The Kurdistan Independence referendum of January 2005 that was conducted by the Kurdistan Referendum Movement alongside the Iraqi parliamentary elections and Iraqi Kurdistan elections

Iraqi Kurdistan legislative election, 2005

The Iraqi Kurdistan legislative elections of 2005 for the parliament of the Kurdistan Region, were held on 30 January 2005, to coincide with the Iraqi parliamentary election, January 2005 and elections to the provincial councils...

 of 2005, was an informal referendum asking the people of Iraqi Kurdistan

Iraqi Kurdistan

Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region of Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south. The regional capital is Arbil, known in Kurdish as Hewlêr...

 whether they favor remaining a part of Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 or in favor of an independent Kurdistan. The result was an overwhelming majority of 98.8% favoring an independent Kurdistan.

Results

Area:	Independence		Stay in Iraq			Total
Kerkuk:	131,274		181			131,582
Nineveh Ninawa Governorate Ninawa is a governorate in northern Iraq, and the Arabic name for the biblical city of Nineveh in Assyria. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people in 2003. Its chief city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of ancient... :	165,780		111			165,891
Diyala:	35,786		627			36,413
Silemani:	650,000		5,796			656,496
Hewler:	622,409		11,289			636,898
Dahuk:	368,163		2,247			370,781
Total:	1,973,412		20,251			1,998,061
Percentage:	98.88%		1.12%			100%