ABSTRACT
Introduction Kurdistan refers to a region in Northern and North-Eastern Iraq. The region has no well defined boundaries. Nationalist Kurds define the nation from the Iraqi, Turkish, and Iranian borders, to the Humrin Mountains in the south to south east. These boundaries include the three major Kurdish provinces, Duhok, Arbil, and Sulaymania, along with large portions of the Kirkuk, Mosul, and Diyala provinces. Prior to 1991, the Iraqi government defined Kurdistan as the three Kurdish provinces only. Post 1991, Kurdish forces were able to control some territory from the Mosul, Kirkuk, and Diyala provinces with approximately 40,000 square kilometres. The population of Kurdistan is about 5 million. Kurdistan is rich with natural resources such as oil and fresh water (www.theotheriraq 2009).
