Kurds in Iran

Kurds in Iran

Total population
estimates from 6,738,787[1] to 8,000,000[2][3][4]
Languages
Kurdish, Farsi
Religion
Mainly Sunni Islam but also Shia Islam
Related ethnic groups
other Iranian peoples (Yazidis & Zazas)

Kurds in Iran also known as Iranian Kurds are Iranians of Kurdish ethnicity who speak Kurdish language as of their first language. The Kurds are the third largest ethnic minority in Iran after the ethnic Persians and Iranian Azerbaijanis, comprising more than 10% of the country's population according to the CIA.^[5][6][7]

Geographic distribution

Iranian Kurdistan or Eastern Kurdistan (Kurdish: Rojhilatê Kurdistanê), is an unofficial name for the parts of northwestern Iran inhabited by Kurds which borders Iraq and Turkey. It includes the Kurdistan Province, Kermanshah Province, parts of West Azerbaijan Province and Ilam Province.^[8][9][10]

Kurds generally consider Iranian Kurdistan to be one of the four parts of a greater Kurdistan, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdistan), northern Syria (Western Kurdistan), and northern Iraq (Southern Kurdistan).^[11]

According to the last census conducted in 2006, the four Kurdish-inhabited provinces in Iran, West Azerbaijan (2,873,459), Kermanshah Province (1,879,385), Kurdistan Province (1,440,156), and Ilam Province (545,787) have a total population of 6,738,787.^[12] Pockets of Lurs inhabit the southern areas of Ilam Province.^[13]

Kurds in all province of Iran have a population about 9%—10% Iran's population^[14][15][16] a significant portion are Sunna.^[17] Sunni Kurds inhabit Kermanshah Province, except for those parts where people are Jaff, and Ilam Province; as well as some parts of Kurdistan and Hamadan provinces. The Kurds of Khorasan Province in northeastern Iran are also adherents of Sunni Islam. During the Shia revolution in Iran the major Kurdish political parties were unsuccessful in absorbing Sunni Kurds, who at that period had no interest in autonomy.^[18][19][20] However, since the 1990s Kurdish nationalism has seeped into the Sunni Kurdish area partly due to outrage against government's violent suppression of Kurds farther north.^[21]

The Medes are considered to be the ancestors of the modern Kurdish people in the Middle East.^{[22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27]}

See also

• Iranian Kurdistan
• History of the Kurdish people
• Yazidis

References

1. "Iran Provinces". statoids.com.
2. Hoare, Ben; Parrish, Margaret, eds. (1 March 2010). "Country Factfiles — Iran". Atlas A–Z (Fourth ed.). London: Dorling Kindersley Publishing. p. 238. ISBN 9780756658625.

   Population: 74.2 million
   Religions: Shi'a Muslim 93%, Sunni Muslim 6%, other 1%
   Ethnic Mix: Persian 50%, Azari 24%, other 10%, Kurd 8%, Lur and Bakhtiari 8%

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3. World Factbook (Online ed.). Langley, Virginia: US Central Intelligence Agency. 2015. ISSN 1553-8133. Retrieved 2 August 2015. A rough estimate in this edition has populations of 14.3 million in Turkey, 8.2 million in Iran, about 5.6 to 7.4 million in Iraq, and less than 2 million in Syria, which adds up to approximately 28–30 million Kurds in Kurdistan or adjacient regions. CIA estimates are as of August 2015 – Turkey: Kurdish 18%, of 81.6 million; Iran: Kurd 10%, of 81.82 million; Iraq: Kurdish 15%-20%, of 37.01 million, Syria: Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7%, of 17.01 million.
4. Yildiz, Kerim; Fryer, Georgina (2004). The Kurds: Culture and Language Rights. Kurdish Human Rights Project. Data: 18% of Turkey, 20% of Iraq, 8% of Iran, 9.6%+ of Syria; plus 1–2 million in neighboring countries and the diaspora
5. "Iran". The World Factbook. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
6. "Iran" (PDF). Library of Congress. May 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
7. "Iran Peoples". Looklex Encyclopaedia. Retrieved 2013-07-27.
8. Federal Research Division, 2004, Iran: A Country Study, Kessinger Publishing, ISBN 1-4191-2670-9, ISBN 978-1-4191-2670-3, p. 121, "The Kurdish area of Iran includes most of West Azerbaijan."
9. Youssef Courbage, Emmanuel Todd, 2011, A Convergence of Civilizations: The Transformation of Muslim Societies Around the World, p. 74. Columbia University Press, ISBN 0-231-15002-4, ISBN 978-0-231-15002-6. "Kurds are also a majority of the population in the provinces of Kermanshah, West Azerbaijan, and Ilam."
10. William Eagleton, 1988, An Introduction to Kurdish Rugs and Other Weavings, University of California, Scorpion, 144 pages. ISBN 0-905906-50-0, ISBN 978-0-905906-50-8. "Iranian Kurdistan is relatively narrow where it touches the Soviet border in the north and is hemmed in on the east by the Azerbaijani Turks. Extending south along the border west of Lake Urmia is the tribal territory."
11. Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland, (2014), by Ofra Bengio, University of Texas Press
12. "Iran Provinces". statoids.com.
13. Archived February 5, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.
14. "Iran". The World Factbook. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
15. "Iran" (PDF). Library of Congress. May 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
16. "Iran Peoples". Looklex Encyclopaedia. Retrieved 2013-07-27.
17. "Who are the Sunnah in Iran? - SONS OF SUNNAH". sonsofsunnah.com.
18. Romano, David (2006). The Kurdish Nationalist Movement. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 235. ISBN 0-521-85041-X.
19. McDowall (1996). A Modern History of the Kurds. London: I.B. Tauris. p. 270. ISBN 1-85043-653-3.
20. "The Passion and Death of Rahman the Kurd". google.com.
21. McDowall (1996). A Modern History of the Kurds. London: I.B. Tauris. p. 278. ISBN 1-85043-653-3.
22. "The Return Of The Medes". Gracethrufaith.
23. http://shoebat.com/2015/03/12/an-antichrist-covenant-is-on-the-horizon-turkey-is-making-peace-with-the-kurds-to-complete-a-sunni-alliance-which-has-prophetic-significance/
24. "New Englander and Yale Review". google.co.cr.
25. "The Kurdish Political Struggles in Iran, Iraq, and Turkey". google.co.cr.
26. "Before the Greeks". google.co.cr.
27. "Assyrians, Kurds, and Ottomans". google.co.cr.