KURDISTAN' ("the country of the Kurds"), an extensive region of western Asia, running n.w. and s.e., between lat. 34° to 40° n., and long. 40° to 48° e., bounded on the n.e. side by Armenia, Azerbijun, and irak-Ajemi, and on the s.w. by the Tigris and Aljezira, belongs to the Turkish and Persian monarchies, chiefly to the former, and contains about 50,000 sq.m., with a population amounting, according to Chesney's esti mate, to 3,000,000—doubtless a very great exaggeration, though we have no means of disproving it. The. country, with the exception of the tract bordering on the Tigris, is very mountainous, some of the peaks being nearly 13.000 ft. above the sea-level; these mountain-ranges divide the surface of the country into fertile valleys and extensive table-lands. The southern part is for the most part low and flat, parched in summer, and ver&nt during the wet season. The country is traversed by the Euphrates, Tigris, Zab-Ala, Zab-Asfal, and Diyala or Shirvan, and contains several lakes, the chief of which are Van and Urumiah. Four-fifths of the inhabitants are Kurds (anc. Curduchi and Gordyam), a race partly nomad and partly agricultural, who occupy themselves chiefly, however, with the breeding of cattle, sheep. goats, and horses, A great trade
is carried on with Turkey and Persia, especially in horses, the Kurdish breed being so finned for its spirit and endurance as to be almost exclusively tmployed by the Tut kish and Persian cavalry. The settled portion of the ponlation consists of Kurds, Turks, and Persians, who are engaged in agricultural employments. A remarkable product of this country is a substance found on the leaves of the tamarisk and other shrubs, which closely corresponds to the description given of "manna" in the Old Testament, and is supposed to result, like oak-galls, from the puncture of the leaf by an insect. The country is deficient in mineral wealth. The inhabitants, with the exception of the Nes torians (q.v.), who inhabit the valley of the Tigris, profess a debased form of Moham medanism. The chief towns in Turkish Kurdistan are Bitlis (q.v.), Van, Utunda, 3[ardin (anc. Mardein), Mush, Korkuk, Diarbekir, Malatia, and Marash. The Persian portion of Kurdistan does not form a distinct province, but is included in Azerbijan, Ardelan, and