired on the crowd leaving one person dead. Around 40,000 Kurds took part in his funeral in Qamishli. Also in Afrin, three Kurds were killed during the Newroz demonstrations.^[11]

The March 2004 riots[link]

After an incident in a football stadium in Al Qamishli, 65 people were killed and more than 160 were injured in days of clashes starting from March 12. Kurdish sources indicated that Syrian security forces used live ammunition against civilians after clashes broke out at a football match between Kurdish fans of the local team and Arab supporters of a visiting team from the city of Deir al-Zor. The international press reported that nine people were killed on March 12. According to Amnesty International hundreds of people, mostly Kurds, were arrested after the riots. Kurdish detainees were reportedly tortured and ill-treated. Some Kurdish students were expelled from their universities, reportedly for participating in peaceful protests.^[12]

Formation of an Umbrella for Kurds[link]

The Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria was formed to represent Syrian Kurds based on two major conferences, one at the US Senate in March 2006 and the other at the EU parliament in Brussels in 2006. The Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria (KNAS) seek democracy for Syria and granting rights to Kurds and other Syrian minorities. They seek to transform Syria into a federal state, with a democratic system and structure for the federal government and provincial governments. This will begin a new era in which the Syrian people and neighboring countries will enjoy freedom, peace, security and stability.

2011 protests[link]

Following the Tunisian Revolution and the Egyptian Revolution, February 4th 2011 was declared a 'Day of Rage' in Syria by activists through the medium of Facebook. Few turned out to protest, but among the few were Kurdish demonstrators in the northeast of the country.^[13] On 7 October 2011, Kurdish leader Mashaal Tammo was gunned down in his apartment by masked men widely believed to be regime agents. During Tammo's funeral procession the next day in the town of Qamishli, Syrian security forces fired into a crowd of more than 50,000 mourners, killing five people.^[14] According to Tammo's son, Fares Tammo, "My father's assassination is the screw in the regime's coffin. They made a big mistake by killing my father."^[15]

Human rights of Kurds in Syria[link]

Amnesty and HRW reports[link]

Kurds often speak Kurdish in public, unless all those present do not. Amnesty International USA claims Kurdish human rights activists are mistreated and persecuted.^[16] According to the Human Rights Watch, Kurds in Syria can not use the Kurdish language, are not allowed to register children with Kurdish names, prohibited to start businesses that do not have Arabic names, are not permitted to build Kurdish private schools, and prohibited from publishing books and other materials written in Kurdish.^[17][18]

Citizenship[link]

In 1962, 20 percent of Syria's Kurdish population were stripped of their Syrian citizenship following a very highly controversial census raising concerns among human rights groups. According to the Syrian government, the reason for this enactment was due to groups of Kurds infiltrating the Al-Hasakah Governorate in 1945. The Syrian government claims that the Kurds came from neighboring countries, especially Turkey, and crossed into Syrian borders illegally. The government claims that these Kurds settled down, gradually, in the region in cities like Amuda and Al Qamishli until they accounted for the majority in some of these cities. The government also claims that many Kurds were capable of registering themselves illegally in the Syrian civil registers. The government further speculated that Kurds intended to settle down and acquire property, especially after the issue of the agricultural reform law, in order to benefit from land redistribution.^[17] However, according to Human Rights Watch, the Syrian government falsely claimed that many of the Kurds who were the original inhabitants of the land were foreigners, and in turn, violated their human rights by stripping them of their Syrian citizenship.^[19]

The flag of Kurdistan is banned in Syria.^[20]

As a result of government claims of an increase in illegal immigration, the Syrian government decided to conduct a general census on October 5, 1962 in the governorate with claims that its sole purpose was to purify registers and eliminate the alien infiltrators. As a result, the verified registrations of the citizens of Syria were included in the new civil registers. The remaining, which included 100,000 Kurds, were registered as foreigners (or "ajanib") in special registers.^{[17] [21]} Many others did not participate in the census. through choice or other circumstances; they are known as "maktoumeen", meaning "unrecorded".^[21] Since then, the number of stateless Kurds has grown to more than 200,000.^[22] According to Refugees International, there are about 300,000 stateless Kurds in Syria; however, Kurds dispute this number and estimate about 500,000. A recent independent report has confirmed that there are at least 300,000 stateless Kurds living in Syria.^[21]

According to the Human Rights Watch, by many accounts, the special census was carried out in an arbitrary manner separating members of the same families and classifying them differently. HRW claims that some Kurds in the same family became citizens while others became foreigners suggesting an inaccuracy in the Syrian government's process; HRW also alleges that some of the Kurds who had served in the Syrian army lost citizenship while those who bribed officials kept theirs.^[19] Stateless Kurds also do not have the option of legally relocating to another country because they lack passports or other internationally recognized travel documents. In Syria, other than in the governorate of Al-Hasakah, foreigners cannot be employed at government agencies and state-owned enterprises; they may not legally marry Syrian citizens. Kurds with foreigner status do not have the right to vote in elections or run for public office, and when they attend universities they are often persecuted and cannot be awarded with university degrees.^[21] Stateless Kurds living in Syria are not awarded school certificates and are often unable to travel outside of their provinces.^[21]

In April 2011, the President signed Decree 49 which provides citizenship for Kurds who were registered as foreigners in Hasaka.^[23] However, a recent independent report has suggested that the actual number of stateless Kurds who obtained their national ID cards following the decree does not exceed 6,000, leaving the remainder of 300,000 stateless Kurds living in Syria in a state of uncertainty.^[21] One newly nationalized Kurd has been reported as saying: ‘I’m pleased to have my ID card .... But not until the process is completed will I truly trust the intentions of this action. Before my card is activated, I must have an interview, no doubt full of interrogation and intimidation, with State Security. Citizenship should not be a privilege. It is my right.’ ^[21]

Accusations of racism and apartheid[link]

Accusations of Syrian Arab racism and apartheid, especially against the Kurdish minority, comes from Kurdish human rights organizations.^[24][25] and others.^[26]

Syrian Kurdish personalities[link]

• Khalid Bakdash (1912–1995), leader (1936-1995) of the Syrian Communist Party
• Husni al-Za'im (1897–1949), President of Syria (1949)

See also[link]

• Al-Jazira province
• Iraqi Kurdistan
• Iranian Kurdistan
• Turkish Kurdistan
• History of the Kurdish people

References[link]