Kurds in Finland

Kurds in Finland refers to Kurds living in Finland. In 2018 there were 14,054 Kurdish speakers in Finland[1] and the number of ethnic Kurds is probably higher.

Kurds in Finland

Total population
more than 14,000
Regions with significant populations
Uusimaa	7,501 (0.45%)[1]
Southwest Finland	2,545 (0.53%)[1]
Pirkanmaa	798 (0.15%)[1]
Päijät-Häme	748 (0.37%)[1]
Central Finland	424 (0.15%)[1]
Languages
Kurdish
Religion
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Iranian people

History

Kurds started first arriving to Finland in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1995 there were 1,166 Turkish citizens in Finland, out of which around 300-550 were Kurds. A significant portion of the Turkish pizzerias and kebab-restaurants in Finland are established by Kurds.[2]

Some of the Finnish Kurds originate from Turkey and Iran, but most of them have come from Iraq, where they started arriving from in the 1990s as UNHCR quota refugees. Kurds make up the majority of Iraqi immigrants to Finland.[3] After ISIL gained ground against the Peshmerga in Iraqi Kurdistan the Finnish Kurds organized protests against ISIL.[4] According to the chairman of Finnish-Kurdish friendship association several dozens of Finnish Kurds had left to Syria and Iraq in order to fight against ISIL.[5]

Culture

Finnish Kurds speak several different dialects of Kurdish, the largest of which are Sorani and Kurmanji Kurdish. Kurmanji has more speakers worldwide, but Sorani is the most spoken Kurdish dialect in Finland. It is likely that there are more ethnic Kurds than there are those who speak it as a first language. For example, some of the Kurds who originate from Turkey speak Turkish rather than Kurdish. There are several different Kurdish organizations in Finland, many of which have direct or undirect connections to political parties in Iraqi Kurdistan.[3]

Almost all Finnish Kurds are Muslim and in the Iraqi Kurdistan, where the most Finnish Kurds hail from, most Kurds are Sunni Muslim. Kurds are not however usually very active in religious life, since many of them have leftist and secular political background. Different Kurdish organizations in Finland host their own Nowruz celebrations.[3][6]

Organizations

There are several Kurdish organizations in Finland, including Kurdiliitto[7] and Suomalais-Kurdilainen ystävyysseura.[8]

Demographics

Historical population

Year Persons ±% p.a. 1990 179 —     1991 294 +64.25% 1992 570 +93.88% 1993 868 +52.28% 1994 1,147 +32.14% 1995 1,381 +20.40% 1996 1,670 +20.93% 1997 2,099 +25.69% 1998 2,419 +15.25% 1999 2,860 +18.23%	Year Persons ±% p.a. 2000 3,115 +8.92% 2001 3,477 +11.62% 2002 3,926 +12.91% 2003 4,340 +10.55% 2004 4,757 +9.61% 2005 5,123 +7.69% 2006 5,469 +6.75% 2007 5,893 +7.75% 2008 6,455 +9.54% 2009 7,135 +10.53%	Year Persons ±% p.a. 2010 8,032 +12.57% 2011 8,623 +7.36% 2012 9,280 +7.62% 2013 10,075 +8.57% 2014 10,731 +6.51% 2015 11,271 +5.03% 2016 12,226 +8.47% 2017 13,327 +9.01% 2018 14,054 +5.46%
Source: Statistics Finland

Distribution

Regions of Finland	Population (2008)	% of Kurdish-speaking population	Population (2018)	% of Kurdish-speaking population
Uusimaa	3,106	48.1%	7,501	53.4%
Southwest Finland	1,312	20.3%	2,545	18.1%
Pirkanmaa	454	7%	798	5.7%
Päijät-Häme	394	6.1%	748	5.3%
Central Finland	258	4%	424	3%
North Ostrobothnia	120	1.9%	378	2.7%
Ostrobothnia	226	3.5%	311	2.2%
Kymenlaakso	122	1.9%	256	1.8%
Lapland	86	1.3%	185	1.3%
Kanta-Häme	56	0.9%	130	0.9%
North Karelia	10	0.2%	127	0.9%
South Karelia	62	1%	127	0.9%
Satakunta	24	0.4%	114	0.8%
Northern Savonia	21	0.3%	96	0.7%
Kainuu	74	1.1%	76	0.5%
South Ostrobothnia	23	0.4%	73	0.5%
Southern Savonia	16	0.2%	65	0.5%
Åland	70	1.1%	52	0.4%
Central Ostrobothnia	21	0.3%	48	0.3%
Finland	6,455		14,054

Kurds by Municipality in 2018[9]

№	Municipality	Kurds	%
1.	Helsinki	3,537	0.55
2.	Turku	1,913	1.00
3.	Espoo	1,777	0.63
4.	Vantaa	1,433	0.63
5.	Tampere	688	0.29
6.	Lahti	673	0.56
7.	Jyväskylä	379	0.27
8.	Oulu	339	0.17
9.	Salo	243	0.46
10.	Vaasa	224	0.33

Notable Finnish people of Kurdish descent

• Honar Abdi, footballer
• Makwan Amirkhani, martial artist
• Aram Hasanzada, footballer
• Helly Luv, singer, dancer, choreographer, actress and model

References

1. "Kieli iän ja sukupuolen mukaan maakunnittain 1990 - 2017". Tilastokeskus. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
2. "Data" (PDF). jyx.jyu.fi. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
3. Wahlbeck, Östen (2005). "Kurds in Finland". Encyclopedia of Diasporas - Volume II. Springer. pp. 1004–1010. ISBN 0306483211.
4. Hjelt, Yrjö. "Suomen kurdit osoittavat mieltään terroristijärjestö Isisiä vastaan". Yle Uutiset. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
5. Ijäs, Johannes. "Arvio: Jopa kymmeniä lähtenyt Suomesta kurditaistelijoiden riveihin". Kotimaa24. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
6. "404 - Page not found". Ulkoministeriö.
7. ""Suomen kurdit" – Kurdiliitto ry".
8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-07-20. Retrieved 2019-07-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. Statistics Finland