Geography of Kurdistan
Kurdistan, a region that includes southeast Turkey, northern Syria, northeast Iraq, northwest Iran, and a small part of Armenia. It covers about 74,000 square miles (192,000 km2). Kurdistan is not a political or geographical unit, but a region inhabited by the Kurds, a people resembling the Iranians in race and language. Kurdistan is largely mountainous.
The Kurds raise cattle, sheep, and goats, and grow tobacco, fruit, rice, wheat, and barley. They are known as proud people, fierce fighters, and devout Muslims.
Kurdish hopes for a country of their own led them to revolt against Turkey in 1925 and 1930, and against Iran in 1946. In 1961 the Kurds began a guerrilla campaign against Iraq. In 1970 Iraq granted the Kurds limited autonomy. Following the Persian Gulf War in 1991 the Kurds launched a rebellion against Iraq that was crushed by Iraqi troops. In Turkey the Kurdish Workers' Party began waging guerilla warfare in 1984. In 1999 Abdullah Ocalan, the party's leader, was captured and convicted of treason and separatism.