The COVID-19 Pandemic in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Kurdistan Region of Iraq is an autonomous region in Northern Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, and Syria to the west, along with the rest of Iraq to the south. The regional capital is Erbil. The region is officially governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) [1] .The region has four governorates, Duhok, Erbil, Sulymaniah, and Halabja as illustrated in Figure 1. With a population of 5.2 million and increasing, the region covers approximately 40,000 square kilometers. The majority of the region’s population are Kurds. In addition to that, Assyrians, Turkmen, Arabs, Armenians, Yezidis, Shabaks and Mandeans live in the region [1]. The establishment of the Kurdistan region dates back to 1970. In March 1970 an autonomy agreement was signed with Baghdad that declared autonomy for the region. Despite of the agreement, disputes remain between the central Iraqi government and the Kurdish government about predominantly Kurdish territories outside the current borders of Iraqi Kurdistan. According to that last census, 35% of the population are under the age of 15, 60% are in the active age group (16-64), and 4% are 65 and older with an estimated population growth rate of 2.54% [1].