Northern Kurdistan (Kurdish: Bakurê Kurdistanê or Kurdistanê Bakur) or Turkish Kurdistan, refers to the eastern and southeastern part of Turkey where Kurds are majority people. According to Kurdish Institute of Paris, the total population of region is 14,2 million in 2016 and according to several surveys, 86% of them are Kurds.
Demographics
In the first census of Turkey in 1927, Kurdish was the largest first language in the provinces of Ağrı (58%), Bitlis (75%), Diyarbakır (69%), Elazığ (53%), Hakkâri (89%), Mardin (61%), Siirt (74%, includes present-day Batman) and Van (77%). Moreover, Kurdish was the largest first language with a plurality in Şanlıurfa with 42%. 69% of the population in Muş Province had Kurdish as their first language in the census of 1935, the first census conducted there after the province was split from Bitlis earlier. Dersim's (Tunceli) language distribution is 69.5% Kurdish and Zaza in 1927. Bingöl Province was separated from Muş in 1935, while Tunceli Province was separated from Elazığ in 1936 and Kurdish was also the first language in these newly-established provinces in their first census in 1945 with 56% and 53%, respectively.