Kurdistan
region, Asia
Also known as: Kordestān, Kurdistān
Kurdistan, broadly defined geographic region traditionally inhabited mainly by Kurds. It consists of an extensive plateau and mountain area, spread over large parts of what are now eastern Turkey, northern Iraq, and western Iran and smaller parts of northern Syria and Armenia. Two of these countries officially recognize internal entities by this name: Iran’s northwestern province of Kurdistan (also spelled Kordestān) and Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region. The Kurdistan (“Land of the Kurds”) designation refers to...