Southern Kurdistan - Definition and Overview

Southern Kurdistan (or Iraqi Kurdistan) is a geo-cultural region located in present-day Northern Iraq. Many Kurds reside in the region and consider Southern Kurdistan to be their country. The northern belt of Southern Kurdistan is currently de facto a self-governing area within the interim Iraqi state. The de facto southern boundary of the present-day Kurdistan Regional Government – known as the 'Green Line' – passes roughly through the middle of the area in which most Iraqi Kurds live, leaving substantial numbers of Kurds outside the autonomous zone. On the other hand, this transitional region (which includes the cities of Mosul and Kirkuk) is ethnically quite diverse, as it includes the bulk of Iraqi Turkmen and Assyrians as well as large numbers of Sunni and Shia Arabs.

The Kurdish Autonomous Region was designated for three northern provinces in 1970. Since the Persian Gulf War of 1991, the Kurdistan Democratic Party under the leadership of Massoud Barzani, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan under the leadership of Jalal Talabani have controlled much of Southern Kurdistan. The capital of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region is Arbil (also known as Hewler in Kurdish), although the main Kurdish parties have indicated their preference for Kirkuk as the capital of an eventual Kurdish state. The latter city is currently hotly contested by Kurdish, Arab and Turkmen factions, and there is a strong and vocal opposition of Turkey to permanent Kurdish control of the city.

Southern Kurdistan is one part of the wider Kurdistan region. The other sections lie in present-day Iran, Syria, and Turkey.

See also

• Kurdistan Autonomous Region (the northerly, self-governing zone of Southern Kurdistan)