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Kuwait Country Guide
Explore Kuwait in Asia
Kuwait with the capital city Kuwait City is located in Asia (Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf). It covers some 17,820 square kilometres (slightly smaller than New Jersey) with 2,596,000 citizens.
The topography includes flat to slightly undulating desert plain. The average density of population is approximately 146 per km². The notable climate conditions in Kuwait can be described as dry desert with intensely hot summers and short, cool winters. Possible natural disasters include sudden cloudbursts are common from October to April and bring heavy rain, which can damage roads and houses or sandstorms and dust storms occur throughout the year but are most common between March and August.
To reach someone in Kuwait dial +965 prior to a number. There are 553,500 installed telephones. And there are 3,876,000 registered mobile phones. The cellular networks commonly support frequencies of 900/1800 MHz. Websites registered in this country end with the top level domain ".kw". If you want to bring electric equipment on your trip (e.g. laptop power supply), note the local power outlet of 240V - 50Hz.
About the flag and history of Kuwait
Three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and red with a black trapezoid based on the hoist side; colors and design are based on the Arab Revolt flag of World War I; green represents fertile fields, white stands for purity, red denotes blood on Kuwaiti swords, black signifies the defeat of the enemy.
Britain oversaw foreign relations and defense for the ruling Kuwaiti AL-SABAH dynasty from 1899 until independence in 1961. Kuwait was attacked and overrun by Iraq on 2 August 1990. Following several weeks of aerial bombardment, a US-led, UN coalition began a ground assault on 23 February 1991 that liberated Kuwait in four days. Kuwait spent more than $5 billion to repair oil infrastructure damaged during 1990-91. 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 country witnessed the historic election in May 2009 of four women to its National Assembly. Amid the 2010-11 uprisings and protests across the Arab world, stateless Arabs, known as bidoon, staged small protests in February and March 2011 demanding citizenship, jobs, and other benefits available to Kuwaiti nationals. Youth activist groups - supported by opposition legislators and the prime minister's rivals within the ruling family - rallied repeatedly in 2011 for an end to corruption and the ouster of the prime minister and his cabinet. Opposition legislators forced the prime minister to resign in late 2011. In October-December 2012, Kuwait witnessed unprecedented protests in response to the Amir''s changes to the electoral law by decree reducing the number of votes per person from four to one. The opposition, led by a coalition of Sunni Islamists, tribalists, some liberals, and myriad youth groups, boycotted the December 2012 legislative election, resulting in a historic number of Shia candidates winning seats. Since 2006, the Amir has dissolved the National Assembly on five occasions (the Constitutional Court annulled the Assembly once in June 2012) and reshuffled the cabinet 12 times, usually citing political stagnation and gridlock between the legislature and the government.
Geography Quick-Facts
| Summary | Continent: Asia Neighbours: Saudi Arabia, Iraq Capital: Kuwait City |
| Size | 17,820 square kilometers (km² or sqkm) or 6,880 square miles (mi² or sqmi) slightly smaller than New Jersey |
| Population | 2,596,000 |
| Currency | Name Dinar, Currency Code:KWD |
| Country Top Level Domain (cTLD) | .kw |
| Telephone Country Prefix | +965 |
| Mobile Phone Connections | 3,876,000 |
| Landline Phone Connections | 553,500 |
Country Position in World Rankings
Information about single country attributes and how these compare against the rest of the world. The information below is compiled with data from 2013. As such, it may differ a bit to the Information above in the text (which is from 2010).
Geography
| Value name | Value | World Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 17,818 (sq km) | 158 |
People and Society
| Value name | Value | World Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 2,695,316 | 140 |
| Population growth rate | 1.79 (%) | 68 |
| Birth rate | 20.61 (births/1,000 population) | 82 |
| Death rate | 2.14 (deaths/1,000 population) | 222 |
| Net migration rate | -0.59 (migrant(s)/1,000 population) | 136 |
| Maternal mortality rate | 14.00 (deaths/100,000 live births) | 145 |
| Infant mortality rate | 7.68 (deaths/1,000 live births) | 159 |
| Life expectancy at birth | 77.46 (years) | 66 |
| Total fertility rate | 2.56 (children born/woman) | 79 |
| Health expenditures | 2.60 (% of GDP) | 185 |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate | 0.10 (%) | 139 |
| Obesity - adult prevalence rate | 42.00 (%) | 10 |
| Children under the age of 5 years underweight | 1.70 (%) | 122 |
| Education expenditures | 3.80 (% of GDP) | 120 |
| Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 | 11.30 (%) | 102 |
Economy
| Value name | Value | World Rank |
|---|---|---|
| GDP (purchasing power parity) | 153,400,000,000 | 62 |
| GDP - real growth rate | 5.10 (%) | 60 |
| GDP - per capita (PPP) | 40,500 | 27 |
| Labor force | 2,304,000 | 116 |
| Unemployment rate | 2.20 (%) | 16 |
| Investment (gross fixed) | 15.30 (% of GDP) | 135 |
| Taxes and other revenues | 61.60 (% of GDP) | 6 |
| Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-) | 21.70 (% of GDP) | 3 |
| Public debt | 7.10 (% of GDP) | 146 |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.20 (%) | 85 |
| Central bank discount rate | 3.00 (%) | 105 |
| Commercial bank prime lending rate | 5.20 (%) | 156 |
| Stock of narrow money | 28,460,000,000 | 59 |
| Stock of broad money | 109,400,000,000 | 52 |
| Stock of domestic credit | 93,110,000,000 | 54 |
| Market value of publicly traded shares | 119,600,000,000 | 39 |
| Industrial production growth rate | 8.70 (%) | 20 |
| Current account balance | 73,260,000,000 | 8 |
| Exports | 109,400,000,000 | 38 |
| Imports | 24,100,000,000 | 69 |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | 29,260,000,000 | 50 |
| Debt - external | 28,210,000,000 | 74 |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - at home | 3,194,000,000 | 89 |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad | 57,970,000,000 | 35 |
Energy
| Value name | Value | World Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity - production | 51,320,000,000 (kWh) | 51 |
| Electricity - consumption | 43,410,000,000 (kWh) | 51 |
| Electricity - installed generating capacity | 10,940,000 (kW) | 52 |
| Electricity - from fossil fuels | 100.00 (% of total installed capacity) | 20 |
| Crude oil - production | 2,682,000 (bbl/day) | 11 |
| Crude oil - exports | 1,365,000 (bbl/day) | 11 |
| Crude oil - proved reserves | 101,500,000,000 (bbl) | 7 |
| Refined petroleum products - production | 902,000 (bbl/day) | 25 |
| Refined petroleum products - consumption | 339,000 (bbl/day) | 37 |
| Refined petroleum products - exports | 717,700 (bbl/day) | 10 |
| Natural gas - production | 11,730,000,000 (cu m) | 42 |
| Natural gas - consumption | 12,620,000,000 (cu m) | 43 |
| Natural gas - imports | 890,000,000 (cu m) | 60 |
| Natural gas - proved reserves | 1,798,000,000,000 (cu m) | 21 |
| Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy | 81,330,000 (Mt) | 43 |
Communications
| Value name | Value | World Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Telephones - main lines in use | 514,700 | 98 |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 4,935,000 | 105 |
| Internet hosts | 2,771 | 156 |
| Internet users | 1,100,000 | 96 |
Transportation
| Value name | Value | World Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Airports | 7 | 168 |
| Roadways | 5,749 (km) | 150 |
| Merchant marine | 34 | 82 |
Military
| Value name | Value | World Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Military expenditures | 3.70 (% of GDP) | 30 |
Data based on CIA facts book 2010 & 2013, wikipedia, national statistical offices and their census releases