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KCO · Europe

Kurds in Germany

Germany holds the largest Kurdish diaspora community (Institut kurde de Paris estimate, 2016). Many Kurds came from 1961 as guest workers from Türkiye and were counted as Turkish. Political refugees followed the 1980 coup, war refugees the 1990s, and Iraqi and Iranian Kurds came too. Syrian Kurds and Yazidi survivors arrived from 2011 and 2014. Alevi and Yazidi communities are strong. Some associations have been banned by the federal authorities under the law on associations (Vereinsgesetz).

JoinCities

At a glance

01The programme

This programme brings together Kurds living in Germany, city by city. Its charter form is a Diaspora Chapter, fitted to local law and to the risks members face.

Forming Diaspora Chapter: not yet chartered.

02Cities

The map needs JavaScript. The places it shows are listed beside it.

Layers

Places on this map (8)

Map: OpenFreeMap, OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Boundaries: Natural Earth. Places: the platform’s own pages.

  • Berlin

    Berlin

    Large Kurdish community; cultural centres and media

  • Bremen

    Bremen

    Large Kurdish community, including Mhallami

  • Hamburg

    Hamburg

    Labour and refugee communities

  • Hesse

    Frankfurt

    Labour migrants and refugees

  • Lower Saxony

    Hanover

    Yazidi and Kurdish communities

  • North Rhine-Westphalia

    Cologne

    Labour migrants and their families since the 1960s

  • North Rhine-Westphalia

    Düsseldorf

    Labour migrants and refugees

  • North Rhine-Westphalia

    Bielefeld

    Yazidi community

Subdivisions of Germany

Each first-level subdivision has a local page. It gathers official services, learning, safety and civic life.

The list follows UN sources first: OCHA COD-AB, then UN SALB, then ISO 3166-2. It takes no position on any status or boundary.

Subdivisions in the profile

03How statistics see the community

Kurds are counted only by nationality or country of birth: Türkiye, Iraq, Iran or Syria.

Counts of Kurds differ by what they measure: birthplace, citizenship, language or self-identification. Each figure names its measure, year and source, and none are summed.

Institute estimate (range), 2016Every figure keeps its measure, year, source and label. Unknown is shown as unknown.
  1. Germany850,000 to 950,000
  2. France230,000 to 250,000
  3. Netherlands100,000 to 120,000
  4. Sweden85,000 to 100,000
  5. Switzerland85,000 to 95,000
  6. Austria80,000 to 95,000
  7. United Kingdom70,000 to 90,000
  8. Belgium70,000 to 85,000
  9. Greece40,000 to 50,000
  10. Denmark25,000 to 30,000
  11. Italy25,000 to 30,000
  12. Norway25,000 to 30,000
  13. Finland15,000 to 18,000

Sources Institut kurde de Paris, The Kurdish diaspora (Dec 2016 table of ranges) Secondary source

Show as a table
CountryFigure
Germany850,000 to 950,000
France230,000 to 250,000
Netherlands100,000 to 120,000
Sweden85,000 to 100,000
Switzerland85,000 to 95,000
Austria80,000 to 95,000
United Kingdom70,000 to 90,000
Belgium70,000 to 85,000
Greece40,000 to 50,000
Denmark25,000 to 30,000
Italy25,000 to 30,000
Norway25,000 to 30,000
Finland15,000 to 18,000

The Germany profile

04Areas

  • Academy

    Every field of knowledge, courses in all Kurdish varieties, and communities of practice.

  • Heritage

    History from the Zagros to today, memory, faiths, arts, literature and food.

  • Language

    Kurmanji, Sorani, Zazaki, Southern Kurdish and Gorani, in every script.

  • Research

    Kurdish studies: the observatory, reading lists and new research.

  • Opportunities

    Livelihoods, skills, jobs, mentoring and diaspora-to-region bridges.

  • Civic

    Civic education, rights literacy, statelessness help and dialogue.

  • Development

    Social programmes, livelihoods and disaster preparedness for Kurdish communities.

  • News and events

    Kurdish and regional news with every outlet labelled, and the calendar of Kurdish days.

05Learn in the Academy

Courses and disciplines of the Academy on the subject of this page.

Courses

Disciplines

A completion record shows what was studied and assessed. It is not a certificate or a qualification.

All disciplines

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