Occupations

The Iraqi Kurds are predominantly peasants, raising wheat and barley for subsistence. In some areas, rice is grown, but the principal cash crop is tobacco. Kurdish farmers raise chickens, and flocks of sheep and goats provide meat and wool.

In earlier times, many Kurds were nomads, moving their flocks from winter pastures to summer pastures unhindered by national borders. With the establishment of national boundaries after World War I, seasonal migration became restricted by the various governments, and the nomad Kurds have since then focused more on crop raising. Today, most Kurds live in villages and towns, and movement of flocks is restricted to the nearby mountains.

When oil was discovered in the Kurdish region of Iraq, many Kurds were drawn to the oil industry and relocated in the towns and cities close to the oil fields. Kurds form the uneducated labor force in many towns and cities in Turkey, Iraq, and Iran, and some have become skilled bricklayers, butchers, cattle dealers, and small traders.

Kurds have traditionally been excellent horsemen, especially in the northern and eastern areas, and have a great deal of knowledge about horse breeding. Naturally, the automobile and truck have replaced the horse in areas that permit road-building, and in remote areas donkeys are more economical carriers of men and goods than horses. Even so, horsemanship is a valued Kurdish accomplishment.

Many Kurdish men are career soldiers. In Iraq, they serve in the Iraqi army, their loyalty to it depending on whether they were conscripted, and whether their local leaders are allied with the army. A good number of Kurdish men are peshmergas, literally "those who face death," that is, soldiers in the service of one or the other of the Kurdish tribes, tribal alliances, or political parties. Traditionally, a peshmerga fought in the service of his tribal chief and was supported by the chief in return. In modern times, peshmergas constitute the armed force of, and are paid by, one of the political parties.

Kurds have always displayed particular prowess in fighting, especially in what is now called guerrilla warfare. On the plains, Kurds have been at the mercy of armies that are better-equipped than they, but in the mountains they have always been able to hold their own.

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