Kurdish language

Northwestern Iranian dialect continuum KurdishKurdî, کوردیNative toArmenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, TurkeyRegionKurdistan; Also Anatolia, Caucasus, Khorasan, Kurdish diasporaEthnicityKurdsNative speakers29 million (2017–2024)Language familyIndo-European Indo-IranianIranianWesternNorthwesternKurdishDialects Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) Central Kurdish (Sorani) Southern Kurdish (Xwarîn, Palewani) Laki Writing system Hawar alphabet (Latin script; used mostly in Turkey and Syria) Sorani alphabet (Perso-Arabic script; used mostly in Iraq and Iran) Cyrillic alphabet (former Soviet Union) Armenian alphabet (1921–29 in Soviet Armenia) Official statusOfficial language in Iraq Kurdistan Region Recognised minoritylanguage inArmenia SyriaLanguage codesISO 639-1kuISO 639-2kurISO 639-3kur – inclusive codeIndividual codes:kmr – Northern Kurdishckb – Central Kurdishsdh – Southern Kurdishlki – Laki KurdishGlottologkurd1259Linguasphere(North Kurdish incl. Kurmanji & Kurmanjiki) + 58-AAA-b (Central Kurdish incl. Dimli/Zaza & Gurani) + 58-AAA-c (South Kurdish incl. Kurdi) 58-AAA-a (North Kurdish incl. Kurmanji & Kurmanjiki) + 58-AAA-b (Central Kurdish incl. Dimli/Zaza & Gura