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Kuwait
Area: 17,818 sq km
Population: 2.31 million (est. Results of 2005 census awaited)
Capital City: Kuwait City
People: Kuwaitis (approx 50% of population), Egyptians, Syrians, Iranians, Palestinians, Asians (Indians, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Filipinos, Afghani, Chinese), Americans and Europeans
Language(s): Arabic; English (the official second language)
Religion(s): The overwhelming majority of Kuwaitis are Muslim - it is an Islamic society. There are Christian churches in Kuwait. The practice of other religions is restricted.
Currency: Kuwaiti Dinar (KD. 1KD = approx £2)
Major political parties: None Parties are illegal.
Government: Constitutional Monarchy
Head of State: His Highness the Amir, Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jabir Al Sabah
Heir Apparent: His Highness the Crown Prince, Sheikh Nawwaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
Prime Minister: Sheikh Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
Foreign Minister: His Excellency Shaikh Dr Mohammed Sabah Al Salim Al Sabah
Membership of international organisations: Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC); Organisation of the Islamic Council (OIC); Arab League; United Nations
GEOGRAPHY
Kuwait is roughly the size of Wales, and almost entirely flat and arid. Kuwait is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the South, Iraq to the north and west, and the Arabian Gulf coast to the east. At their nearest points, the Kuwaiti and Iranian frontiers are only some 15 km's apart.
HISTORY
The Al Sabah family has ruled Kuwait since 1756 and the current Amir, His Highness Shaikh Jabir is the thirteenth ruler. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries the Al Sabah were able to maintain Kuwait's independence from more powerful Ottoman and Saudi neighbours. In 1899 Shaikh Mubarak Al Sabah ('Mubarak the Great') entered into 'The Special Treaty of Friendship' with Great Britain. This assured Kuwait's security and her independence in internal affairs.
Kuwait's borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia were established in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1961, The 'Special Treaty of Friendship' ended when Kuwait assumed full independence. The Kuwaiti Constitution was issued in 1962. It vests legislative authority in the National Assembly, which was first elected in 1963.
Kuwait was invaded by Iraq in August 1990 and occupied for seven months until its liberation in February 1991 by an international military coalition in 'Operation Desert Storm'. Since that time Kuwait has had to recover from the economic, environmental and psychological damage caused by the occupation. In 2003 it was the launchpad for the invasion of Iraq.
POLITICS
The former Amir of Kuwait, His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah, died on 15 January 2006. His successor is the former Prime Minister, His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. HH the Amir appointed Sheikh Nawwaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as the Crown Prince and Sheikh Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as Prime Minister.
The last National Assembly elections were held in June 2006. Members of the armed forces are not allowed to vote. The Assembly is currently made up of 50 independent members drawn from 25 two-member constituencies. However, the National Assembly have voted in favour of reducing the number of constituencies to 5 at the 2011 elections. The new law permits each constituency to return 10 MPs. Political parties are not permitted. But a number of loose political blocs have developed in recent years including of Islamists and liberals.
Elections
There has been an active campaign to grant women the right to vote. The Amir issued a decree in May 1999 extending the franchise to Kuwaiti women. This was narrowly rejected by the National Assembly. On 16 May 2005, following full debates on the issue, the Kuwait National Assembly voted in favour of giving women the right to vote and stand for election. On 5 June 2005 the government named two women on the Municipal Council and on 12 June the government made an historic step by appointing Dr Massouma Al-Mubarak as the Minister for Planning and the Minister for Administrative Development. Dr Al-Mubarak is the first female minister and was sworn into office on 20 June 2005. The municipal elections in April 2006 gave women their first opportunity to vote.
In May 2000 the Government introduced legislation to attempt to resolve the issue of the Bidoon (stateless Arabs resident in Kuwait). This included provision to annually extend citizenship to up to 2,000 Bidoon, who met certain citizenship criteria. The Bidoon also featured on the Prime Minister's ten-point action plan presented following the elections of July 2003.
ECONOMY
Kuwait is a rich country, with a high per capita income (\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$29,940 in 2004), sitting on 9% of world oil reserves. It has bounced back economically from the huge losses caused by the Iraqi invasion and the costs of its contribution to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and remains a generous aid donor. Kuwait earned around US\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$10 billion from oil revenues in the 2002/2003 financial year. Foreign reserves and investment income are substantial. The Kuwait stock market has performed well in the last two years. Kuwait is actively promoting itself as a base for foreign investors in Iraq, although with limited success so far. The Government is also looking at wider economic reform, including moving some of the 95% of Kuwaitis who work in the state sector to the private sector.
Basic Economic Facts
GDP: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$68.4 bn (2005 estimate)
GDP per head: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$24,940
Annual GDP Growth: 5.1%
Real GDP Growth: 1.3%
Consumer Price Inflation: 3.1%
Major Industries: oil; food processing; textiles; furniture; fertilisers
Major trading partners: UK; Japan; US; Germany
Exchange rate: 0.303 Kuwaiti Dinars: US\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\$1
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Kuwait is a member of the Gulf Co-operation Council alongside Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
605 Kuwaitis and other nationals were unaccounted for at the end of the 1991 Gulf War. From 1999 Saddam Hussein refused to play any part in the Tripartite Commission established under the chairmanship of the International Committee of the Red Cross to investigate the whereabouts of the missing. Since the liberation of Iraq mortal remains of some of the missing have been recovered from mass graves in Iraq. The search continues.
Since the removal of Saddam Hussein, Kuwait has made significant contributions to humanitarian aid and reconstruction in Iraq.
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