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Geography |
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Capital |
Kuwait City. |
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Area |
17,820 sq. km. (6,880 sq. mi.); approximately the size of the State
of New Jersey. |
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Terrain |
Almost entirely flat desert plain (highest elevation
point--306 m). |
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Climate |
Summers are intensely hot and dry with average highs ranging from
42o-49oC (108o-120oF); winters are short (Dec.-Feb.) and cool,
averaging 10o-30oC (50o-80oF), with limited rain. |
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People |
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Nationality |
Noun and adjective--Kuwaiti(s). |
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Population |
(Dec. 2006 est.): 3,182,960, including approximately 1 million
Kuwaiti citizens and 2 million non-Kuwaiti citizens. |
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Groups |
Kuwaiti 35%, other Arab 22%, non-Arab (primarily Asian) 39%,
stateless Arabs (bidoon) 4%. |
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Religions |
Muslim estimated 80% (Sunni 70%, Shi'a 30% among
Kuwaitis), with sizable Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, and Sikh
communities. |
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Languages |
Arabic (official), English is widely spoken. |
Over 90% of the population lives within a 500-square kilometer area
surrounding Kuwait City and its harbor. Although the majority of
people residing in the State of Kuwait are of Arab origin, fewer
than half are originally from the Arabian Peninsula. The discovery
of oil in 1938 drew many Arabs from nearby states. Following the
liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991, the Kuwaiti
Government undertook a serious effort to reduce the expatriate
population by specifically limiting the entry of workers from
nations whose leaders had supported Iraq during the Gulf War. Kuwait
later abandoned this policy, and it currently has a sizable foreign
labor force (approximately 68% of the total population is
non-Kuwaiti).
Of the country's total population of 3.4 million, approximately 85%
are Muslims, including nearly all of its 1.05 million citizens.
While the national census does not distinguish between Sunni and
Shi'a adherents, approximately 70-75% of citizens, including the
ruling family, belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. The remaining
Kuwaiti citizens, with the exception of about 100-200 Christians and
a few Baha'is, are Shi'a. The expatriate Christian population is
estimated to be more than 400,000 residents. There also are
communities of Hindus, Buddhists, and Sikhs.
Kuwait's 93.3% literacy rate, one of the Arab world's highest, is
the result of extensive government support for the education system.
Public school education, including Kuwait University, is free, but
access is restricted for foreign residents. The government sponsors
the foreign study of qualified students abroad for degrees not
offered at Kuwait University. In 2004, approximately 1,720 Kuwaitis
were enrolled in U.S. universities, down 6.8% from the previous
year. |
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Government &
History |
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Official Name |
State of Kuwait |
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Government |
Constitutional hereditary emirate. |
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Independence |
June 19, 1961 (from U.K.). |
Archaeological finds on Failaka, the largest of Kuwait's nine
islands, suggest that Failaka was a trading post at the time of the
ancient Sumerians. Failaka appears to have continued to serve as a
market for approximately 2,000 years, and was known to the ancient
Greeks. Despite its long history as a market and sanctuary for
traders, Failaka appears to have been abandoned as a permanent
settlement in the 1st century A.D. Kuwait's modern history began in
the 18th century with the founding of the city of Kuwait by the
Uteiba, a subsection of the Anaiza tribe, who are believed to have
traveled north from Qatar.
Threatened in the 19th century by the Ottoman Turks and various
powerful Arabian Peninsula groups, Kuwait sought the same treaty
relationship Britain had already signed with the Trucial States
(UAE) and Bahrain. In January 1899, the ruler Sheikh Mubarak Al
Sabah--"the Great"--signed an agreement with the British Government
that pledged himself and his successors neither to cede any
territory, nor to receive agents or representatives of any foreign
power without the British Government's consent, in exchange for
protection and an annual subsidy. When Mubarak died in 1915, the
population of Kuwait of about 35,000 was heavily dependent on
shipbuilding (using wood imported from India) and pearl diving.
Mubarak was succeeded as ruler by his sons Jabir (1915-17) and Salim
(1917-21). Kuwait's subsequent rulers have descended from these two
brothers. Sheikh Ahmed al-Jabir Al Sabah ruled Kuwait from 1921
until his death in 1950, a period in which oil was discovered and in
which the government attempted to establish the first
internationally recognized boundaries; the 1922 Treaty of Uqair set
Kuwait's border with Saudi Arabia and also established the
Kuwait-Saudi Arabia Neutral Zone, an area of about 5,180 sq. km.
(2,000 sq. mi.) adjoining Kuwait's southern border.
Kuwait achieved independence from the British under Sheikh Ahmed's
successor, Sheikh Abdullah al-Salim Al Sabah. By early 1961, the
British had already withdrawn their special court system, which
handled the cases of foreigners resident in Kuwait, and the Kuwaiti
Government began to exercise legal jurisdiction under new laws drawn
up by an Egyptian jurist. On June 19, 1961, Kuwait became fully
independent following an exchange of notes with the United Kingdom.
Kuwait enjoyed an unprecedented period of prosperity under Amir
Sabah al-Salim Al Sabah, who died in 1977 after ruling for 12 years.
Under his rule, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement dividing
the Neutral Zone (now called the Divided Zone) and demarcating a new
international boundary. Both countries share equally the Divided
Zone's petroleum, onshore and offshore. The country was transformed
into a highly developed welfare state with a free market economy.
In August 1990, Iraq attacked and invaded Kuwait. Kuwait's northern
border with Iraq dates from an agreement reached with Turkey in
1913. Iraq accepted this claim in 1932 upon its independence from
Turkey. However, following Kuwait's independence in 1961, Iraq
claimed Kuwait, arguing that Kuwait had been part of the Ottoman
Empire subject to Iraqi suzerainty. In 1963, Iraq reaffirmed its
acceptance of Kuwaiti sovereignty and the boundary it agreed to in
1913 and 1932, in the "Agreed Minutes between the State of Kuwait
and the Republic of Iraq Regarding the Restoration of Friendly
Relations, Recognition, and Related Matters."
Following several weeks of aerial bombardment, a UN-mandated
coalition led by the United States began a ground assault in
February 1991 that liberated Kuwait. During the 7-month occupation
by Iraq, the Amir, the Government of Kuwait, and many Kuwaitis took
refuge in Saudi Arabia and other nations. The Amir and the
government successfully managed Kuwaiti affairs from Saudi Arabia,
London, and elsewhere during the period, relying on substantial
Kuwaiti investments available outside Kuwait for funding and
war-related expenses.
Following liberation, the UN, under Security Council Resolution 687,
demarcated the Iraq-Kuwait boundary on the basis of the 1932 and the
1963 agreements between the two states. In November 1994, Iraq
formally accepted the UN-demarcated border with Kuwait, which had
been further spelled out in UN Security Council Resolutions 773 and
883. |
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