Although the population is not exclusively Kurdish in much of this area, the dominant culture is Kurdish. From the early thirteenth century onwards much of this area has been called Kurdistan, although it was not until the sixteenth century, after the Kurds had moved north and west onto the Anatolian plateau, that the term Kurdistan came into common usage to denote a system of Kurdish fiefs. Since then, although the term Kurdistan appears on few maps, it is clearly more than a geographical term since it also refers to a human culture which exists in that land. Nevertheless no map of Kurdistan can be drawn without contention, and for this reason the demographic map is not a political statement, but a statement of where large numbers of Kurds are found. Turkey for all practical purposes denies Kurdistan's existence, while Iran and Iraq are reluctant to acknowledge that it is as extensive as many Kurds would have them accept.
All Kurdish communities are stock-breeders mainly of sheep, goats and some cattle.
In all parts of Kurdistan the cultivation of cereals is important, accounting for roughly 15 per cent of the total crop in Turkey, and 35 per cent and 30 per cent respectively in Iran and Iraq. The principal cash crop of the Kurdish foothills is tobacco, but it is of moderate quality and cannot compete in outside markets. Cotton is also grown, particularly in Anatolia. In the mountains, fruit and vegetables are the main crops for local consumption. No more than a third of Kurdistan's arable land is actually cultivated, of which one third is always fallow.