Countries and Their Cultures: Kurds

The Kurds have inhabited an area of rugged mountains and high plains at the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for over two thousand years. Their traditional mode of subsistence is pastoralism and agriculture. The territory Kurds conceive of as Kurdistan ("the land of the Kurds") is distributed across the present borders of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. Most Kurds are orthodox Sunni Muslims of the Shaft school; however, in southeastern and southern Kurdistan, some tribes are Shiite. The Kurds are renowned for the rich colors and intricate designs of their wool rugs.