Kuwait - Demographics

Capital - Kuwait City

Official languages - Arabic

Demonym - Kuwaiti

Government Constitutional hereditary emirate
- Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
- Prime Minister Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah

Independence
- from the UK 19 June 1961

Area
- Total 17,818 km2 (157th)
- 6,880 sq mi
- Water (%) negligible

Population
- 2007 estimate 2,691,158
- Density 131/km2 (68th)
- 339/sq mi

Currency Kuwaiti dinar (KWD)
Time zone AST (UTC+3)

Drives on the right
Internet TLD .kw
Calling code 965

is a sovereign Arab emirate on the northwestern, bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and west. The name is a diminutive of an Arabic word meaning "fortress built near water." It has a population of 3.1 million and an area of 17,818 km². Kuwait is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government, with Kuwait City serves as the country's political and economic capital.

In 1990, Kuwait was invaded and annexed by neighboring Iraq. The seven month-long Iraqi occupation came to an end after a direct military intervention by United States-led forces. Nearly 750 Kuwaiti oil wells were set ablaze by the retreating Iraqi army resulting in a major environmental and economic catastrophe. Kuwait's infrastructure was badly damaged during the war and had to be rebuilt.

Kuwait has the world's fifth largest oil reserves and is one of the richest countries in the world per capita. Kuwait's oil fields were discovered and exploited in the 1930s and after it gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1961, the nation's oil industry saw unprecedented growth. Petroleum and petroleum products now account for nearly 95% of export revenues, and 80% of government income. Kuwait is regarded as the most developed country in the Arab League. Recorded history of the State of Kuwait goes back to the year 1613.

Tribes from central Arabia settled in Kuwait in the 17th-century after experiencing a massive drought in their native land. Kuwait used to be a major center for spice trading between India and Europe. By late 18th-century, most of the local people made a living selling pearls. In 1756, the people elected Sabah I bin Jaber as the first emir of Kuwait. The current ruling family of Kuwait, al-Sabah, are descendants of Sabah I.During the rule of the al-Sabah, Kuwait progressively became a center of trade and commerce. It now served as a hub of trade between India, the horn of Africa, the Nejd, Mesopotamia and the Levant.

Up until the advent of Japanese pearl farming, Kuwait had one of the largest sea fleets in the Persian Gulf region and a flourishing pearling industry. Trade consisted mainly of pearls, wood, spices, dates and horses.As the influence of the Ottoman Empire increased in the region, Kuwait was assigned the status of a caza of the Ottomans. After the signing of the Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, then emir of Kuwait, Mubarak Al-Sabah, was diplomatically recognized by both the Ottomans and British as the ruler of the autonomous caza of the city of Kuwait and the hinterlands.

The 1922 Treaty of Uqair set Kuwait's border with Saudi Arabia and also established the Saudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone, an area of about 5,180 km² adjoining Kuwait's southern border. Oil was first discovered in Kuwait in the 1930s and the government became more proactive in establishing internationally recognized boundaries. After World War I, the Ottoman Empire was financially crippled and the invading British Indian Army invalidated the Anglo-Ottoman Convention, declaring Kuwait to be "independent sheikdom under British protectorate".

courtesy : wikipedia