The Kurdish language is dialectally diverse. The term Kurdish actually refers to two separate, but related, variants: Kurmanji (Northern Kurdish) and Kurdi
(Southern Kurdish). Kurdi (also called Sorani) is spoken by an estimated 3 million people in Iraq, and another 3 million people in Iran. Kurmanji (which is sometimes called Kurmanci) is mainly limited to the 4 million speakers in Northern Iraq and Turkey. Kurdi and Kurmanji are held to be separate languages; although the lexicon of the two languages is highly similar, grammatically the two show considerable differences and are not always mutual intelligible. With a spotty record of acceptance by the current Iranian government, a literary body has been slow to develop. Kurdish, however, has official regional status in Iraqi Kurdistan and is the primary language of school instruction. Kurdish was banned in Turkey in 1938 and did not become legal again until 1991.