ABSTRACT
With no modern state of their own, Kurds live as a substantial minority in Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq and in communities of the diaspora in Europe and North America. They form the largest nonstate nation in the world. Their communities live in environments that are quite different from each other and that are, in many cases, oppressive. Language, dress, and expressive culture have become powerful means of establishing and maintaining Kurdish social identity, both local and international.
