West Kurdistan Autonomous Region

The West Kurdistan Autonomous Region (Kurdish: Herêma Xweser a Rojavayê Kurdistanê; Arabic: المنطقة المستقلة لكردستان الغرب al-minṭaqah al-mustaqalah li-kurdistān al-gharb), informally known as Rojava (literally "the West" in Kurdish) or less commonly West Kurdistan (Kurdish: Rojavayê Kurdistanê; Arabic: كردستان الغرب kurdistān al-gharb), is an autonomous region of the Syrian Arab Republic located in the north of the republic. It consists of the governorates of Hasakah, Raqqa and Jarabulus, which together voted on 1 August 2000 to form the autonomous region as per the provisions of the 1999 constitution of the Union of Arab Republics (Arab Union). Its capital is Ain Issa and its largest city is Raqqa.

West Kurdistan is the only autonomous region in Syria, and one of 23 in the Arab Union as a whole. It is one of two Kurdish-based autonomous regions in the Arab Union, the other being the East Kurdistan Autonomous Region in the Iraqi Arab Republic; the two autonomous regions border one another and maintain very close cultural, administrative and economic relations, including multiple shared institutions such as the Kurdish Language Standardisation Council funded by both Kurdish governments.