Southern Kurdish (; ), also called Pehlewani (; ) or Pahlawanik, is a Kurdish dialect predominantly spoken in western Iran and eastern Iraq. In Iran, it is spoken in the provinces of Kermanshah (Kirmasan) and Ilam. In Iraq it is spoken in the region of Khanaqin (Xaneqîn), all the way to Mandali, Pehle. It has more than one million speakers in the city of Baghdad. It is also the dialect of the populous Kurdish Kakayî-Kakavand tribe near Kerkuk and most Yarsani kurds in Kermanshah province. There are also populous diasporas of Pehlewani-speakers found in the Alburz mountains.