Kurdistan

Kurdistan (literally meaning "the land of Kurds"; old: Koordistan, Curdistan, Kurdia, also in Kurdish: Kurdewarî) is the name of a geographic and cultural region in the Middle East, inhabited predominantly by the Kurds. As a traditional ethnographic region, Kurdistan is generally held to include the contiguous regions in northern and northeastern Mesopotamia with large Kurdish populations. From a political standpoint, Iraqi Kurdistan is the only region which has gained an official recognition as a federal entity. Kurds live in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria mainly and there are several cities that are predominantly and culturally Kurd. It is not an independent state or country but Kurds are a distinctive people and culture with great ancient traditions.