Kurdistan
Federation of Kurdistan Federasyona Kurdistanê (Kurdish) | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
| Capital | Amed |
| Largest city | Hewler |
| Official languages | Kurdish |
| Recognised regional languages | Armenian, Assyrian, Persian |
| Demonym(s) | Kurd, Kurdistani |
| Government | Federal parliamentary constitutional republic |
• President | Masrour Barzani |
• Prime Minister | Qubad Talabani |
| Legislature | National Assembly |
| Currency | Kurdish dinar |
| Driving side | right |
| Internet TLD | .ku |
Kurdistan, officially the Federation of Kurdistan (Kurdish: Federasyona Kurdistanê) is a nation located in the Middle East and the Caucasus, bordering Iran, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Assyria, and Armenia, it's Capital is Amed while the most populous is Hawler.
There are various hypotheses as to predecessor populations of the Kurds, such as the Carduchoi of Classical Antiquity. The earliest known Kurdish dynasties under Islamic rule (10th to 12th centuries) are the Hasanwayhids, the Marwanids, the Rawadids, the Shaddadids, followed by the Ayyubid dynasty founded by Saladin. The Battle of Chaldiran of 1514 is an important turning point in Kurdish history, marking the alliance of Kurds with the Ottomans. The Sharafnameh of 1597 is the first account of Kurdish history. Kurdish history in the 19th century is marked by a rising sense of Kurdish nationhood focused on the goal of an independent Kurdistan, after the loss of autonomy from the Ottomans in 19th century, which was somewhat achieved in 1920, with the formation of Kingdom of Kurdistan as a British protectorate. In 1947, the monarchy fell, and Kurdistan fell in a two year civil war.
Kurdistan is a regional power and a newly industrialized country, with a geopolitically strategic location. Its economy, which is classified among the emerging and growth-leading economies, is the twenty-fifth-largest in the world by nominal GDP,
Kurdistan is a charter member of the United Nations, an early member of NATO, the IMF, the Council of Europe, and the World Bank, and a founding member of the OECD, OSCE, OIC, and G40.
Etymology
Kurdistan means "Land of the Kurds" and was first attested in 11th century Seljuk chronicles. The exact origins of the name Kurd are unclear. The suffix -stan (Persian: ـستان, translit. stân) is Persian for land.
"Kurdistan" was also formerly spelled Curdistan. One of the ancient names of Kurdistan is Corduene. The 19th century Kurdistan Eyalet was the first time that the Ottoman Empire used the term 'Kurdistan' to refer to an administrative unit rather than a geographical region.