All About Kuwait

Kuwait is a small Middle East Country (slightly smaller than New Jersey) that borders the Persian Gulf and lies between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. It has a climate of hot summers and short cool winters. It has four major natural resources which are petroleum, fish, shrimp, and natural gas. Major environment hazards in Kuwait are sudden cloudbursts from October to April that bring heavy rain that is strong enough to damage roads and houses and sandstorms and dust storms which occur mostly between March and August. They are dealing with issues of limited natural fresh water resources with some of the world's largest and most sophisticated desalination facilities providing much of their water as well as air and water pollution and desertification.

The history of Kuwait starts in 1613 when tribe in central Arabia settled the area. The tribe is known as the Bani Khalid Tribe and Kuwait became a major center for spice trading between India and Europe. By the late 18th-century, selling pearls became an important way to make a living and in 1756, the people elected Sabah I bin Jaber as the first emir of Kuwait. The ruling family in Kuwait now are descendents of Sabah I. During his rule, they became a center of trade and commerce. For a long time they also had a strong pearl industry and fleet until it was overtaken by Japan. Later, when the Ottoman Empire gained more influence in the region, Kuwait was given caza (district) status by the Ottomans. At this time Mubarak Al-Sabah was both recognized by the Ottomans and the British as ruler of this area. Britain oversaw foreign relations and defense for Kuwait from 1899 until Kuwait’s independent in 1961. Later, Kuwait’s border with Saudi Arabia was clarified with the 1922 Treaty of Uqair. Oil was discovered in the 1930s and Kuwait gained influence but after the Ottoman Empire fell after World War I, the British Indian Army declared Kuwait and “independent sheikdom under British protectorate.” Finally Kuwait got independence in February 25, 1961. The oil fields in Kuwait caused it to get large investments and in 1952 it became the largest exporter of oil. However, during the 1970s, the Kuwaiti government nationalized the Kuwait Oil Company, ending its partnership with Gulf Oil and British Petroleum. Kuwait was hurt in 1982 by the Souk Al-Manakh stock market crash and a decrease in oil price but quickly rebounded and as their oil production increased to fill the gap caused by the war between Iraq and Iran. In 1990, Kuwait was overrun by Iraq for it’s support of Iran in their war and a US-led UN coalition had to come in and expel Iraq. Kuwait had to spend more than $5 billion to repair it’s oil infrastructure from that attack.

It has a population of 2,596,799 which includes 1,291,354 non-nationals to have a population of 1,305,445 nationals. The median age is 26.1 years with men being an average of 28 years of age and women an average of 22.6 years of age. The majority of the population is (70.6%) is between 15-64 years old, with 26.6% being younger and 2.9% being older. Their population growth rate is 3.59 with a birth rate of 21.9 per thousand people and a death rate of 2.37 of every thousand people. General they have more males than females but the ration is close except for 15 years and older where it’s between 1.67 and 1.78 males to every female. Their life expectancy is 77.53 years and 76.38 for males and 78.73 for females. Their fertility rate is 2.81 per woman. Their nationality is Kuwaiti with that being 45% of the population, Arabs being 35%, South Asians being 9% and Iranians being 4%. The major religion is Muslim (85%: 70% Sunni and 30% Shia) and then 15% other (Christian, Hindu, Parsi). The official language is Arabic although English is widely spoken. They have a 93.% literacy rate and are expected to school for 12 years.

Their government is a constitutional emirate (constitutional monarchy) which has 6 governorates which are divided into districts. Thus the executive branch is hereditary (the emir) or appointed (everyone else). Their constitution was approved and promulgated on November 11th, 1962. The AL-SABAH family has ruled since returning to power in 1991 and reestablished an elected legislature that in recent years has become increasingly assertive. The National Assembly consist of fifty members and is elected every four years. It is able to remove the Emir’s appointed Prime Minister or Cabinet members. Two-thirds of Kuwait do not have citizenship and thus can not vote (citizen must have been so for 20 years to vote) and it was not until 2005 that women and could vote increasing the voting population from the tend 15% of the population though members of the armed services and police still can not vote. There are no political parties as this is illegal. Other major groups that try to influence the government are: Islamists; merchants; political groups; secular liberals and pro-governmental deputies; Shia activists; tribal groups. The Judicial branch has civil law with Islamic law over personal matters. At the age of 18 there is compulsory and voluntary military service and there is an obligation until the age of 40 for 1 month annual training. They spend 5.3% of GDP on their military. Some of the major political issues in Kuwait are Education, Foreign workers, election reform, women’s rights, individual rights (gun-control and cross-dressing), Islamic Law, banking and finance, the Shia minority, Corruption and the Oil industry.

Kuwait is the richest country in the Middle East. Their currency is that Kuwaiti dinars. Oil is about half of their GDP with it making up 95% of export revenue and 80% of governmental income (since they are a tax-free society). It has had budget surpluses for ten years and Kuwait has stated it will use it’s financial assets to help stabilize the global financial crisis if needed. Their GDP is $157.9 billion with a real growth rate of 8.1% and a GDP per capita of $60,800. Their GDP is mostly focused in industry (52.2%) and Services (47.5%) with a little bit in agriculture (.3%). They have a labor force of 2.225 million although non-Kuwaitis are about 80% of it. Their unemployment rate is 2.2% and an inflation rate of 11.7%. They put 18.4% of GDP in investment with a public debt of 7.2% of their GDP. Their major agriculture produce is fish. Their major industries are petroleum, petrochemicals, cement, shipbuilding and repair, water desalination, food processing, and construction materials. Their major export partners are Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, US, Netherlands, and China in that order. They import food, construction materials, vehicles and parts, and clothing. Their major import partners are the US, Japan, Germany, China, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Italy, and the UK.