Kurdish diaspora

Kurdish diaspora is the Kurdish populations found in regions outside their ancestral homeland Kurdistan.

Distribution

Turkey

During the second half of the last century a large population of Kurds living in the Northern part of Kurdistan (Turkey) were forced to leave their villages and towns. Because of this displacement, large communities of Kurds live in Turkish cities. There are nearly half a million displaced Kurds living in Ankara, and 2 million in Istanbul and Izmir. There are also a quarter of a million Kurds living around Konya, but the Kurds living in Konya were displaced 4 centuries before by the Ottoman empire.

Iran

A large Kurdish enclave outside Kurdistan is the Kurdish region in north Khorasan, in north-eastern Iran. Over two million Kurds are living in this region. These Kurds are descendants of the exiled tribes during Safavid period and their ancestors were from western Iran. Other scattered smaller communities are found in the Alburz mountain range in northern Iran, Guilan province in northern Iran and Sistan and Baluchistan province in southeastern Iran (and also neighbouring regions in Pakistan). (See [http://modersmal.skolutveckling.se/nordkurdiska/kurdmap/pages/Geographic%20Distribution%20of%20Kurdish%20and%20other%20Iranic%20Languages_jpg_gif.htm] ). A great number of Kurds live in Iranian cities like Tabriz and Tehran.

Syria and Iraq

In addition to the fact that these two countries include parts of Kurdistan, there are significant Kurdish communities in metropolitan areas of these countries in Aleppo, Damascus, Baghdad etc.

Pakistan

As previously mentioned, Kurds were sent into exile into the Balochistan province of Pakistan during the Safavid era where many of their descendents still live currently. Many of Pakistan's Baloch ethnic community still recite oral traditions relating to the common Kurdish ancestry of the Baloch and narrate stories of their exile into modern day Pakistan. The Kurdish population of Pakistan have integrated into the native Balochi population while still retaining their nomadic traditions while at the same time following the Balochyar tenets (Baloch code of honour). As a result, many of the Kurds in Pakistan officially refer to themselves as being Baloch while still being aware of their Kurdish heritage. Other Kurdish communities can be found in Pakistan's urban centres of Karachi, Multan and Peshawer. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's mother is of Kurdish decent.

Transcaucasia

Kurds used to constitute the majority in former Kurdistan Okrug prior to mass deportations in the period 1940 - 1944. Today, most of the Kurdish communities in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan are results of these deportations. The remaining Kurds in Azerbaijan who numbered about 150,000 became refugees following Nagorno-Karabakh war. (See [http://modersmal.skolutveckling.se/nordkurdiska/kurdmap/pages/Kurds%20in%20the%20Ethnic%20Context%20of%20the%20Caucasus_gif_gif.htm] ). Most Kurds who comprise a small portion (about 1.2%) of total population arrived in Georgia at the time of the Ottoman Empire, having fled religious repression there. They now live mainly in Tbilisi or Rustavi. Kurds are mostly urbanized and socially integrated, but preserve their ethnic identity, language, and cultural traditions. Most of them are Yazidi [http://www.forcedmigration.org/guides/fmo001/fmo001-2.htm] .

Arab World

Lebanon is home to a small (about % 1 of the population) but influential Kurdish community. There are two main groups; Kurmanji speakers who mostly have origins in Turkish Kurdistan and "Mhalmoye" ("Mhallami" or "Mardinli") who speak a different dialect of Kurdish mixed with Arabic and Syriac, immigrants from Tur Abdin, specifically from the area between Midyat and Mardin. [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SBL/is_16/ai_n13807710] Both groups are Sunnis but there is also a little community of Alevi Kurds from Dersim. Kurds make up an important portion of expatriate population (about 230,000) in Kuwait. Most of them are originally Iraqi Kurds. There are also Kurdish communities in Jordan and Yemen.

Balkans

A small Kurdish community is known to have existed in Dobruja since Ottoman times [http://www.newsgroup.ro/message.php?id_message=169979] . This community once spread into Russian territory as far as Ochakiv [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cih/pdf/gradconf/robarts.doc] . Today, they are usually regarded as a part of Muslim community in Romania.

Central Asia

There are scattered communities in Turkmenistan (about 40,000) and Afghanistan (about 200,000).

Western Europe

The Kurds also make up a section of the waves of Turkish and other Middle Eastern nationals who have and who are immigrating to Germany, France, and Britain. One of the largest populations of Kurds outside of Kurdistan is located in Sweden. There are also a significant number of Kurds in Finland, Norway and Austria.

North America

There are also many Kurds in the United States of America. However, Kurdish communities are spread throughout the country. The largest number of Kurds are located in Nashville, Tennessee [cite news|first=Leon|last=Alligood|title=Local Iraqis ready to vote but worried about process|date=January 11, 2005|work=The Tennessean] and San Diego, California. There are also smaller communities in Texas, Virginia and Maryland. Canada is also the home of Kurdish communities located in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Hamilton, together numbering close to 55,000 Kurds across the country.

South America

There are large communites in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay. Many Kurds living in these countries have converted to Christianity since their migration.

Africa

There are Kurdish communities in Somalia and Eritrea preserving their language. The former Baath regime of Iraq often used to send Iraqi Kurds to Somalia as a form of exile. Although the number of Kurds in Somalia is relatively low, such a foreign presence is obvious in Somalia where few foreigners live. Since Somalis themselves share a common language and culture, it makes the Kurds stand out even more. Generally, these Kurds establish themselves in major cities, mainly Mogadishu, where they open up small kiosks and maintain a fairly low profile existence [http://www.institutkurde.org/en/kurdorama/] .

History

There have been many famous Kurdish individuals among the Kurdish diaspora. Although according to Dehkhoda Dictionary, Ardashir I of Persia was son of a Kurdish mother from "Shabānkāreh" tribe in the Fars Province, other sources such as others such as "Fars-nama"(1107 CE) and "Maslik al-absar" of al-Umari and "Sharafnama" do not consider Shabankareh as Kurdish and make a distinction between the two. Kurds were also deported to Kerman and Baluchistan by the Sassanid Kings such as Khosrow I and Khosrow II. In 17th century, Safavid Kings deported thousands of Kurds to Khorasan, where they still can be found (see Iranian Kurdistan and History of the Kurds).

ee also

*Demographics of Kurdish people
*Iranian Kurdistan
*List of Kurdish people
*Kurdish American
*Kurdish British
*Kurds in Armenia
*Kurds in Sweden

References

External links

* [http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/Collections/Onlineresources/RWWC/themes/1276/1398 Reassessing what we collect website – Kurdish London] History of Kurdish London with objects and images