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Kurdish, Northern

Alternate names: Kermancî, Kirmancî, Kurdi, Kurdî, Kurmancî, Kurmanji Also: in Armenia -- Êzdîkî, Kurmancî, Kurmanji; in Azerbaijan -- Kurdî, Kurmancî, Kurmanji; in Georgia -- Kurdî, Kurmancî, Kurmanji; in Iran -- Eastern Kurmanji, Kordi, Kurdi, Kurmancî, Kurmanji; in Iraq -- Badinani, Bahdini, Behdini, Kirmanciya Jori, Kurmanji; in Syria -- Kurdi, Kurmancî, Kurmanji; in Turkmenistan -- Khorasani, Khorasani Kurmanji, Kurmancî, Kurmanji
Scriptures published: Bible (2008) New Testament (1872--2005) Portions (1856--2010)
Literacy: Literacy rate in first language: Overall about 83%, but not differentiated by L1 or L2 usage. While overall speakers are decreasing, literates are increasing. Many literary works from 16th and 17th centuries onward. Literacy rate in second language: 28%. Not taught in primary schools. N
Primary country: Turkey
Region: Adiyaman, Agri, Batman, Bingol, Bitlis, Diyarbakir (Amed), Hakkari (Colemerg), Kars, Mardin, Shirnak, Siirt, Shanliurfa, and Van; also Ganziantep, Elazig, Erzincan, Erzurum, Kahramanmarash, Kayseri, Malatya, Sivas, Tunceli (Dersim), and other provinces; central Turkey, Konya, Cankiri and Cihanbeyli; many in Istanbul, Adana, Ankara, Izmir
Also used in: Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Netherlands, Norway, Russian Federation, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkmenistan, United Kingdom, United States
Religion: Muslim (Sunni), Muslim (Alevi), Yezidi
Status: De facto language of provincial identity in Azerbaijan; Statutory provincial language in Iraq
Number of users: 20,210,872 (15,000,000; 45,000 in Armenia (Asatryan 2002); 20,000 in Azerbaijan (1989 census); 40,000 in Georgia (1991); 350,000 in Iran (Stanzer 1988); 2,800,000 in Iraq (2004); 938,000 in Syria (1993); 20,000 in Turkmenistan (Bakaev 1962))