Sonqor County (Persian: شهرستان سنقر) is in Kermanshah province, Iran. Its capital is the city of Sonqor.[3]
In 2021, Bavaleh and Gavrud Rural Districts were separated from the Central District in the establishment of Bavaleh District.[4]
Sonqor county is made up of two distinct population elements.[5] The city of Sonqor and the villages of Qalʿa-ye Farhād Khan and Qorva are predominantly populated by Turkics, whose ancestors reportedly arrived during the Mongol domination of Iran.[5][6] The Turkic people of Sonqor originally speak the Sonqori dialect.[6] The dialects of Sonqori spoken in Qalʿa-ye Farhād Khan and Qorva differ barely from this main dialect.[6]
The other areas within Sonqor County are predominantly populated by Kurds most of whom have originally been agriculturalists.[5] The chiefs of the Kurds of Sonqor County belonged to the Kulya'i tribe.[5] These Kurdish feudal lords (khans) were in control of the Kurdish-populated parts of the county until early 20th century Qajar Iran, and were reportedly scions (in the eighth generation) of a certain Safi Khan who lived in the later Safavid period.[5] In 1786, the district was ceded to Ardalan as a gift from Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar.[7] In 1798, Ali Hemmat Khan and his brother Baba Khan of the Nanakali tribe were executed by Iranian ruler Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (r. 1797-1834) as they had supported Soleyman Khan, the pretender to the Iranian throne.[5] The Kulya'i Kurds of the Sonqor District speak a Kurdish dialect that resembles the dialect of Kermanshah, and, according to the second edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam are thought to be affiliated to the Ahl-e Haqq syncretic religion.[5] At least 177 villages in the county speak the Kulya'i dialect, 112 of these are in the Kolyai District.[8]
At the time of the 2006 National Census, the county's population was 95,904 in 23,755 households.[9] The following census in 2011 counted 91,935 people in 26,201 households.[10] The 2016 census measured the population of the county as 81,661 in 25,554 households.[2] The majority of the people in this county are Kurds and Turkics.[5]
Sonqor County's population history and administrative structure over three consecutive censuses are shown in the following table.
Media related to Sonqor County at Wikimedia Commons