Iraqi Kurdistan

Iraqi Kurdistan, officially known as the Kurdistan Region (Central Kurdish: هه‌رێمی کوردستان‎, translit. Herêmî Kurdistan; Arabic: إقليم كردستان‎, translit. Iqlīm Kurdistān), is located in the north of Iraq and constitutes the country's only autonomous region. Bordering the Kurdish-inhabited regions of Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, and Syria to the west, it is frequently referred to as Southern Kurdistan (Central Kurdish: باشووری کوردستان; Northern Kurdish: Başûrê Kurdistanê). The region is officially governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), with the capital being Erbil.

Kurdistan is a parliamentary democracy with a regional assembly that consists of 111 seats.Masoud Barzani, who was initially elected as president in 2005, was re-elected in 2009. In August 2013 the parliament extended his presidency for another two years. His presidency concluded on 19 August 2015 after the political parties failed to reach an agreement over extending his presidency term. The new Iraqi constitution defines the Kurdistan Region as a federal entity of Iraq, and establishes Kurdish and Arabic as Iraq's joint official languages. The four governorates of Duhok, Hawler, Silemani, and Halabja comprise around 41,710 square kilometres (16,100 sq mi) and have a population of 8.35 million (2013 estimate). In 2014, during the 2014 Iraq Crisis, Iraqi Kurdistan's forces also took over much of the disputed territories of Northern Iraq.

Kurds in Iraq

Kurds in Iraq (Kurdish: کوردانی باشووری کوردستان / کوردانی عێڕاق‎) refers to people born in or residing in Iraq who are of Kurdish origin. The Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Iraq, comprising from 15% to 20% of the country's population according to the CIA.

The Kurdish people within Iraq have grappled with various political statuses over their history. Once assumed to receive full independence via the Treaty of Sevres, Iraqi Kurds have experienced a recent and troubled history of betrayal, oppression, and genocide. After the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, Iraqi Kurds, now governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), face a crossroads in the political trajectory of Iraqi Kurdistan. Factors that play into their future include Kurdish diversity and factions, Kurdish relationships with the United States, Iraq's central government, and neighboring countries, previous political agreements, disputed territories, and Kurdish ethnonationalism.

Background

The Kurdish people are an ethnic group whose origins are in the Middle East. They are one of the largest ethnic groups in the world that do not have a state of their own. The region of Kurdistan, the original geographic region of the Kurdish people and the home to the majority of Kurds today, covers contemporary Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. This geo-cultural region means "Land of the Kurds". Iraqi Kurdistan is an autonomous region in northern Iraq, covering 40,643 square kilometres (15,692 sq mi) and has a population of approximately 4 million people. Kurdish populations occupy the territory in and around the Zagros mountains. These arid unwelcoming mountains have been a geographic buffer to cultural and political dominance from neighboring empires.Persians, Arabs, and Ottomans were kept away, and a space was carved out to develop Kurdish culture, language, and identity.

Iraqi

Iraqi or Iraqis in plural may refer to:

Kurdish

Kurdish may refer to:

See also

Kurdistan

Kurdistan /ˌkɜːrdɪˈstɑːn/ (Kurdish: [ˌkurdɪˈstan]; "Homeland of the Kurds or Land of the Kurds"; also formerly spelled Curdistan; ancient name: Corduene) or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo-cultural region wherein the Kurdish people form a prominent majority population, and Kurdish culture, language, and national identity have historically been based. Kurdistan roughly encompasses the northwestern Zagros and the eastern Taurus mountain ranges.

Contemporary use of the term refers to four parts of a greater Kurdistan, which include parts of eastern and southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdistan), northern Syria (Western Kurdistan), northern Iraq (Southern Kurdistan), and northwestern Iran (Eastern Kurdistan). 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.

Iraqi Kurdistan first gained autonomous status in a 1970 agreement with the Iraqi government, and its status was re-confirmed as an autonomous entity within the federal Iraqi republic in 2005. There is a province by the name Kurdistan in Iran; it is not self-ruled. Kurds fighting in the Syrian Civil War were able to take control of large sections of northern Syria as forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad withdrew to fight elsewhere. Having established their own government, some Kurds called for autonomy in a democratic Syria; others hoped to establish an independent Kurdistan.