Kurdish population

Kurds
کورد

Total population
c. 30–32 million See Statistics by country
Languages
Kurdish and Zazaki–Gorani In their different forms: Sorani, Kurmanji, Pehlewani, Zazaki, Gorani
Religion
Mostly Sunni Muslim, but also Shia Muslim and Sufism with minorities of deism, agnosticism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Iranian peoples Zazas Yazidis

The Kurdish people live in the historical Kurdistan region, which today is split among Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria, and was ruled by the Persian and the Ottoman Empire since the 16th century. The estimated population is 35 million.

A rough estimate by the CIA Factbook has populations of 14.5 million in Turkey, 6 million in Iran, about 5 to 6 million in Iraq, and less than 2 million in Syria, which adds up to close to 28 million Kurds in Kurdistan or adjacent regions. Recent emigration resulted in a Kurdish diaspora of about 1.5 million people, about half of them in Germany.

A special case are the Kurdish populations in the Transcaucasus and Central Asia, displaced there mostly in the time of the Russian Empire, who underwent independent developments for more than a century and have developed an ethnic identity in their own right. This groups' population was estimated at close to 0.4 million in 1990.

Kurdistan

Further information: Kurdistan

The Kurds are often dubbed "the largest ethnic group without a state", which statement (apart from the fact that more numerous stateless nations ostensibly do exist) has been rejected as misleading by Kurdologists, as it glosses over the significant cultural, social, religious, political and ideological heterogeneity between Kurdish groups. The bulk of Kurdish groups in Kurdistan are Sunni (mosty of the Shafi'i school), but there are significant minorities adhering to Shia Islam (especially Alevis), Yazidism, Yarsanism, Christianity and Judaism.

Turkey

Main articles: Kurds in Turkey and Kurds of Central Anatolia

Kurdish girl in Turkey

According to a report by Turkish agency KONDA, in 2006, out of the total population of 73 million people in Turkey there were 11.4 million Kurds and Zazas living in Turkey (close to 15.68% of the total population). The Turkish newspaper Milliyet has reported in 2008 that the Kurdish population in Turkey is 12.6 million; although this also includes 3 million Zazas. According to the World Factbook, Kurdish people make up 18% of Turkey's population (about 14 million, out of 77.8 million people). Kurdish sources put the figure at 20 to 25 million Kurds in Turkey.

Kurds mostly live in southeastern and eastern parts of Anatolia. But large Kurdish populations can be found in western Turkey due to internal migration. According to Rüstem Erkan, Istanbul is the province with the largest Kurdish population in Turkey.

Iran

Main articles: Kurds in Iran and Kurds of Khorasan

Kurdish family in Iran

From the 7 million Iranian Kurds, a significant portion are Sunni. Shia Kurds inhabit Kermanshah Province, except for those parts where people are Jaff, and Ilam Province; as well as some parts of Kurdistan, Hamadan and Zanjan provinces. The Kurds of Khorasan Province in northeastern Iran are also adherents of Shia Islam. During the Shia revolution in Iran the major Kurdish political parties were unsuccessful in absorbing Shia Kurds, who at that period had no interest in autonomy. However, since the 1990s Kurdish nationalism has seeped into the Shia Kurdish area partly due to outrage against government's violent suppression of Kurds farther north.

Iraq

Main article: Kurds in Iraq

Kurds constitute approximately 17% of Iraq's population. They are the majority in at least three provinces in northern Iraq which are together known as Iraqi Kurdistan. Kurds also have a presence in Kirkuk, Mosul, Khanaqin, and Baghdad. Around 300,000 Kurds live in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, 50,000 in the city of Mosul and around 100,000 elsewhere in southern 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. However, at the same time, the Iraqi regime started an Arabization program in the oil-rich regions of Kirkuk and Khanaqin. The peace agreement did not last long, and in 1974, the Iraqi government began a new offensive against the Kurds. Moreover, in March 1975, Iraq and Iran signed the Algiers Accord, 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. Between 1975 and 1978, 200,000 Kurds were deported to other parts of Iraq.

Syria

Main article: Kurds in Syria

Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria and make up nine percent of the country's population. Syrian Kurds have faced routine discrimination and harassment by the government.

Syrian Kurdistan is an unofficial name used by some to describe the Kurdish inhabited regions of northern and northeastern Syria. The northeastern Kurdish inhabited region covers the greater part of Hasakah Governorate. The main cities in this region are Qamishli and Hasakah. Another region with significant Kurdish population is Kobanê (Ayn al-Arab) in the northern part of Syria near the town of Jarabulus and also the city of Afrin and its surroundings along the Turkish border.

Many Kurds seek political autonomy for the Kurdish inhabited areas of Syria, similar to Iraqi Kurdistan in Iraq, or outright independence as part of Kurdistan. The name "Western Kurdistan" (Kurdish: Rojavayê Kurdistanê) is also used by Kurds to name the Syrian Kurdish inhabited areas in relation to Kurdistan. Since the Syrian civil war, Syrian government forces have abandoned many Kurdish-populated areas, leaving the Kurds to fill the power vacuum and govern these areas autonomously.

Transcaucasus

Armenia

Main article: Kurds in Armenia

File:Саманд Алиевич Сиабандов.jpg

Samand Siabandov, awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union during the Soviet war against Nazi Germany.

According to the 2011 Armenian Census, 37,470 Kurds live in Armenia, mainly Yazidi. They mainly live in the western parts of Armenia. The Kurds of the former Soviet Union first began writing Kurdish in the Armenian alphabet in the 1920s, followed by Latin in 1927, then Cyrillic in 1945, and now in both Cyrillic and Latin. The Kurds in Armenia established a Kurdish radio broadcast from Yerevan and the first Kurdish newspaper Riya Teze. There is a Kurdish Department in the Yerevan State Institute of Oriental studies. The Kurds of Armenia were the first exiled country to have access to media such as radio, education and press in their native tongue but many Kurds, from 1939 to 1959 were listed as the Azeri population or even as Armenians.

Georgia

Main article: Kurds in Georgia

According to the 2002 Georgian Census, 20,843 Kurds live in Georgia The Kurds in Georgia mainly live in the capital of Tbilisi and Rustavi. According to a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees report from 1998, about 80% of the Kurdish population in Georgia are Yazidi Kurds.

Diaspora

Russia

Main article: Kurds in Russia

According to the 2010 Russian Census, 63,818 Kurds live in Russia. Russia has maintained warm relations with the Kurds for a long time, During the early 19th century, the main goal of the Russian Empire was to ensure the neutrality of the Kurds, in the wars against Persia and the Ottoman Empire. In the beginning of the 19th century, Kurds settled in Transcaucasia, at a time when Transcaucasia was incorporated into the Russian Empire. In the 20th century, Kurds were persecuted and exterminated by the Turks and Persians, a situation that led Kurds to move to Russia.

Lebanon

Main article: Kurds in Lebanon

The existence of a community of at least 100,000 Kurds is the product of several waves of immigrants, the first major wave was in the period of 1925-1950 when thousands of Kurds fled violence and poverty in Turkey. Kurds in Lebanon go back far as the twelfth century A.D. when the Ayyubids arrived there. Over the next few centuries, several other Kurdish families were sent to Lebanon by a number of powers to maintain rule in those regions, others moved as a result of poverty and violence in Kurdistan. These Kurdish groups settled in and ruled many areas of Lebanon for a long period of time. Kurds of Lebanon settled in Lebanon because of Lebanon's pluralistic society.

European Union

Main articles: Kurds in Germany, Kurds in France, Kurds in Sweden, Kurds in the Netherlands, and Kurds in the United Kingdom

The Kurdish diaspora in the European Union is most significant in Germany, France, Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands. Kurds from Turkey went to Germany and France during the 1960s as immigrant workers. Thousands of Kurdish refugees and political refugees fled from Turkey to Sweden during the 1970s and onward, and from Iraq during the 1980s and 1990s.

Kurdish demonstration against ISIS, Vienna, Austria, 10 October 2014

In France, the Iranian Kurds make up the majority of the community. However, thousands of Iraqi Kurds also arrived in the mid 1990s. More recently, Syrian Kurds have been entering France illegally

In the United Kingdom, Kurds first began to immigrate between 1974-75 when the rebellion of Iraqi Kurds against the Iraqi government was repressed. The Iraqi government began to destroy Kurdish villages and forced many Kurds to move to barren land in the south. These events resulted in many Kurds fleeing to the United Kingdom. Thus, the Iraqi Kurds make up a large part of the community. In 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in Iran and installed Islamic law. There was widespread political oppression and persecution of the Kurdish community. Since the late 1970s the number of people from Iran seeking asylum in Britain has remained high. In 1988, Saddam Hussein launched the Anfal campaign in the northern Iraq. This included mass executions and disappearances of the Kurdish community. The use of chemical weapons against thousands of towns and villages in the region, as well as the town of Halabja increased the number of Iraq Kurds entering the United Kingdom. A large number of Kurds also came to the United Kingdom following the 1980 military coup in Turkey. More recently, immigration has been due to the continued political oppression and the repression of ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq and Iran. Estimates of the Kurdish population in the United Kingdom are as high as 200-250,000.

In Denmark, there is a significant number of Iraqi political refugees, many of which are Kurds.

In Finland, most Kurds arrived in the 1990s as Iraqi refugees. Kurds in Finland have no great attachment to the Iraqi state because of their position as a persecuted minority. Thus, they feel more accepted and comfortable in Finland, many wanting to get rid of their Iraqi citizenship.

North America

Main articles: Kurds in Canada and Kurds in the United States

In the United States, it is believed that the Kurdish population is approximately 58,000, the large majority of which come from Iran. It is estimated that some 23,000 Iranian Kurds are living in the United States. During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, about 10,000 Iraqi refugees were admitted to the United States, most of which were Kurds and Shiites who had assisted or were sympathisers of the U.S –led war. Nashville, Tennessee has the nation's largest population of Kurdish people, with an estimated 8,000-11,000. There are also Kurds in Southern California, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

In Canada, Kurdish immigration was largely the result of the Iran-Iraq War and the Gulf War. Thus, many Iraqi Kurds immigrated to Canada due to the constant wars and suppression of Kurds and Shiites by the Iraqi government.

Oceania

Main articles: Kurds in Australia and Kurds in New Zealand

In Australia, Kurdish migrants first arrived in the second half of the 1960s, mainly from Turkey. However, in the late 1970s families from Syria and Lebanon were also present in Australia. Since the second half of the 1980s, the majority of Kurds arriving in Australia have been from Iraq and Iran; many of them were accepted under the Humanitarian Programme. However, Kurds from Lebanon, Armenia and Georgia have also migrated to Australia. The majority live in Melbourne and Sydney.

Japan

Main article: Kurds in Japan

The Japanese government has not granted refugee status to any of the Kurds in Japan who usually file it citing human rights issues and persecution in Turkey, resulting in them living in destitution. While 3,415 Kurds have so far applied for refugee status, none has yet received it.

Statistics by country

Kurdistan

Country	Official figures	Official figures in %	Current est. Kurdish population	Further information
Turkey	N/A	N/A	approx. 16,640,000	Kurds in Turkey Kurdish speakers in Turkey Numbers Zaza 1,640,000 Northern Kurdish 15,000,000
Iran	N/A	N/A	approx. 7,600,000	Kurds in Iran Kurdish speakers in Iran Numbers Central Kurdish 3,250,000 Northern Kurdish 350,000 Southern Kurdish 3,000,000 Laki 1,000,000
Iraq	N/A	N/A	approx. 6,530,000	Kurds in Iraq Kurdish speakers in Iraq Numbers Bajelani 20,000 Central Kurdish 3,500,000 Northern Kurdish 2,800,000 Southern Kurdish — Hawrami or Macho 200,000 Sarli 20,000 Shabaki 10,000
Syria	N/A	N/A	approx. 2,200,000	Kurds in Syria

Transcaucasus

Country	Official figures	Official figures in %	Current est. Kurdish population	Further information
Armenia	56,127 (1989 census) 37,470 (2011 census)	1.7% 1.2%	—	Kurds in Armenia Provinces (2011) Armavir Province 17,063 Aragatsotn Province 7,090 Ararat Province 4,975 Yerevan 3,268 Kotayk Province 3,211 Shirak Province 727 Lori Province 652
Azerbaijan	41,193 (1926 census) 6,065 (2009 census)	1.8% 0.1%	150,000–180,000	Kurds in Azerbaijan Administrative Divisions (2009) Lachin District 1,194 Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic 1,321 Samukh District 753 Khachmaz District 603 Ismailli District 498 Yevlakh District 210 Baku 185 Goranboy District 102 Qazakh District 100 Agstafa District 68 Kalbajar District 38 Goygol District 34 Ganja 31 Absheron District 27 Tartar District 27 Shaki District 26 Shamkir District 22 Oghuz District 21 Aghjabadi District 18 Lankaran District 14 Zangilan District 14 Salyan District 9 Sumqayit 9 Dashkasan District 8 Mingachevir 7 Shusha District 3 Gadabay District 1
Georgia	33,331 (1989 census) 20,843 (2002 census)	0.6% 0.5%	—	Kurds in Georgia Administrative divisions (2002) Tbilisi 17,116 Kakheti 495 Kvemo Kartli 463 Mtskheta-Mtianeti 96 Adjara 76 Imereti 56 Guria 23 Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti 2 Samtskhe-Javakheti 1 Shida Kartli 1 Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti 0 Kodori Valley 0

Western Europe

Country	Official figures	Official figures in %	Current est. Kurdish population	Further information
Germany	N/A	N/A	approx. 541,000—800,000	Kurds in Germany
France	N/A	N/A	approx. 150,000	Kurds in France
Sweden	N/A	N/A	approx. 66,000—83,600	Kurds in Sweden
United Kingdom	49,841 (2011 census)	0.1%	—	Kurds in the United Kingdom Countries of the United Kingdom (2011) England 47.871 Wales 1,106 Scotland 844 Northern Ireland 20
Netherlands	N/A	N/A	approx. 40,000	Kurds in the Netherlands
Switzerland	14,699 (2012 statistics, Kurdish speakers)	0.2%	approx. 35,100	—
Denmark	N/A	N/A	approx. 30,000	—
Austria	2,133 (2001 census, Kurdish speakers)	0%	approx. 23,000	—
Belgium	N/A	N/A	approx. 22,000	—
Finland	1,147 (1994 annual statistics, Kurdish speakers) 4,757 (2004 annual statistics, Kurdish speakers) 10,731 (2014 annual statistics, Kurdish speakers)	0% 0.1% 0.2%	—	Regions (2014) Uusimaa 5,436 Southwest Finland 2,097 Pirkanmaa 673 Päijänne Tavastia 559 Central Finland 324 Ostrobothnia 299 Northern Ostrobothnia 293 Kymenlaakso 241 Lapland 144 Kainuu 120 South Karelia 104 Tavastia Proper 96 North Karelia 87 Åland 67 Satakunta 60 Southern Savonia 40 Northern Savonia 39 Southern Ostrobothnia 34 Central Ostrobothnia 18
Italy	N/A	N/A	approx. 3,500	—
Norway	N/A	N/A	approx. 3,000	—
Ireland	128 (2011 census)	0%	approx. 1,500	—
Spain	N/A	N/A	approx. 1,000	—
Malta	N/A	N/A	approx. 300	—
Iceland	N/A	N/A	—	—
Luxembourg	N/A	N/A	—	—

Eastern Europe

Country	Official figures	Official figures in %	Current est. Kurdish population	Further information
Russia	63,818 (2010 census)	0%	—	Kurds in Russia Federal districts (2010) Southern Federal District 20,553 Central Federal District 17,926 Volga Federal District 11,186 North Caucasian Federal District 5,669 Siberian Federal District 3,927 Ural Federal District 2,637 Northwestern Federal District 1,482 Far Eastern Federal District 234
Greece	N/A	N/A	approx. 22,000	—
Romania	N/A	N/A	approx. 3,000	—
Ukraine	2,088 (2001 census)	0%	—	Oblasts (2001) Luhansk Oblast 470 Crimea 394 Kherson Oblast 296 Kiev 199 Odessa Oblast 132 Mykolaiv Oblast 119 Dnipropetrovsk Oblast 116 Zaporizhia Oblast 84 Kirovohrad Oblast 68 Kharkiv Oblast 46 Kiev Oblast 40 Donetsk Oblast 36 Khmelnytskyi Oblast 19 Cherkasy Oblast 15 Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast 11 Vinnytsia Oblast 10 Lviv Oblast 7 Ternopil Oblast 7 Chernihiv Oblast 6 Zhytomyr Oblast 4 Sevastopol 3 Poltava Oblast 2 Rivne Oblast 2 Sumy Oblast 2
Cyprus	N/A	N/A	approx. 1,500	—
Poland	224 (2011 census)	0%	—	—
Hungary	149 (2011 census)	0%	—	—
Moldova	9 (1989 census) 132 (Immigrants 1993-2013)	0% 0%	—	—
Bulgaria	105 (2011 census)	0%	—	—
Czech Republic	100 (2011 census)	0%	—	—
Belarus	81 (2009 census)	0%	—	—
Abkhazia	29 (1989 census)	0%	—	—
Latvia	28 (2015 annual statistics)	0%	—	—
Estonia	23 (2011 census)	0%	—	—
Serbia	<12 (2011 census)	0%	—	—
Lithuania	<10 (2011 census)	0%	—	—
Croatia	8 (2011 census)	0%	—	—
Slovakia	N/A	N/A	—	—
Slovenia	N/A	N/A	—	—

Middle East

Country	Official figures	Official figures in %	Current est. Kurdish population	Further information
Israel	N/A	N/A	approx. 200,000 (Jews from Kurdistan)	Kurds in Israel
Lebanon	N/A	N/A	approx. 75,000	Kurds in Lebanon
Jordan	N/A	N/A	approx. 4,000—30,000	Kurds in Jordan
Kuwait	N/A	N/A	approx. 5,000	—
Bahrain	N/A	N/A		—
Qatar	N/A	N/A		—
Saudi Arabia	N/A	N/A		—
United Arab Emirates	N/A	N/A		—

Asia

Country	Official figures	Official figures in %	Current est. Kurdish population	Further information
Kazakhstan	42,312 (2014 annual statistics)	0.2%	—	Kurds in Kazakhstan Regions (2014) Almaty Region 14,794 Jambyl Region 14,498 South Kazakhstan Region 8,959 Almaty 2,369 Akmola Region 544 Astana 369 North Kazakhstan Region 329 Karaganda Region 290 Pavlodar Region 51 East Kazakhstan Region 37 Atyrau Region 21 Kostanay Region 18 Mangystau Region 13 Kyzylorda Region 12 Aktobe Region 7 West Kazakhstan Region 1
Kyrgyzstan	13,171 (2009 census)	0.2%	—	—
Turkmenistan	6,097 (1995 census)	0.1%	—	Kurds in Turkmenistan
Afghanistan	N/A	N/A	approx. 2,670	—
Uzbekistan	1,839 (1989 census)	0%	—	—
South Korea	N/A	N/A	approx. 1,000	—
Japan	N/A	N/A	approx. 300–400	Kurds in Japan
Pakistan	N/A	N/A	approx. 240	Kurds in Pakistan
Tajikistan	7 (2010 census)	0%	—	—

Americas and Oceania

Country	Official figures	Official figures in %	Current est. Kurdish population	Further information
United States	15,361 (2006-2010 ACS)	0%	—	Kurds in the United States States (2006-2010) Tennessee 2,980 California 2,853 Virginia 1,192
Canada	11,685 (2011 census)	0%	—	Kurds in Canada Provinces and Territories (2011) Ontario 6,830 Alberta 1,465 British Columbia 1,435 Quebec 1,415 Manitoba 260 Saskatchewan 110 Nova Scotia 55 New Brunswick 40 Prince Edward Island 30
Australia	6,991 (2011 census) 4,586 (2011 census, Kurdish speakers)	0% 0%	—	States and territories (2011) New South Wales 3,132 2,225 Victoria 1,926 953 Western Australia 664 401 Queensland 457 346 Australian Capital Territory 58 20 South Australia 728 634 Tasmania 12 0 Northern Territory 0 0
New Zealand	720 (2013 census) 828 (2013 census, Kurdish speakers)	0% 0%	—	Kurds in New Zealand

Notes

^a According to the Turkish 1965 census, 2,219,502 people indicated Kurdish as their mother language and 429,168 as their second best language spoken. 150,644 people indicated Zaza as their mother language and 20,413 as their second best language spoken.

^b Official Azerbaijani records claim only 6,065 Kurds in 2009, while Kurdish leaders estimate as much as 200,000. The problem is that the historical record of the Kurds in Azerbaijan is filled with lacunae. For instance, in 1979 there was according to the census no Kurds recorded. Not only did Turkey and Azerbaijan pursue an identical policy against the Kurds, they even employed identical techniques like forced assimilation, manipulation of population figures, settlement of non-Kurds in areas predominantly Kurdish, suppression of publications and abolition of Kurdish as a medium of instruction in schools.

^c In the 2010 Russian Census, 23,232 people indicated Kurdish (Курды) as their ethnicity, while 40,586 chose Yazidi (Езиды) as their ethnicity.

^d In the 2011 Armenian Census, 2,131 people indicated Kurdish (Քրդեր) as their ethnicity, while 35,272 indicated Yazidi (Եզդիներ) as their ethnicity.

^e 2006 Konda survey.

See also

• Yazidis
• Kurdification

Bibliography

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• Baser, Bahar.“Kurdish Diaspora Political Activism in Europe with a Particular Focus on Great Britain.”, Diaspora Dialogues for Development and Peace Project, Berlin: Berghof Peace Support, June 2011.
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