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Kurdistan Region

This article is about the semi-autonomous Kurdish political entity within the Republic of Iraq. For the wider geographical area of Iraq inhabited by Kurdish people, see Iraqi Kurdistan. For the entire Middle Eastern region inhabited by Kurdish people, see Kurdistan. For the autonomous Kurdish political entity within the Syrian Arab Republic, see Rojava.
Kurdistan Region
Semi-autonomous region
Flag of Kurdistan Region
Flag
Official seal of Kurdistan Region
Coat of arms
Anthem: ئەی ڕەقیب
Ey Reqîb
"Oh, enemy!"
CountryIraq Iraq
Autonomy founded19 May 1992
Autonomy recognized15 October 2005[1]
CapitalErbil[2]
36°04′59″N 44°37′47″E / 36.08306°N 44.62972°E / 36.08306; 44.62972
Official languages
[3]
Recognized languages[5]
Ethnic groups
Predominantly Kurds
Minorities of Arabs, Iraqi Turkmens, Assyrians and Armenians
Religion
Majority: Islam
Large minority: Yazidism, Yarsanism, Christianity
other
Demonym(s)
GovernmentParliamentary semi-autonomous region within a federal republic
• President
Nechirvan Barzani
Masrour Barzani
• Deputy Prime Minister
Qubad Talabani
LegislatureKurdistan Parliament
Area
• Total
46,862[6] km2 (18,094 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate
6,556,752 (2023)[7]
GDP (PPP)2022[8][9] estimate
• Total
$66 billion[8][9]
• Per capita
$7,038[8][9]
Gini (2012)32[10]
medium
HDI (2014)0.750[10]
high
CurrencyIraqi dinar
Time zoneUTC+3 (AST)
Date formatdd/mm/yyyy
Driving sideright
Calling code+964
ISO 3166 code
Internet TLD.krd
 
People
Population
  • Homeland
History

Ancient

Karduchian dynasties

Corduene
Zabdicene
Cyrtians
Moxoene

Medieval

Modern
Culture
Languages
Kurdish languages
Religion

Kurdistan Region (KRI)[c] is a semi-autonomous administrative entity within the Republic of Iraq.[13][14] It comprises four Kurdish-majority divisions of Arab-majority Iraq: the Erbil Governorate, the Sulaymaniyah Governorate, the Duhok Governorate, and Halabja Governorate. The KRI is bordered by Iran to the east, by Turkey to the north, and by Syria to the west.

It does not govern all of Iraqi Kurdistan and lays claim to the disputed territories of northern Iraq; these territories have a predominantly non-Arab population and were subject to the Ba'athist Arabization campaigns throughout the late 20th century. Though the KRI's autonomy was realized in 1992, one year after Iraq's defeat in the Gulf War, these northern territories remain contested between the Kurdistan Regional Government (in Erbil) and the Government of Iraq (in Baghdad) to the present day. In light of the dispute, the KRI's constitution declares the city of Kirkuk as the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.[citation needed] However, the KRI does not control Kirkuk, and the Kurdistan Region Parliament is based in Erbil.

Throughout the 20th century, Iraqi Kurds oscillated between fighting for autonomy and for full independence. Under the Ba'athist regime, the Kurds experienced Arabization and genocidal campaigns at the hands of the federal government in Baghdad.[15] However, when the United States, the United Kingdom, and France established the Iraqi no-fly zones, which restricted the federal government's power in the country's northern and southern areas following the Gulf War, the Kurds were given a chance to experiment with self-governance and the autonomous region was de facto established.[16] The Iraqi government only recognized the Kurdistan Region in 2005 (as a 'federal region'), after the American-led 2003 invasion of Iraq overthrew Saddam Hussein.[17] In September 2017, the KRI passed a non-binding independence referendum, inviting mixed reactions internationally. The KRI largely escaped the privations that afflicted other parts of Iraq in the last years of Saddam Hussein's rule as well as the chaos that followed his ousting during the Iraq War (2003–2011), and built a parliamentary democracy with a growing economy.[18] In 2014, when the Syria-based Islamic State began their Northern Iraq offensive and invaded the country, the Iraqi Armed Forces retreated from most of the disputed territories. The KRI's Peshmerga then entered and took control of them for the duration of the War in Iraq (2013–2017). In October 2017, following the defeat of the Islamic State, the Iraqi Armed Forces attacked the Peshmerga and reasserted control over the disputed territories.[19]

  1. ^ Joseph R. Rudolph Jr. (2015). Encyclopedia of Modern Ethnic Conflicts, 2nd Edition. p. 275.
  2. ^ "Kurdistan Region Constitution (Article 10)". Kurdistan Tribune.
  3. ^ "Kurdistan Region Constitution (Article 14)". Kurdistan Tribune.
  4. ^ Saatçi, Suphi (2018), "The Turkman of Iraq", in Bulut, Christiane (ed.), Linguistic Minorities in Turkey and Turkic-Speaking Minorities of the Periphery, Harrassowitz Verlag, p. 357, ISBN 978-3447107235
  5. ^ "Kurdistan Region Constitution (Article 14, Second)". Kurdistan Tribune.
  6. ^ "Kurdistan Region Area". krso.gov.krd. Kurdistan Region Statistics Office. Archived from the original on 31 July 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Population". krso.gov.krd. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  8. ^ a b c "Erbil International Fair" (PDF). aiti.org.ir. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  9. ^ a b c kurdistanchronicle. "Invest Kurdistan: An Emerging, Multi-Sector Business Hub". kurdistanchronicle.com. Retrieved 2024-02-23.
  10. ^ a b "Iraq Human Development Report 2014" (PDF). p. 29. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Şandeke Herêma Kurdistanê serdana Bexdayê dike". Rûdaw (in Kurdish). Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  12. ^ "حکومەتی هەرێمی كوردستان" (in Kurdish). Archived from the original on 12 March 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  13. ^ "Iraq". CIA.gov.
  14. ^ "Iraq's Constitution of 2005" (PDF). 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  15. ^ Alex Danilovich (2016). Iraqi Kurdistan in Middle Eastern politics. Taylor & Francis. p. 18. ISBN 978-1315468402.
  16. ^ Peter J. Lambert (December 1997). The United States and the Kurds: case studies in United States engagement (PDF). Monterey, California: Calhoun – Institutional Archive of the Naval Postgraduate School. pp. 85–87. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  17. ^ Philip S. Hadji (September 2015). "Iraq Timeline: Since the 2003 War". United States Institute of Peace. 41 (2). Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  18. ^ "Iraqi Kurdistan profile". BBC News. 25 April 2018. Archived from the original on 25 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  19. ^ "Iraqi Kurds 'withdraw to 2014 lines'". 18 October 2017. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2019.


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