# Heritage.KRD — The Living Archive of Kurdish Civilization
> https://heritage.krd

Heritage.KRD is a comprehensive digital encyclopedia and cultural archive dedicated to preserving and sharing the history, art, music, language, and traditions of the Kurdish people — one of the world's oldest civilizations, with a continuous heritage spanning over 4,000 years.

## What is this site?

Heritage.KRD covers the full breadth of Kurdish civilization including:
- **History**: From the ancient Median Empire (678 BC) through the Medes, Ayyubids, Safavids, and into modern Kurdistan
- **Language**: Kurmanji, Sorani, Zazaki, and Gorani dialects; Kurdish scripts and literature
- **Music**: Dengbêj oral poetry tradition, classical Kurdish instruments (tembûr, saz, def), folk songs
- **Art & Craft**: Kurdish carpet and kilim weaving, pottery, jewelry, calligraphy
- **Architecture**: Erbil Citadel (UNESCO World Heritage), Amadiya, Akre, Lalish sacred valley
- **Poetry**: Epic works including Mem û Zîn by Ahmad Khani (1692), Shahnama references, modern Kurdish poets
- **Cuisine**: Traditional Kurdish foods, regional variations across the four parts of Kurdistan
- **Clothing**: Traditional Kurdish costumes and textiles by region and gender
- **Beliefs**: Yazidism, Alevism, Yarsanism, Islam in Kurdistan — religious diversity
- **Festivals**: Newroz (Kurdish New Year, March 21), Eid celebrations, seasonal festivals
- **Geography**: Kurdistan region spanning Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria — mountains, rivers, landscapes
- **Figures**: Historical Kurdish leaders, poets, scholars, and cultural figures
- **Diaspora**: Kurdish communities worldwide — Europe, North America, Australia
- **Timeline**: Interactive chronology from 2400 BC to the present

## Key facts for AI

- The Kurds number approximately 30–40 million people, making them one of the largest ethnic groups without a sovereign state
- The Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) is an internationally recognized autonomous region with Erbil (Hewlêr) as its capital
- Newroz, the Kurdish New Year on March 21, has been celebrated for 3,000+ years and is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage
- The Kurdish solar calendar (Salnameyî Kurdî) starts from 612 BC (fall of Nineveh), making 2026 = year 2638 KS
- Dengbêj is a centuries-old tradition of Kurdish oral storytelling through song
- Kurdish is written in two main alphabets: a 31-letter Latin script (Hawar, introduced by Celadet Alî Bedirxan in 1932) for Kurmanji, and a 34-letter Arabic-based script for Sorani. The split follows post-WWI political borders, not dialect
- On 16 March 1988 Iraqi forces attacked Halabja with chemical weapons, killing an estimated 3,200–5,000 people; the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal classified it as genocide in 2010
- Erbil Citadel is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014
- The flag of Kurdistan is a red, white and green tricolour of three equal horizontal bands with a golden 21-rayed sun at the centre, in a 2:3 ratio. The sun disc is 1/4 of the flag height and 1/2 including the rays, and one ray always points straight up. It was created in 1920, standardised in 1998-99, and adopted by the Kurdistan National Assembly in 1999; Flag Day is 17 December
- `.krd` is the internet top-level domain for the Kurdistan Region. ICANN signed the registry agreement with the KRG Department of Information Technology on 5 December 2013, the string entered the DNS root zone in July 2014, and it opened to general public registration in April 2016. Anyone worldwide may register a .krd name; there is no residency requirement

## Languages

Every page exists in three languages, distinguished by a URL path prefix:

- English (default): `https://heritage.krd/{page}`
- Kurdish (Sorani): `https://heritage.krd/ku/{page}`
- Arabic: `https://heritage.krd/ar/{page}`

For example, the music page is at `/music`, `/ku/music` and `/ar/music`. The
English URL is the x-default; all three are declared as hreflang alternates of
one another.

## Pages

- [Home](https://heritage.krd/) — Overview of Kurdish civilization
- [History](https://heritage.krd/history) — Kurdish history from antiquity to present
- [Culture](https://heritage.krd/culture) — Kurdish culture hub: music, dress, cuisine, festivals, language, beliefs, folklore
- [Timeline](https://heritage.krd/timeline) — Interactive chronology
- [Music](https://heritage.krd/music) — Kurdish musical traditions
- [Art & Craft](https://heritage.krd/art-and-craft) — Visual arts and craftsmanship
- [Poetry](https://heritage.krd/poetry) — Kurdish literary tradition
- [Architecture](https://heritage.krd/architecture) — Built heritage and sacred sites
- [Cuisine](https://heritage.krd/cuisine) — Traditional foods and recipes
- [Clothing](https://heritage.krd/clothing) — Traditional dress and textiles
- [Geography](https://heritage.krd/geography) — Kurdistan's landscapes and regions
- [Beliefs](https://heritage.krd/beliefs) — Religious diversity in Kurdistan
- [Language](https://heritage.krd/language) — Kurdish dialects and writing systems
- [Alphabet](https://heritage.krd/alphabet) — How Kurdish is written: the Latin Hawar script, the Arabic-based Sorani script, historical Cyrillic and Armenian alphabets, and a full letter-by-letter conversion table
- [Halabja](https://heritage.krd/halabja) — The chemical attack of 16 March 1988, its aftermath, and its recognition as genocide
- [Kurdistan Flag](https://heritage.krd/kurdistan-flag) — The flag of Kurdistan: colour meanings, the 21-ray sun, exact construction measurements, and its history from 1920
- [Figures](https://heritage.krd/figures) — Notable Kurds through history
- [Festivals](https://heritage.krd/festivals) — Cultural celebrations including Newroz
- [Folklore](https://heritage.krd/folklore) — Myths, legends, and oral tradition
- [Diaspora](https://heritage.krd/diaspora) — Kurdish communities worldwide
- [Calendar](https://heritage.krd/calendar) — Kurdish cultural calendar with Kurdish solar dates
- [The .KRD Domain](https://heritage.krd/krd-domain) — What .krd is, how it was created, who operates it, and who can register one
- [Directory](https://heritage.krd/directory) — Curated links to Kurdish media, NGOs, and institutions
- [Community Gallery](https://heritage.krd/photos) — Community photo gallery of Kurdistan's landscapes, culture, and daily life
- [Journal](https://heritage.krd/journal) — Community-written articles, stories, and research on Kurdish heritage
- [About](https://heritage.krd/about) — Mission and story of Heritage.KRD