Kuwait
Kuwait has been ruled by the AL-SABAH dynasty since the 18th century. The threat of Ottoman invasion in 1899 prompted Amir Mubarak AL-SABAH to seek protection from Britain, ceding foreign and defense responsibility to Britain until 1961, when the country attained its independence. Kuwait was attacked and overrun by Iraq in August 1990. Following several weeks of aerial bombardment, a US-led UN coalition began a ground assault in February 1991 that liberated Kuwait in four days. In 1992, the Amir reconstituted the parliament that he had dissolved in 1986. Amid the 2010-11 uprisings and protests across the Arab world, stateless Arabs, known as Bidoon, staged small protests in early 2011 demanding citizenship, jobs, and other benefits available to Kuwaiti nationals. Other demographic groups, notably Islamists and Kuwaitis from tribal backgrounds, soon joined the growing protest movements, which culminated in late 2011 with the resignation of the prime minister amidst allegations of corruption. Demonstrations renewed in late 2012 in response to an amiri decree amending the electoral law that lessened the voting power of the tribal blocs. An opposition coalition of Sunni Islamists, tribal populists, and some liberals, largely boycotted legislative elections in 2012 and 2013, which ushered in a legislature more amenable to the government's agenda. Faced with the prospect of painful subsidy cuts, oppositionists and independents actively participated in the November 2016 election, winning nearly half of the seats but a cohesive opposition alliance largely ceased to exist with the 2016 election and the opposition became increasingly factionalized. Since coming to power in 2006, the Amir has dissolved the National Assembly on seven occasions (the Constitutional Court annulled the Assembly elections in June 2012 and again in June 2013) and shuffled the cabinet over a dozen times, usually citing political stagnation and gridlock between the legislature and the government.

geography

location

29.30° N, 45. 45° E
Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iraq and Saudi Arabia

area

17,818 sq km
land
17,818 sq km
water
0 sq km

land boundaries

475 km

coastline

499 km

climate

dry desert; intensely hot summers; short, cool winters

terrain

flat to slightly undulating desert plain

elevation

108 m
lowest point
Persian Gulf
0 m

natural resources

  • petroleum
  • fish
  • shrimp
  • natural gas

land use

arable land
0.6 %
permanent crops
0.3 %
permanent pasture
7.6 %
forest
0.4 %
other
91.1 %

population distribution

densest settlement is along the Persian Gulf, particularly in Kuwait City and on Bubiyan Island; significant population threads extend south and west along highways that radiate from the capital, particularly in the southern half of the country

people

population

  • 2,993,706
  • 138
    global rank

nationality

  • Kuwaiti(s)
    noun
  • Kuwaiti
    adjective

ethnic groups

Kuwaiti
30.4 %
other Arab
27.4 %
Asian
40.3 %
African
1 %
other .9%
%

languages

  • Arabic
    official
  • English

religions

Muslim
74.6 %
Christian
18.2 %
other and unspecified
7.2 %

birth rate

  • 18
    per 1,000 population
  • 90
    global rank

death rate

  • 2.3
    per 1,000 population
  • 227
    global rank

urban population

100 %

major urban areas

  • Kuwait
    pop. 3,115,000

life expectancy

  • 78.6
    total population
  • 65
    global rank
77.2
male
80.2
female

adult obesity rate

  • 37.9%
    percent of adults
  • 11
    global rank

government

country name

    conventional

  • State of Kuwait
    long form
  • Kuwait
    short form

    local

  • Dawlat al Kuwayt
    long form
  • Al Kuwayt
    short form

government type

constitutional monarchy (emirate)

capital

Kuwait City
29.22 N, 47.58 E

independence

national holidays

  • National Day
    25 February

legal system

mixed legal system consisting of English common law, French civil law, and Islamic sharia law

age of suffrage

21

flag description

three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and red with a black trapezoid based on the hoist side; colors and design are based on the Arab Revolt flag of World War I; green represents fertile fields, white stands for purity, red denotes blood on Kuwaiti swords, black signifies the defeat of the enemy

national colors

  • green
  • white
  • red
  • black

national anthem

"Al-Nasheed Al-Watani" (National Anthem)

economy

overview

Kuwait has a geographically small, but wealthy, relatively open economy with crude oil reserves of about 102 billion barrels - more than 6% of world reserves. Kuwaiti officials plan to increase production to 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2020. Petroleum accounts for over half of GDP, 92% of export revenues, and 90% of government income. With world oil prices declining, Kuwait realized a budget deficit in 2015 for the first time more than a decade; in 2016, the deficit grew to 16.5% of GDP. Kuwaiti authorities announced cuts to fuel subsidies in August 2016, provoking outrage among the public and National Assembly, and the Amir dissolved the government for the seventh time in ten years. In 2017 the deficit was reduced to 7.2% of GDP, and the government raised $8 billion by issuing international bonds. Despite Kuwait’s dependence on oil, the government has cushioned itself against the impact of lower oil prices, by saving annually at least 10% of government revenue in the Fund for Future Generations. Kuwait has failed to diversify its economy or bolster the private sector, because of a poor business climate, a large public sector that employs about 74% of citizens, and an acrimonious relationship between the National Assembly and the executive branch that has stymied most economic reforms. The Kuwaiti Government has made little progress on its long-term economic development plan first passed in 2010. While the government planned to spend up to $104 billion over four years to diversify the economy, attract more investment, and boost private sector participation in the economy, many of the projects did not materialize because of an uncertain political situation or delays in awarding contracts. To increase non-oil revenues, the Kuwaiti Government in August 2017 approved draft bills supporting a Gulf Cooperation Council-wide value added tax scheduled to take effect in 2018.

GDP

289,700,000,000 USD
2017

agriculture products

  • fish

budget

  • 50,500,000,000
    revenue (USD)
  • 62,600,000,000
    expenditures (USD)

communications

telephones

    fixed lines

  • 515,542
    total subscriptions
  • 95
    global rank

    mobile cellular

  • 7,099,848
    total subscriptions
  • 106
    global rank

broadcast media

state-owned TV broadcaster operates 4 networks and a satellite channel; several private TV broadcasters have emerged; satellite TV available and pan-Arab TV stations are especially popular; state-owned Radio Kuwait broadcasts on a number of channels in Arabic and English; first private radio station emerged in 2005; transmissions of at least 2 international radio broadcasters are available (2019)

internet

.kw
country code

    users

  • 2,904,801
    total
  • 99.6
    % of population
  • 99
    global rank

energy

electricity access

100%
2016

transportation

air transport

    national system

  • 3
    registered air carriers
  • 3,655,366
    annual passenger traffic

    airports

  • 7
    total
  • 4
    paved

roadways

5,749 km
total length

military

expenditures

expenditures here

service age

17