A vintage Persian kurd rug from the mid-20th century. The kurds are a distinct ethnic group, speaking their own ancient language, kurdish, and are presently distributed across areas of northwest Iran, northeast iraq, syria, eastern turkey and armenia. In some areas they constitute the majority or totality of the population, while in others they form significant minorities. The kurds have been in the region since recorded history began. They are the medes of the greek historian herodotus in the fifth century bc and were one of the satrapal (vassal) peoples of the achaemenian empire. They were promised their own state in the treaty of versailles, but have never been united into a single sovereign geopolitical entity.