STATE of KUWAIT

Location: bordering the Persian Gulf, 
between Iraq and Saudi Arabia
Capital: Kuwait
Area: 17,820 sq km
Coastline: 499 km
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 306 m
Official language: Arabic
Population: 2,041,549
Age structure: 0-14 years: 27.5%
15-64 years: 69.8%
65 years and over: 2.7%
Currency: Dinar
Member: Arab League, OPEC, GCC

Kuwait is a small country on the Arabian Gulf, between Iraq and Saudi Arabia and a Neutral Zone of 4600sq km. It includes in its territory Failaka Island, which is densely inhabited, Miskan, Auhah, al Okaz, Umm an Namil islands, and Bubiyan Island, the largest island northeast of Kuwait.

Kuwait has an area of 17,818sq km and a population of about 1.5 million. Its capital is Kuwait City. Other cities are al Ahmadi, Hawali, as Salimiya.

It has desert terrain with a few oases and some small hills, the highest are Jebal al Liyah and Jebal az Zor. The climate is hot and dry with sandstorms in June and July, but very humid along the coast. Temperatures reach 45C in summer and 20C in winter.

There are no rivers in Kuwait but after heavy rains, the wadis such as Wadi al Batn, Wadi Shaq, both in the northwest, flow with water for a short while till the water dries up again.

Agriculture is limited by lack of water and arable land; carefully managed farms produce tomatoes, onions, melon and dates. There is large-scale commercial fishing; shrimp are also plentiful.
Traditional livestock raised are goats, camels and birds.

Kuwait and the Neutral Zone together have 13.2 billion tons of oil reserve, the 4th largest in the world, which makes oil the economic backbone of Kuwait. Oil refining and petrochemicals are the main industries, though the 30million tons refined are far less than the oil production.

There are large water desalination and cement plants, and food processing industries.
The traditional industry is boatbuilding.

Kuwait was a British protectorate from 1899 until it declared independence in 1961.

It has been ruled and has prospered under the al Sabah family since the 1750s.

Cities: Kuwait, Failaka Island, al-Ahmadi

Nature reserves:

Kuwait’s Constitution,  Universities, Tourism