Northern Kurdistan

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Northern Kurdistan (Kurdish: Bakurê Kurdistanê or Kurdistanê Bakur) or Turkish Kurdistan, refers to the eastern and southeastern part of Turkey[1] where Kurds are majority people. According to Kurdish Institute of Paris, the total population of region is 14,2 million in 2016 and according to several surveys, 86% of them are Kurds.[2]

Turkish Kurdistan

Demographics[change | change source]

In the first census of Turkey in 1927, Kurdish was the largest first language in the provinces of Ağrı (58%), Bitlis (75%), Diyarbakır (69%), Elazığ (53%), Hakkâri (89%), Mardin (61%), Siirt (74%, includes present-day Batman) and Van (77%). Moreover, Kurdish was the largest first language with a plurality in Şanlıurfa with 42%.[3] 69% of the population in Muş Province had Kurdish as their first language in the census of 1935, the first census conducted there after the province was split from Bitlis earlier.[4] Dersim's (Tunceli) language distribution is 69.5% Kurdish and Zaza in 1927.[5] Bingöl Province was separated from Muş in 1935, while Tunceli Province was separated from Elazığ in 1936 and Kurdish was also the first language in these newly-established provinces in their first census in 1945 with 56% and 53%, respectively.[6]

References[change | change source]

  1. van Bruinessen 2004, p. 479.
  2. "The Kurdish population". Kurdish Institute of Paris "The territory, which the Kurds call Northern Kurdistan (Kurdistana Bakur), has 14.2 million inhabitants in 2016. According to several surveys, 86% of them are Kurds, the remainder being Arab minorities (Urfa, Mardin, Siirt) and Turkish (mainly military , police and civil servants), as well as Syriacs and Armenians."
  3. Dündar 2000, p. 156–157.
  4. Dündar 2000, p. 164.
  5. Sertel 2016, p. 8.
  6. Dündar 2000, p. 178–179.

Sources[change | change source]

  • van Bruinessen, Martin (2004). "Kurdistan". In Joel Krieger (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 479. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195117394.001.0001. ISBN 9780199891160. The name given to the homeland of the Kurds, a Muslim people numbering approximately 20 to 25 million, Kurdistan comprises most of eastern and southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, parts of northwestern Iran, and small slices of northeastern and northwestern Syria.
  • Dündar, Fuat (2000). Türkiye nüfus sayımlarında azınlıklar (in Turkish). Doz Yayınları. ISBN 9789758086771.
  • Sertel, Savaş (2016). "Türkiye Cumhuriyeti'nin İlk Genel Nüfus Sayımına Göre Dersim Bölgesinde Demografik Yapı". Fırat Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi (in Turkish). 24 (1): 8. doi:10.18069/fusbed.82073 (inactive 2024-01-24). ISSN 1300-9702.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link)