Cultural traits can be associated with national identity. For instance, the population of Italy is mostly homogeneous (this means it is mostly the same) when it comes to language and religion. Almost the entire population of Italy speaks Italian and around 90 percent of the people in Italy identify themselves as Roman Catholics.

Sometimes cultural traits are not associated with national identity. A good example is that of the Kurdish people. There are an estimated 26 million Kurds. Most speak Kurdish and the majority of them are of the Sunni Muslim religion. The Kurds are a distinct cultural group with their own traditions. The area in which most Kurds live is a physical region that is often referred to as the Kurdish mountains. This area stretches into several countries. Look at Figure 8.2.3. The light-colored area is the area inhabited by Kurds. Now find the country borders in the area. Do you see that portions of the area are within the borders of Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria?