Kurdistan Regional Government
SAT, 25 MAY 2013 09:54 Erbil, GMT +3
English LngSep Kurdî LngSep کوردی LngSep عربی

The people of the Kurdistan Region

THU, 20 MAY 2010 17:52 | KRG.org

Population: 5.2 million

The people living in the Kurdistan Region are Kurds as well as Assyrians, Chaldeans, Turkmen, Armenians and Arabs.

The Region has a young and growing population, with 36% aged 0-14 years, and only 4% aged over 63. The median age in Kurdistan is just over 20, meaning more than 50% are less than 20.[1]

The Kurdistan Region’s demography has changed considerably in the last few decades mainly because of forced migration by the previous Iraqi government, which is one of the main reasons for the movement from the countryside to towns and cities. By 2001, at least 600,000 people were internally displaced mainly because of the previous Iraqi regime’s policies since the 1970s. This included more than 100,000 people expelled in November 1991 alone from Kirkuk by the Iraqi government. According to a UNDP survey, 66% of people living in Duhok province have been forced to change their residence due to war at any point in their lives, while the figures in Suleimaniah and Erbil are 31% and 7%, respectively.[2]

Traditionally, the majority of people in the Kurdistan Region lived in villages and survived on farming and animal husbandry of mainly sheep and goats thanks to the land’s fertile soil. The Region was known as the breadbasket of Iraq. Today this has reversed, with the majority living and working in the three cities of Erbil, Duhok and Suleimaniah and working in the government, construction, and trade.

In the 1980s Saddam Hussein’s regime destroyed over 4,000 villages and forcibly moved their residents to collective towns. Many of these villages have now been rebuilt. The Kurdistan Regional Government, with the support of UN agencies and NGOs, after 1991 rebuilt 2,620 of some 4,000 destroyed villages.[3]

[1] UNDP Iraq Living Conditions Survey 2004, Volume 1 Tabulation Report, Table 1.6: Age in broad groups, mean and median age.

[2] UNDP Iraq Living Conditions Survey 2004, Volume 1 Tabulation Report, Table 1.12: Displacement due to war.

[3] Kurdistan Regional Government Old website: http://old.krg.org/about/ministries/reconstruction/index.asp

Latest Articles

KRG Representative to Spain visits Portugal

Lisbon, Portugal (KRG.org) - The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Representative to Spain, Mr Daban Shadala, made his first visit to Portugal, where he held meetings with officials and private sector representatives. The objective of the visit was to meet with various Portuguese government and private sector entities, to determine points of interest for future cooperation in the areas of education, culture, politics and business.

On holiday in Iraq: a Kurd’s eye view

Two British tour operators have launched holidays to northern Iraq, a region where the horrors of Saddam’s tyranny are being replaced by hospitality and hope.

Statement from the KRG on the death of the Times Foreign Editor Richard Beeston

Minister Falah Mustafa inaugurates KRG Representation in Sweden

Minister Hawrami at Baker Institute in Houston: US can help Baghdad and Kurds make fair energy deal

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq holds discussions with KRG officials

Senior KRG delegation highlights Kurdistan and emphasizes critical situation in Iraq

Kurdistan university presidents make first official visit to Spain

Video: Interview with Dr Fuad Hussein in Washington DC

In Iraq, a Kurdish renaissance



    © 2013 Kurdistan Regional Government, KRG