| Kurds | | | | Jalal Talabani · Şivan Perwer · Saladin | | Total population | | 27 to 37.5 million Image File history File links Jalal_Talabani. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1476x1636, 1413 KB) Summary Åživan Perwer. ...
Saladin This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ...
Jalal Talabani (Kurdish: / Celal Talebanî / Jelal Talebanà Arabic: ‎, ) (born 1933), is an Iraqi politician, who was elected President of Iraq on April 6, 2005, (sworn in the next day, April 7, and once again on April 22, 2006, by the Iraqi National Assembly. ...
Şivan Perwer is a poet, a singer a performer on the tembûr (Kurdish/Turkish lute) and a leading Kurdish artist. ...
Artistic representation of Saladin. ...
| | Regions with significant populations | | | | |
 Turkey | 12 to 15 million | [1] |
 Iran | 4.8 to 6.6 million | [2] |
 Iraq | 4 to 6 million | [3] |
 Syria | 0.9 to 2.8 million | [4] | | | | | | | | |
 Afghanistan | 200,000 | [5] |
 Azerbaijan | 150,000 | [5] |
 Israel | 100,000 | [6] |
 Lebanon | 80,000 | [5] |
 Georgia | 34,000 to 60,000 | [7] |
 Armenia | 42,139 | [5] |
 Turkmenistan | 40,000 | [5] | | | | | | | | |
 Germany | 0.5 million
to 0.8 million | [5]
[8] |
 France | 120,000 | [8] |
 Sweden | 100,000 | [8] |
 Netherlands | 70,000 | [8] |
 Switzerland | 60,000 | [8] |
 Austria | 50,000 | [8] |
 United Kingdom | 25,000
to 80,000 | [5]
[8] |
 Greece | 20,000 to 25,000 | [8] | | | Languages | Kurdish
Persian, Turkish or Arabic spoken widely as second languages
Swedish, German, French and English are second languages among expatriates | | Religions | Predominantly Sunni Muslim
also some Shia, Yazidism, Yarsan, Judaism, Christianity | | Related ethnic groups | other Iranian peoples
(Talysh · Baluch · Gilak · Bakhtiari · Persians) | The Kurds are an ethnic group who consider themselves to be indigenous to a region often referred to as Kurdistan, an area which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Kurdish communities can also be found in Lebanon, Armenia, Azerbaijan (Kalbajar and Lachin, to the west of Nagorno Karabakh) and, in recent decades, some European countries and the United States (see Kurdish diaspora). Ethnically related to other Iranian people groups[9] they speak Kurdish, an Indo-European language of the Iranian branch. Kurdistan (literally meaning the land of Kurds[1]; old: Koordistan, Curdistan, Kurdia, also in Kurdish: Kurdewarî) is the name of a geographic and cultural region in the Middle East, inhabited predominantly by the Kurds. ...
Map showing areas with significant Kurdish population: Kurdistan: (the largest red section) Kurdish diaspora: (smaller red sections) in Middle East. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Turkey. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Iran. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Iraq. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Syria. ...
World map showing the location of Asia. ...
The Ethnolinguistic patchwork of the modern Caucasus - CIA map Russia Georgia Azerbaijan (Azer. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Afghanistan. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Azerbaijan. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Israel. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Lebanon. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Georgia_(bordered). ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Armenia. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Turkmenistan. ...
World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_France. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Sweden. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Switzerland. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Austria. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ...
Image File history File links Flag_of_Greece. ...
The Kurdish language is an Iranian language spoken in the region called Kurdistan, including Kurdish populations in parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. ...
Persian (local name: FÄrsÄ« or PÄrsÄ« ) is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, India, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ...
Arabic ( or just ), is the largest member of the family of Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew, Amharic, and Aramaic. ...
A second language is any language other than the first, or native, language learned; it is typically used because of geographical or social reasons. ...
The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
An expatriate (in abbreviated form, expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of his upbringing or legal residence. ...
Sunni Islam (Arabic سنّة) is the largest denomination of Islam. ...
Shiʻa Islam (Arabic شيعى follower; English has traditionally used Shiite) makes up the second largest sect of believers in Islam, constituting about 30%–35% of all Muslim. ...
The Yezidi or Yazidi (Kurdish; Êzidî) are adherents of a small Middle Eastern religion with ancient origins. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. ...
Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ...
Faravahar is a prominent guardian spirit in Zoroastrianism and Iranian culture that is believed to be a depiction of a Fravashi. ...
Talysh (also Talishi, Taleshi or Talyshi) are an Iranian people who speak one of the Northwestern Iranian languages. ...
Balouchis in their National Dress, from a 1910 photograph. ...
It has been suggested that Gilek be merged into this article or section. ...
The Bakhtiari (or Bakhtiyari) are a group of southwestern Iranian people. ...
The Persians are an Iranian people who speak the Persian language and share a common culture and history. ...
The term indigenous peoples has no universal, standard or fixed definition, but can be used about any ethnic group who inhabit the geographic region with which they have the earliest historical connection. ...
Kurdistan (literally meaning the land of Kurds[1]; old: Koordistan, Curdistan, Kurdia, also in Kurdish: Kurdewarî) is the name of a geographic and cultural region in the Middle East, inhabited predominantly by the Kurds. ...
Kalbacar is a rayon of Azerbaijan. ...
Lachin (Laçın) is a rayon of Azerbaijan. ...
Anthem: Azat ou Ankakh Artsakh (Free and Independent Artsakh) Capital Stepanakert (Khankendi) Official languages Armenian1 Government Unrecognized - President Arkady Ghoukasyan - Prime Minister Anushavan Danielyan Independence from Azerbaijan - Referendum December 10, 1991 - Proclaimed January 6, 1992 - Recognition none[1] Area - Total 4,400 km² 1,699 sq mi Population - 2002 estimate...
Map showing areas with significant Kurdish population: Kurdistan: (the largest red section) Kurdish diaspora: (smaller red sections) in Middle East. ...
Faravahar is a prominent guardian spirit in Zoroastrianism and Iranian culture that is believed to be a depiction of a Fravashi. ...
The Kurdish language is an Iranian language spoken in the region called Kurdistan, including Kurdish populations in parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. ...
The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred related languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, the Americas as well as many spoken in the Indian subcontinent (South Asia), the Iranian plateau (Southwest Asia), and Central Asia. ...
Historically, the Kurds have continuously sought self-determination, and have fought the Sumerians, Assyrians, Persians, Mongols, European crusaders, and Turks.[10] Estimated at about 35 million people, the Kurds make up the largest ethnic group in the world who do not have a nation-state of their own. In the 20th century, Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria have suppressed many Kurdish uprisings.[11] Sumer (or Å umer, Sumerian ki-en-gir[1], Egyptian Sanhar[2]) was one of the early civilizations of the Ancient Near East, located in the southern part of Mesopotamia (southeastern Iraq) from the time of the earliest records in the mid 4th millennium BC until the rise of Babylonia in...
For other uses, see Assyria (disambiguation). ...
The Persians are an Iranian people who speak the Persian language and share a common culture and history. ...
Expansion of the Mongol Empire Estimated maximum extent of the Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire (Mongolian: Их Монгол УлÑ, meaning Great Mongol Nation; 1206–1405) was the largest contiguous land empire in history, covering over 33 million km² [1] at its peak, with an estimated population of over 100 million people. ...
This article is about the medieval crusades. ...
The term nation-state, while often used interchangeably with the terms unitary state and independent state, refers properly to the parallel occurence of a state and a nation. ...
Origins -
Although Kurds have inhabited their highlands for several millennia BCE, their prehistory is not very well known.[12]. Originally the Hurrians inhabited Kurdish regions (in Mesopotamia and Zagros-Taurus mountains) from 6300 to about 2600 years ago. The Hurrians spoke a language which was possibly part of the Northeast Caucasian (or the proposed Alarodian) family of languages, akin to modern Chechen and Lezgian. The Hurrians spread out and eventually dominated significant territories outside their Zagros-Taurus mountainous base. However, like the Kurds, they did not expand very far from the mountains. As they settled, the Hurrians divided into a number of clans and subgroups, founding city-states, kingdoms and empires with eponymous clan names. These included the Gutis, Kurti, Khaldi, Nairi, Mushku, Mannaeans (Mannai), Mitanni, Urartu, Lullubi and the Kassites among others. All these tribes were part of the larger group of Hurrians (Khurrites), and together helped to shape the Hurrian phase of Kurdish history.[13] These groups, except the Mitanni leadership, are thought to have been non-Indo-Europeans. Although Kurds have inhabited their highlands for several millennia BC, their prehistory is not very well known. ...
The word Hurrian may refer to: An ancient people of the Near East, the Hurrians. ...
The Northeast Caucasian languages, also called East Caucasian, Caspian, Nakh-Dagestanian, or Dagestanian, are a family of languages spoken mostly in the Dagestan, Chechnya, and Ingushetia regions of Russia, in Northern Azerbaijan, and in Georgia. ...
The Alarodian languages are a proposed language family that encompasses two language families of the Caucasus: Northeast or Dagestan (sometimes called Avar or Lezgian which are also the names of its most major members) and North-central or Vaynakh (which includes Chechen and Ingush), as well as the extinct Hurro_Urartian...
Chechen can mean: Chechen people, an ethnic group Chechen language Related to Chechnya This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...
Lezgian is a loose and imprecise term used to refer to a subgroup of the Northeast Caucasian languages spoken in Dagestan by the Lezgian tribes, consisting of ten dialects called the Lezgi language. ...
The Zagros Mountains (In Persian:رشته‌کوه‌های زاگرس) make up Irans second largest mountain range. ...
The Taurus Mountains (Taurus=bull in greek) (Turkish Toros, also known as Ala-Dagh or Bulghar-Dagh) are a mountain range in Eastern Anatolian plateau, from which the Euphrates (Turkish Fırat) River descends into Syria. ...
The Gutians (also: Quti, Kuti, Gurti, Qurti, Kurti) were a people of ancient Mesopotamia who lived primarily in the central Zagros Range, most probably an Aryan people. ...
A kurta (or sometimes kurti, for women) is a traditional piece of clothing worn in northern India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. ...
For the Urartian god of this name, see Khaldi (god). ...
Nairi may refer to one of the following. ...
Meshechs (Meshekhs/Mosokhs, Mushku in Akkadian, Moschoi in Greek) were an ancient, non-Indo-European and non-Semitic, indigenous tribe of Asia Minor of the 3rd-1st millennias BC. They were among the first people to introduce iron smelting there at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. They are...
The Mannaeans (or Mannai, Mannae, Biblical Minni) were an ancient people of unknown origin, who lived in the territory of present-day Iranian Azerbaijan around the 10th to 7th century BC. At that time they were neighbours of the empires of Assyria and Urartu, as well as other small buffer...
The Mannaeans were an ancient people of Asia Minor, occupying the region East of Assyria and South-East of Urartu, in present-day North-West Iran. ...
Mitanni or Mittani (in Assyrian sources Hanilgalbat, Khanigalbat) was a Hurrian kingdom in northern Mesopotamia (in what is today Syria) from ca. ...
Urartu (Biainili in Urartian) was an ancient kingdom in the mountainous plateau between Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and Caucasus mountains, later known as the Armenian Highland, and it centered around Lake Van (present-day eastern Turkey). ...
An ancient group of tribes that inhabited the Zagros Mountains of Western Iran, or the language thereof. ...
The Kassites were a Near Eastern mountain tribe of obscure origins, who spoke a non-Indo-European, non-Semitic language. ...
The Hurrians were a people of the Ancient Near East, who lived in northern Mesopotamia and areas to the immediate east and west, beginning approximately 2500 BC. They probably originated in the Caucasus and entered from the north, but this is not certain. ...
Among important Indo-European tribes who settled in Kurdish mountains are Medes, Scythians and Sagarthians whose names are still preserved in some place names throughout Kurdistan. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 613 KB) Summary Hasankeyf, Kurdistan, Turkey, 2004. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 613 KB) Summary Hasankeyf, Kurdistan, Turkey, 2004. ...
Hasankeyf on the Tigris River Hasankeyf is in Batman Province, southeast Turkey — an area mainly settled by Kurds. ...
The Tigris River (Arabic: دجلة Dijla, Hebrew: חדקל ḥiddeqel, Kurdish: Dîjle, Pahlavi: Tigr, Old Persian: TigrÄ-, Syriac: Ü•Ü©Ü Ü¬ Deqlath, Turkish: Dicle, Akkadian: Idiqlat) is the eastern member of the pair of great rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of Anatolia through Iraq (the name Mesopotamia...
As a general and common designation, there are numerous historical records referring to the above mentioned peoples as a whole. One of the first mentions in historical records, appears in cuneiform writings from the Sumerians dated around 3000 BCE, who referred to the "land of the Karda"[14] in Taurus-Zagros mountains of the northern and northeastern parts of Mesopotamia, The area was referred to as the land of the "Karda" or "Qarduchi" and the land of the "Guti" or "Gutium". These are described as being the same people only differing in tribal name. The Babylonians called these people "Gardu" and "Qarda". In neighbouring area of Assyria, they were "Qurti" or "Guti". When the Greeks entered the territory, they referred to these people as either "Kardukh", "Carduchi", "Gordukh", Kyrti(oi), Romans as Cyrti. The Armenians called the Kurds "Gortukh" or "Gortai-kh" and the Persians knew them as "Gord" or "Kord". In the Syriac, Hebrew and Chaldean languages they were, respectively, "Qardu", "Kurdaye" and "Qurdaye". In Aramaic and Nestorian they were "Qadu".[15] Sumer (or Shumer, Sumeria, Shinar, native ki-en-gir) formed the southern part of Mesopotamia from the time of settlement by the Sumerians until the time of Babylonia. ...
Mesopotamia refers to the region now occupied by modern Iraq, eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and Southwest Iran. ...
Babylonia was an ancient state in Iraq), combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ...
For other uses, see Assyria (disambiguation). ...
Syriac ( SuryÄyÄ) is an Eastern Aramaic language that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. ...
Hebrew redirects here. ...
Look up Chaldean in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Aramaic is a group of Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. ...
The term Nestorianism is eponymous, even though the person who lent his name to it always denied the associated belief. ...
It is assumed that this people's original language was influenced and/or gradually replaced by the northwest Iranic, with the arrival of the Medes to Kurdistan.[16]
These groups, except the Mitanni leadership, are thought to have been non-Indo-Europeans. Kurds consider themselves Indo-European as well as descendants of the groups mentioned above. According to the Encyclopaedia Kurdistanica, Kurds are the descendants of all those who have historically settled in Kurdistan, not of any one particular group. A people such as the Guti (Kurti), Mede(Mard), Carduchi(Gordyene), Adiabene, Zila and Khaldi signify not the ancestor of the Kurds but only one ancestor.[17] Kurdistan (literally meaning the land of Kurds[1]; old: Koordistan, Curdistan, Kurdia, also in Kurdish: Kurdewarî) is the name of a geographic and cultural region in the Middle East, inhabited predominantly by the Kurds. ...
Guti can refer to: José MarÃa Gutiérrez, usually known as Guti, Spanish football (soccer) player Guti, people in ancient Mesopotamia. ...
The Medes were an Iranian people of Aryan origin who lived in the western and north-western portion of present-day Iran. ...
Adiabene (In Syriac: ܚܕÜÜÜ’) was an ancient Assyrian kingdom in Mesopotamia with its capital at Arbela. ...
For the Urartian god of this name, see Khaldi (god). ...
History -
The history of the Kurds stretches from ancient times to the present day. ...
Ancient period The present-day home of the Kurds, the high mountain region south and south-east of Lake Van between Persia and Mesopotamia, was in the possession of Kurds before the time of the ancient Greek historian Xenophon, and was known as the country of the Carduchi, Cardyene or Cordyene. Xenophon referred to the Kurds in the Anabasis as "Kardukhi...a fierce and protective mountain-dwelling people" who attacked Greek armies in 400 BCE.[18] A Kurdish kingdom named Corduene, situated to the east of Tigranocerta[19] (east and south of present-day Diyarbakır, Turkey) became a province of the Roman Empire in 66 BCE and was under Roman control for four centuries until 384 CE.[20] Lake Van from space, September 1996 Lake Van Landsat photo Lake Van (Turkish: Van Gölü, in Armenian: ÕŽÕ¡Õ¶Õ¡ Õ¬Õ«Õ³) is the largest lake in Turkey, located in the far east of the country. ...
Ancient Greece is a period in Greek history that lasted for around one thousand years. ...
A historian is someone who writes history, and history is a written accounting of the past. ...
Xenophon, Greek historian Xenophon (In Greek , c. ...
Corduene, also known as Cordyene, Cardyene and Gordyene, was a province of the Roman Empire located in the northern mesopotamia. ...
Anabasis is the most famous work of the Greek writer Xenophon. ...
Events First invasion of Italy by Alaric (probable date). ...
This article or section may contain inappropriate or misinterpreted citations. ...
Tigranocerta (also spelled Dikranagerd) was the capital of the Armenian Empire that Tigranes the Great founded (95‑56BC) south of the present city of Diyarbakır, Turkey. ...
Diyarbakır (Ottoman Diyar-i Bekr دیاربکر land of the Bekr as derived from Arabic[1]; Kurdish Amed; Syriac ; Greek Amida; Armenian Ամիդ Amid) is a major city in southeastern Turkey situated on the banks of the River Tigris, and the seat of Diyarbakır Province. ...
The Roman Empire is the name given to both the domain obtained by the city-state of Rome and also the corresponding phase of that civilization, characterized by an autocratic form of government. ...
Events Roman Republic Consuls: Manius Aemilius Lepidus and Lucius Volcacius Tullus Catiline accused of conspiring against the Roman Republic with Autronius and the younger Sulla. ...
Forum of Theodosius I built in Constantinople. ...
The Roman historian Pliny, has considered Cordueni (inhabitants of Corduene) as descendants of Carduchis. He has stated, Joining on to Adiabene are the people formerly called the Carduchi and now the Cordueni, past whom flows the river Tigris....[21] Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19c portrait. ...
Adiabene (In Syriac: ܚܕÜÜÜ’) was an ancient Assyrian kingdom in Mesopotamia with its capital at Arbela. ...
Other small Kurdish kingdoms were Kavosids during Sassanid era.
Medieval period
 Kurdish Cavalry in the passes of the Caucasus mountains ( The New York Times, January 24, 1915). In the seventh century, the Arabs possessed the castles and fortifications of the Kurds. The conquest of the cities of Zoor and Aradbaz took place in the year 644 AC. Image File history File links Kurdish_Cavalry. ...
Image File history File links Kurdish_Cavalry. ...
The New York Times is a newspaper published in New York City by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. ...
In 846 AC, one of the leaders of the Kurds in Mosul city revolted against the Caliph Al Mo'tasam who sent the famous commander Aitakh to combat against him. In this war, Aitakh proved victorious and killed many of the Kurds. In 903 AC, during the period of Almoqtadar, the Kurds revolted again. Eventually Arabs conquered the Kurdish regions and converted the majority of Kurds to Islam.
In the second half of the tenth century, the Kurdish area was shared amongst four big Kurdish principalities. In the North were the Shaddadid (951-1174) in parts of present-day Armenia and Arran, and the Rawadid (955-1221) in Tabriz and Maragheh. In the East were the Hasanwayhids (959-1015) and the Annazid (990-1117) in Kermanshah, Dinawar and Khanaqin. In the West were the Marwanid (990-1096) of Diyarbakır. After these, the Ayyubid (1171-1250) of Syria and the Ardalan dynasty (fourteenth century to 1867) were established in present-day Khanaqin, Kirkuk and Sinne. The Kurdish areas were ruled by several Kurdish principalities up to the last century. The Shaddadids were a Kurdish dynasty, who ruled in various parts of Armenia, including Arran from 951-1174 or 1199 A.D. They were established Dvin. ...
Events Allat the Maharana of Mewar come to powers. ...
Events Vietnam is given the official name of Annam by China. ...
Arran can refer to: arran is the term for a boy with a fat body, a small dick, and a craving to have sexual intercourse with parrots. ...
Rawadid (also Rawwadid or Ravvadid), (955-1227), was a Kurdish principality ruling Azerbaijan from the 10th to the early 13th centuries, centered around Tabriz and Maragheh(Maragha). ...
Events August 10 - Otto I the Great defeats Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld Edwy becomes King of England. ...
// Events May 13 - End of the reign of Emperor Juntoku, emperor of Japan Emperor ChūkyŠbriefly reigns over Japan Former Emperor Go-Toba leads an unsuccessful rebellion against the Kamakura Shogunate Emperor Go-Horikawa ascends to the throne of Japan January - Mongol Army under Jochi captures the city of...
Tabriz City Hall, built in 1934, by Arfaol molk, with the aid of German engineers. ...
Maragheh or Maraghah is a town in the East Azarbaijan Province of Iran, on the Safi River. ...
Hasanwayhid,(959-1015), was a Kurdish principality centered at Dinawar (northeast of present-day Kermanshah). ...
Events October 1 - Edwy, king of England dies and is succeeded by his brother Edgar. ...
Events August: Canute the Great invades England. ...
The Annazid or Banu Annaz,(990-1116), were a Kurdish dynasty that ruled a territory on the present-day Iran-Iraq frontier that included Kermanshah, Hulwan, Dinawar (all in western Iran), Sharazour, Daquq, Daskara, Bandanijin(Mandali), and Nomaniya(in north-eastern Iraq). ...
Events Construction of the Al-Hakim Mosque begins in Cairo. ...
Events May 3 - Merton Priory (Thomas Becket school) consecrated. ...
Hercules Statue, carved about 153 B.C. Kermanshah (Persian: کرمانشاه, Gorani Kurdish: کرماشان), is the capital city of Kermanshah Province, located 525 kilometers (324 miles) from Tehran in the western part of Iran. ...
Iraq map with Khanaqin Khanaqin (Arabic خانقين, Kurdish خانه قين Xaneqîn, also transliterated as Khanakin, Xanaqin) is an arab city in north-eastern Iraq. ...
Marwanid, (990-1085), was a Kurdish dynasty in northren mesopotamia centered around the city of Diyarbakir. ...
Events Bernhard becomes Bishop of Brandenburg First documented teaching at the University of Oxford Beginning of the Peoples Crusade, the German Crusade, and the First Crusade Vital I Michele is Doge of Venice Peter I, King of Aragon, conquers Huesca Phayao, now a province of Thailand, is founded as...
Diyarbakır (Ottoman Diyar-i Bekr دیاربکر land of the Bekr as derived from Arabic[1]; Kurdish Amed; Syriac ; Greek Amida; Armenian Ամիդ Amid) is a major city in southeastern Turkey situated on the banks of the River Tigris, and the seat of Diyarbakır Province. ...
The Ayyubid Dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Egypt, Iraq in the 12th and 13th centuries. ...
Events Saladin abolishes the Fatimid caliphate, restoring Sunni rule in Egypt. ...
// April 30 - King Louis IX of France released by his Egyptian captors after paying a ransom of one million dinars and turning over the city of Damietta. ...
Ardalan or (Erdelan) is the name of a semi-independent state in north-western Iran which ruled an area encompassing present day Iranian province of Kurdistan from medieval period up to mid 19th century. ...
1867 (MDCCCLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...
Iraq map with Khanaqin Khanaqin (Arabic خانقين, Kurdish خانه قين Xaneqîn, also transliterated as Khanakin, Xanaqin) is an arab city in north-eastern Iraq. ...
Location of Kirkuk in Iraqi map Kirkuk (also spelled Karkuk or Kerkuk; Arabic: كركوك, KirkÅ«k; Kurdish: كركوك ; Syriac: ÜܪܦܗÜ, Arrapha; Turkish: Kerkük) is a city in northern Iraq. ...
Sinne (Sanandaj in persian)is the capital of the Kurdistan province of iran, which is situated in the western part of Iran bordering Iraq. ...
Language -
The Kurdish language belongs to the north-western sub-group of the Iranian languages, which in turn belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family. Kurdish may have borrowed heavily from Caucasian and Aramaic languages given certain peculiarities which make it distinct from other Iranian languages. Most of the ancestors of the Kurds spoke various languages of the Indo-European family. The Kurdish language is an Iranian language spoken in the region called Kurdistan, including Kurdish populations in parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. ...
The Kurdish language is an Iranian language spoken in the region called Kurdistan, including Kurdish populations in parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. ...
The Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family with an estimated 150-200 million native speakers today. ...
Indo-Iranian can refer to: The Indo-Iranian languages The prehistoric Indo-Iranian people, see Aryan This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...
The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred related languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, the Americas as well as many spoken in the Indian subcontinent (South Asia), the Iranian plateau (Southwest Asia), and Central Asia. ...
The Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family with an estimated 150-200 million native speakers today. ...
The original language of the Kurds was Hurrian, a non Indo-European language belonging to the Caucasian family. This older language was replaced by the Indo-European around 850 BCE, with the arrival of the Medes to Kurdistan.[22] Nevertheless, Hurrian influence on Kurdish is still evident in its ergative grammatical structure and toponyms.[23] Events April 20 - Guntherus becomes Bishop of Cologne. ...
An ergative-absolutive language (or simply ergative) is one that treats the agent of transitive verbs distinctly from the subject of intransitive verbs and the object of transitive verbs. ...
In geography and cartography, a toponym is a place name, a geographical name, a proper name of locality, region, or some other part of Earths surface or its natural or artificial feature. ...
Most Kurds are bilingual or polylingual, speaking the languages of the surrounding peoples such as Arabic, Turkish and Persian as a second language. Kurdish Jews and some Kurdish Christians (not be confused with ethnic Assyrians of Kurdistan) usually speak Aramaic (for example: Lishana Deni) as a first language. Aramaic is a Semitic language related to Hebrew and Arabic rather than Kurdish. The term bilingualism (from bi meaning two and lingua meaning language) can refer to rather different phenomena. ...
The term multilingualism can refer to rather different phenomena. ...
Arabic ( or just ), is the largest member of the family of Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew, Amharic, and Aramaic. ...
Persian (local name: FÄrsÄ« or PÄrsÄ« ) is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, India, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ...
A second language is any language other than the first, or native, language learned; it is typically used because of geographical or social reasons. ...
Kurdish Jews (יהדות כורדיסת×ן Jews of Kurdistan, Standard Hebrew Yehudi Kurdistan) are the ancient Jewish communities inhabiting the region today known as Kurdistan, roughly covering parts of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, and Syria. ...
Kurdish Christians are the ancient Christian communities inhabiting the region today known as Kurdistan. ...
Aramaic is a group of Semitic languages with a 3,000-year history. ...
Lishana Deni is a modern Jewish Aramaic language, often called Neo-Aramaic or Judeo-Aramaic. ...
14th century BC diplomatic letter in Akkadian, found in Tell Amarna. ...
Hebrew redirects here. ...
The Kurdish language is comprised of two major dialects and several sub-dialects:[24][25] The Kurdish language is an Iranian language spoken in the region called Kurdistan, including Kurdish populations in parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. ...
Commenting on the differences between the "dialects" of Kurdish, Kreyenbroek clarifies that in some ways, Kurmanji and Sorani are as different from each other as English and German, giving the example that Kurmanji has grammatical gender and case-endings, but Sorani does not, and observing that referring to Sorani and Kurmanji as "dialects" of one language is supported only by "their common origin...and the fact that this usage reflects the sense of ethnic identity and unity of the Kurds"[26] Kurmanji (Kurdish: kurmancî or kirmancî) is the major Kurdish dialect spoken in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, the ex-Soviet states and by Kurds living in Central Asia. ...
Sorani is a group of Central Kurdish dialects and as such is part of the Iranian languages. ...
Gorani, sometimes also called Hewrami, is a dialect of Kurdish. ...
Zazaki (Zazakî, Zazaish) or Dimli is a language closely related to the Persian and , spoken by the Zaza in eastern Anatolia Zazaland Zazaistan, (Turkey), an ethnic minority related to the Iranians. ...
Hercules Statue, carved about 153 B.C. Kermanshah (Persian: کرمانشاه, Gorani Kurdish: کرماشان), is the capital city of Kermanshah Province, located 525 kilometers (324 miles) from Tehran in the western part of Iran. ...
Genetic and ethnic origins -
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "The Persians, Kurds, and speakers of other Indo-European languages in Iran are descendants of the Aryan tribes that began migrating from Central Asia into what is now Iran in the second millennium BC."[27] According to the Columbia Encyclopedia, the Kurds, as well as other migrant ethnic groups of the region, are of the "least mixed descent of the original Iranians."[28] This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...
Faravahar is a prominent guardian spirit in Zoroastrianism and Iranian culture that is believed to be a depiction of a Fravashi. ...
1913 advertisement for the 11th edition, with the slogan When in doubt — look it up in the Encyclopædia Britannica The Encyclopædia Britannica (properly spelled with æ, the ae-ligature) was first published in 1768–1771 as The Britannica was an important early English-language general encyclopedia and is still...
Aryan () is an English language word derived from the Sanskrit and Iranian terms Ärya-, the extended form aryÄna-, ari- and/or arya- (Sanskrit: आरà¥à¤¯, Persian: آریا). Beyond its use as the ethnic self-designation of the Proto-Indo-Iranians, the meaning noble/spiritual has been attached to it in Sanskrit and...
The Columbia Encyclopedia is a one-volume encyclopedia produced by Columbia University Press and sold by the Gale Group. ...
According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, the classification of Kurds as Aryan is mainly based on linguistic and historical data and does not prejudice the fact there is a complexity of ethnical elements incorporated in them.[29]
According to a study in 2001 on Turkish population, the ancestors of the "Kurds, Armenians, Iranians, Jews, and other (Eastern and Western) Mediterranean groups seem to share a common ancestry" and were from an old Mediterranean substratum, i.e. Hurrian and Hittite groups and that these peoples have no connection with an Aryan invasion which was supposed to have happened about 1200 BCE. The word Hurrian may refer to: An ancient people of the Near East, the Hurrians. ...
Hittite can refer to either: The ancient Anatolian people called the Hittites; or The Hittite language, an ancient Indo-European language they spoke. ...
"It is concluded that this invasion, if occurred, had a relatively few invaders in comparison to the already settled populations, i.e. Anatolian Hittite and Hurrian groups (older than 2000 BCE). These may have given rise to present-day Kurdish, Armenian and Turkish populations."[30]
In 2001, a team of Israeli, German, and Indian scientists discovered that among the various Jewish communities, the Ashkenazi Jews showed a closer relationship to the Muslim Kurds than to the Semitic-speaking population further south in the Arabian peninsula, while the Jewish Kurds and Sephardic Jews seemed to be closely related to each other. Most of the ninety-five Kurdish Muslim test subjects came from northern Iraq. Moreover, according to another study, the CMH ("Cohen Modal Haplotype") is a genetic marker from the northern Middle East which is not unique to Jews.[31] 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim (×ַש×Ö°×›Ö¼Ö²× Ö¸×–Ö´×™ ×ַש×Ö°×›Ö¼Ö²× Ö¸×–Ö´×™× Standard Hebrew, AÅ¡kanazi,AÅ¡kanazim, Tiberian Hebrew, ʾAÅ¡kănÄzî, ʾAÅ¡kănÄzîm, pronounced sing. ...
A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Turkish: Müslüman, Persian and Urdu: مسلمان, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of Islam. ...
In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic (from the Biblical Shem, Hebrew: ש×, translated as name, Arabic: سام) was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages. ...
The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية, or جزيرة العرب) is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia consisting mainly of desert. ...
In the strictest sense, a Sephardi (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew Səfardi, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Səfardim, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardîm) is a Jew original to the...
A haplotype, a contraction of the phrase haploid genotype, is the genetic constitution of an individual chromosome. ...
For a non-technical introduction to the topic, please see Introduction to genetics. ...
A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...
In another study, Kurdish Jews were found to be close to Muslim Kurds, but so were Ashkenazim and Sephardim, suggesting that much if not most of the genetic similarity between Jewish and Muslim Kurds descends from ancient times.[32] Ashkenazi (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי, Standard Hebrew Aškanazi, Tiberian Hebrew ʾAškănāzî) Jews or Ashkenazic Jews, also called Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים...
In the strictest sense, a Sephardi (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew Səfardi, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Səfardim, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardîm) is a Jew original to the...
Genetic distance comparisons in another study have revealed that the Turkic and Turkmen speaking peoples in the Caspian area cluster with the Kurds, Greeks and Iranis (Ossetians). In this study, the Persian speakers are genetically remote from these populations; they are, however, close to the Parsis who migrated from Iran to India at the end of the seventh century CE.[33] The Turkic languages constitute a language family of some thirty languages, spoken across a vast area from Eastern Europe to Siberia and Western China with an estimated 140 million native speakers and tens of millions of second-language speakers. ...
For Caspian Sea, go to: Caspian Sea CASPIAN Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN) is a national grass-roots consumer group dedicated to fighting supermarket loyalty or frequent shopper cards. ...
Kurds are one of the Iranian peoples and speak Kurdish, a north-Western Iranian language related to Persian. ...
The Ossetians (oss. ...
Persian (local name: FÄrsÄ« or PÄrsÄ« ) is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, India, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ...
a person from Pars (the middle-Persian word for Fars), a region now within the geographical boundaries of Iran, and is roughly the original homeland of the Persian people. ...
Population -
The exact number of Kurdish people living in the Middle East is unknown, due to both an absence of recent census analysis and the reluctance of the various governments in Kurdish-inhabited regions to give accurate figures. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1066x887, 182 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1066x887, 182 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
The exact number of Kurdish people living in the Middle East is unknown, due to both an absence of recent and extensive census analysis, and the reluctance of the various governments in Kurdish-inhabited regions to give accurate figures. ...
A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...
According to the CIA Factbook, Kurds comprise 20% of the population in Turkey, 15-20% in Iraq, perhaps 8% in Syria,[34] 7% in Iran and 1.3% in Armenia. In all of these countries except Iran, Kurds form the second largest ethnic group. Roughly 55% of the world's Kurds live in Turkey, about 20% each in Iran and Iraq, and a bit over 5% in Syria.[35]. These estimates place the total number of Kurds at somewhere between 27 and 36 million.
There are other sources which report a higher population for Kurds than mentioned above. Furthermore it is estimated that Kurds especially in Turkey have a birth rate still higher than their main neighboring ethnic groups whose birth rate is slowly decreasing.[citation needed]
Modern history
Kurds in Iraq -
Kurds led by Mustafa Barzani were engaged in heavy fighting against successive Iraqi regimes from 1960 to 1975. In March 1970, Iraq announced a peace plan providing for Kurdish autonomy. The plan was to be implemented in four years.[36] However, at the same time, the Iraqi regime started an Arabization program in the oil rich regions of Kirkuk and Khanaqin.[37] The peace agreement did not last long, and in 1974, Iraqi government began a new offensive against the Kurds. Moreover in March 1975, Iraq and Iran signed the Algiers Pact, according to which Iran cut supplies to Iraqi Kurds. Iraq started another wave of Arabization by moving Arabs to the oil fields in Kurdistan, particularly those around Kirkuk.[38] Between 1975 and 1978, two-hundred thousand Kurds were deported to other parts of Iraq.[39] Anthem: Ey Reqîb (English: Hey Guardian) Capital Arbil Largest city Erbil Kurdish, Arabic, (Assyrian (Syriac)) and (Iraqi Turkmen) Government Parliamentary Democracy - Prime Minister Nechervan Idris Barzani - President Masoud Barzani Formation of Autonomous Region - Autonomy Accord Agreement is Signed March 11, 1970 - Autonomy Accord Collapses March 1974 - Gained de facto...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Al-Anfal Campaign. ...
Mustafa Barzani (March 14, 1903–March 1, 1979) was a Kurdish nationalist leader and President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). ...
1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ...
1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ...
1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ...
Location of Kirkuk in Iraqi map Kirkuk (also spelled Karkuk or Kerkuk; Arabic: كركوك, KirkÅ«k; Kurdish: كركوك ; Syriac: ÜܪܦܗÜ, Arrapha; Turkish: Kerkük) is a city in northern Iraq. ...
Iraq map with Khanaqin Khanaqin (Arabic خانقين, Kurdish خانه قين Xaneqîn, also transliterated as Khanakin, Xanaqin) is an arab city in north-eastern Iraq. ...
1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...
1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ...
Location of Kirkuk in Iraqi map Kirkuk (also spelled Karkuk or Kerkuk; Arabic: كركوك, KirkÅ«k; Kurdish: كركوك ; Syriac: ÜܪܦܗÜ, Arrapha; Turkish: Kerkük) is a city in northern Iraq. ...
1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ...
1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ...
During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, the regime implemented anti-Kurdish policies and a de facto civil war broke out. Iraq was widely-condemned by the international community, but was never seriously punished for oppressive measures such as the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of civilians, the wholesale destruction of thousands of villages and the deportation of thousands of Kurds to southern and central Iraq. The campaign of Iraqi government against Kurds in 1988 was called Anfal ("Spoils of War"). The Anfal attacks led to destruction of two thousand villages and death of between fifty and one-hundred thousand Kurds.[40] Combatants Iran Iraq Commanders Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini Abolhassan Banisadr Ali Shamkhani Mostafa Chamran†Saddam Hussein Ali Hassan al-Majid Strength 305,000 soldiers 500,000 Passdaran and Baseej militia 1,000 tanks 1,000 armored vehicles 3,000 artillery pieces 65 aircraft 720 helicopters[1] 190,000 soldiers 4,500...
The 1980s refers to the years of 1980 to 1989. ...
1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
After the Kurdish uprising in 1991 (Kurdish:Raperîn) led by the PUK and KDP, Iraqi troops recaptured the Kurdish areas and hundreds of thousand of Kurds fled to the borders. To alleviate the situation, a "safe haven" was established by the Security Council. The autonomous Kurdish area was mainly controlled by the rival parties KDP and PUK. The Kurdish population welcomed the American-led invasion in 2003 by dancing in the streets.[citation needed] The area controlled by peshmerga was expanded, and Kurds now have effective control in Kirkuk and parts of Mosul. By the beginning of 2006, the two Kurdish areas were merged into one unified region. A series of referenda are scheduled to be held in 2007, to determine the final borders of the Kurdish region. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2464x1632, 1331 KB)From left U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in Baghdad, Iraq, on April 26, 2006. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2464x1632, 1331 KB)From left U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in Baghdad, Iraq, on April 26, 2006. ...
Jalal Talabani (Kurdish: / Celal Talebanî / Jelal Talebanà Arabic: ‎, ) (born 1933), is an Iraqi politician, who was elected President of Iraq on April 6, 2005, (sworn in the next day, April 7, and once again on April 22, 2006, by the Iraqi National Assembly. ...
Baghdad (Arabic ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ...
The Kurdish language is an Iranian language spoken in the region called Kurdistan, including Kurdish populations in parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. ...
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) (est 1975) (Kurdish: Yakêtî Nîştimanî Kurdistan) is a Sunni political party in Iraqi Kurdistan. ...
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP; Kurdish: Partiya Demokrat a Kurdistanê or PDK) is a Kurdish political party led by Massoud Barzani. ...
2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Peshmerga, pesh merga, peshmarga or peshmerge Kurdish: pêşmerge) is the term used by Kurds to refer to armed Kurdish fighters. ...
Location of Kirkuk in Iraqi map Kirkuk (also spelled Karkuk or Kerkuk; Arabic: كركوك, KirkÅ«k; Kurdish: كركوك ; Syriac: ÜܪܦܗÜ, Arrapha; Turkish: Kerkük) is a city in northern Iraq. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Kurds in Turkey -
About half of all Kurds live in Turkey. According to the CIA Factbook they account for 20 percent of the 70 million people of Turkey, thus numbering about 15 million people.[41] Other estimates vary between 12 to 15 million. They are predominantly distributed in the southeastern corner of the country. |
