User:GPinkerton/sandbox/Syrian Kurdistan
Kurdish inhabited area of Syria / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Syrian Kurdistan or Western Kurdistan (Kurdish: Rojavayê Kurdistanê), often shortened to Rojava, is regarded by some Kurds[1][2][3] and some regional experts as the part of Kurdistan in Syria.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] In this conception, Syrian Kurdistan is joined by southeastern Turkey (Turkish Kurdistan), northern Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan), and northwestern Iran (Iranian Kurdistan).[16][17] The term Syrian Kurdistan is often used in the context of Kurdish nationalism, which makes it a controversial concept among proponents of Syrian and Arab nationalism. There is ambiguity about its geographical extent, and the term has different meanings depending on context.
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Syrian Kurdistan is one of the Lesser Kurdistans that comprise Greater Kurdistan and is also known as Western Kurdistan (Kurdish: Rojava Kurdistanê, lit. 'Kurdistan where the sun sets').[18]: 356 As such, Syrian Kurdistan is one of the four territories into which Kurdistan is divided by the boundaries of sovereign states, alongside Iranian Kurdistan (Kurdish: Rojhilatê Kurdistanê, lit. 'Kurdistan where the sun rises') and the neighbouring Turkish Kurdistan (Bakurê Kurdistanê, 'Northern Kurdistan') and Iraqi Kurdistan (Başûrê Kurdistanê, 'Southern Kurdistan').[18]: 356
The territory consists of three discontinuous areas on the northern border of Syria, in the Aleppo and al-Hasakah Governorates of Syria.[19]: 251–252 [18]: 358–361 [20]: 196 In the extreme east of Syrian Upper Mesopotamia (Arabic: الجزيرة, romanized: al-Jazira, lit. 'the island'), al-Hasakah Governorate (historically al-Jazira Province) is adjacent to Iraq's Sinjar District, part of Iraqi Kurdistan, and has been Kurdish-majority "since official records began".[18]: 358–361 Ayn al-Arab District in the Aleppo Governorate is centred on Kobanî (Arabic: عَيْن الْعَرَب, romanized: ʿAyn al-ʿArab), which like the nearby town of Jarabulus is on the border with Turkey's Şanlıurfa Province, part of Turkish Kurdistan.[18]: 358–361 [19]: 251–252 The Afrin District, also in the Aleppo Governorate, includes the town of Afrin (Kurdish: Efrîn) and the Kurd Mountains (Turkish: Kurd Dagh) at the north-eastern corner of Syria's border with Turkey's Hatay Province.[18]: 358–361 [19]: 251–252
Al-Hasakah, the seat of the governorate of the same name, stands at the confluence of the Jaghjagh River and the Khabur, two tributaries of the Euphrates, while Ras al-Ayn lies upstream of the Khabur at the point where the Syria–Turkey border intersects the river. Jarabulus, in the Jarabulus Subdistrict, stands on the border with Turkey where the Euphrates enters Syrian territory, while Kobanî, likewise on the border, stands between the Euphrates valley and the Balikh River. The Kurd Mountains, outside the Euphrates–Tigris Basin, constitute a detached extension of the Anatolian Plateau on the edge of the Anatolian Plate.[18]: 358–361