Country or Region?

Iraqi Kurdistan flag

I started my exploration in the town of Dohuk soon after the afternoon rain by wandering around the busy markets. Two Kurdish brothers approached me and they offered to walk with me, by the way showing me around the city. We walked past a pretty run-down fountain park where some people always drink and get drunk, to the amusement park, passing the dam and eventually walked uphill to a vantage point where I can see the entire lake, before ending up the day in the pet shops. Yes, the pet shops full with birds. They like birds.

Dohuk's covered souq. Do you see the rubbish bin in the middle?

Dohuk('s backyard)

They were originated from Mosul but had decided to move here due to the racial animosity between Arabic and Kurdish there. Omer, the elder brother, told me he lost all his Arab school mates and neighbors. He tried to contact them but in vain. The city of Mosul is currently under control by Arab Iraq. Only the outskirt of Mosul is controlled by the Kurdish Regional Government. With the background as a translator for the US army and the ability to speak a good American-accent English, Omer told me how he was bribed to snap some photos at some sensitive region in exchange of a rank in the army; how the US aid in civil projects were hindered by local hatred; how the Kurdish people manage to live in the attempt of Arabization and how racism separates the country.

While hearing such an amount of stories in my first day of visit here which further arose my curiosity to learn more about the land and the people standing in front of me, I found myself little confused(if not shamefully ignorant) as what is the correct way to call the land I’m currently standing and its people as well as the whole idea of it.

Shall I call it a country? Or a region? How about Iraq? Kurdistan? Or Iraqi Kurdistan? What I know is being virtually independent from Baghdad since 1990s, Iraqi Kurdistan has been working as an autonomous region in Iraq. It has its own government, which is Kurdish Regional Government(KRG) headed by its own leader – President Massoud Barzani.

I think I need to make some study to make everything connected.