Kurds in Syria
The Kurdish population of Syria is the country's largest ethnic minority, usually estimated at around 10% of the Syrian population and 5% of the Kurdish population.
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Estimates from 1.6 million to 2.5 million Kurds make up between 5% and 10% of Syria's population. | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Northeastern Syria, Afrin, Kobani | |
| Languages | |
| Mainly Kurdish (Kurmanji); also Arabic (North Levantine Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic) | |
| Religion | |
| Majority Sunni Islam and Yazidism, also Shia Islam, Christianity |
The majority of Syrian Kurds are originally Turkish Kurds who have crossed the border during different events in the 20th century. There are three major centers for the Kurdish population in Syrian, the northern part of the Jazira, the central Euphrates Region around Kobanî and in the west the area around Afrin. All of these are on the Syria-Turkey border, and there are also substantial Kurdish communities in Aleppo and Damascus further south.
Human rights organizations have accused the Syrian government of routinely discriminating and harassing Syrian Kurds. Many Kurds seek political autonomy for what they regard as Western Kurdistan, similar to the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq, or to be part of an independent state of Kurdistan. In the context of the Syrian Civil War, Kurds established the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.