The Kurds in the north do not view themselves as Arabs and have their own distinct history and traditions. Then there are two Arab societies: the Shiites in the South and the Sunnis who populate the middle of the country and who rule Iraq. Among the southern Sunnis is another distinct society of 500,000”Marsh Arabs” who live at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers,pursuing a way of life that dates back 5,000 years