Kurdistan - Атлас этнических региональных автономий - Сеть по исследованию идентичности

Description of the autonomy

Kurdistan is part of Iraq, which is located in the north and north-east of the country. It has extensive autonomy, received in 1991 with the mediation of the United Nations as a result of an armed conflict with the central authorities. The official autonomous status was restored in 2005 after the overthrow of the Hussein regime in Iraq.

The principal issue for the region is the control over the Kirkuk province, in which oil deposits are located. Oil is the source of the economic well-being of Kurdistan, so the issue of control of Kirkuk is a "trump card" in the relations between Erbil and Baghdad.

The titular ethnic group of the autonomy is the Kurds. The main difference between the Kurds and the Arabs (the majority of the population of the country) is, first of all, language. Kurds profess Islam of the Sunni type, whereas most Arabs in Iraq are Shiites. The education system in Kurdistan supports the Kurdish language, which has an official status in the region. Kurdistan has the right to have its own paramilitary formations ("Peshmerga"), which are the prototype of the Kurdish regular army. In addition, the regional party system is characterized by the complete dominance of ethno-regional political parties. They successfully participate in elections both at the regional and national levels, receiving parliamentary mandates.

The current situation in the autonomous community is characterized by a high degree of tension. Due to the disagreements over the distribution of oil revenues, the Kurdistan government announced the holding of a referendum on independence. The referendum was held on September 25, 2017, and 92.73% voted for the independence of the region. The Iraqi central government publicly announced the non-recognition of the results of the referendum and began blockading the region (a ban on financial operations and air traffic). Protests against the results of the referendum were also made by Iran and Turkey. Under conditions of external isolation, the government of Iraqi Kurdistan was forced to agree to freeze the results of the referendum and to resume dialogue with Baghdad in exchange for lifting the blockade.

Autonomy's characteristics

Year of the creation of the autonomy:

Geographic

Where is the autonomy situated:
Autonomy area: km²
Share of the autonomy in the area of the country: %
Autonomy population:the latest census thousands of people
Share of the autonomy in the population of the country: %

Country's characteristics

Level of economic development of the country:GDP per capita in 2015 in current price in $ in $
Political regime in the country:It is based on the Freedom House Index, 2015. All countries of the world are located on a scale from 1 (most free) to 7 (least free). Countries whose ratings fall between 1.0 and 2.5 are “Free”, between 3.0 and 5.0 are "Partly Free," and those between 5.5 and 7.0 are "Not Free."

Economic

Share of the autonomy in the economy of the country:GRP of the autonomy divided to GDP of the country (%) %
Level of economic development of the autonomy:relative to the country (%): GRP per capita of the autonomy divided to GDP per capita of the country %

Ethnic

Share of the dominant in the country ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the dominant in the country ethnic group divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Share of the titular ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Ethnic peculiarity:It indicates a key characteristic of autonomy's ethnic identity - language or religion or both
Diversity of ethnic composition:The presence of other (in addition to the titular group in the autonomy and the dominant group in the country) significant ethnic groups in the population of the autonomy

Political

Degree of self-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_selfrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of self-rule: institutional depth; policy scope; fiscal autonomy; borrowing autonomy; and the extent to which a region has an independent legislature and executive. The index takes value from 0 to 18
Degree of shared-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_sharedrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of shared-rule: participation of a region in national law-making; intergovernmental meetings; the distribution of national tax revenues; borrowing; and constitutional change. The index takes value from 0 to 12
The presence of the "kin-state":"Kin-state" is a state whose main population shares the ethnic characteristics of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy
Linguistic preferences:It indicates how the language of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy is learned in secondary schools in the autonomy
Ethnic conflicts:It indicates whether the serious conflicts between the autonomy and the central government as well as between ethnic groups within the authority take place in 2001-2015. The level of conflict is determined on the basis of the annual reports of Conflict Barometer