▁political ▁refuge es ▁and ▁imm igr ants ▁seeking ▁economic ▁opportunity . ▁According ▁to ▁a ▁ 2 0 1 1 ▁Statistics ▁Canada ▁household ▁survey , ▁there ▁were ▁ 1 1 , 6 8 5 ▁people ▁of ▁Kur d ish ▁eth nic ▁background ▁living ▁in ▁Canada , ▁and ▁according ▁to ▁the ▁ 2 0 1 1 ▁Census , ▁more ▁than ▁ 1 0 , 0 0 0 ▁Canad ians ▁spoke ▁Kur d ish ▁language . ▁In ▁the ▁United ▁States , ▁Kur d ish ▁imm igr ants ▁started ▁to ▁sett le ▁in ▁large ▁numbers ▁in ▁Nash ville ▁in ▁ 1 9 7 6 , ▁which ▁is ▁now ▁home ▁to ▁the ▁largest ▁Kur d ish ▁community ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁and ▁is ▁nick named ▁Little ▁Kur dist an . ▁Kur d ish ▁population ▁in ▁Nash ville ▁is ▁estimated ▁to ▁be ▁around ▁ 1 1 , 0 0 0 . ▁Total ▁number ▁of ▁eth nic ▁Kur ds ▁res iding ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁is ▁estimated ▁by ▁the ▁US ▁Census ▁Bureau ▁to ▁be ▁around ▁ 1 5 , 0 0 0 . ▁ ▁The ▁Japanese ▁government ▁has ▁not ▁granted ▁refuge e ▁status ▁to ▁any ▁of ▁the ▁Kur ds ▁in ▁Japan ▁who ▁usually ▁file ▁it ▁cit ing ▁human ▁rights ▁issues ▁and ▁per sec ution ▁in ▁Turkey ▁and ▁resulted ▁in ▁them ▁living ▁in ▁dest itution , ▁with ▁no ▁education ▁and ▁having ▁no ▁legal ▁res iden cy ▁status . ▁ ▁A ▁cl ash ▁took ▁place ▁outside ▁the ▁Turkish ▁emb ass y ▁in ▁Tokyo ▁in ▁October ▁ 2 0 1 5 ▁between ▁Kur