Kuwait is a state (emirate) in southwestern Asia. It is located
on the northern outskirts of Eastern Arabia and borders Iraq in the
north and Saudi Arabia in the south. On the east side it is washed
by the Persian Gulf. Kuwait also has a maritime border with Iran.
The coastline of Kuwait is approximately 500 km (311 miles). Most of
the population of Kuwait lives in the urban agglomeration of the
country's capital - El Kuwait. As of 2022, the population of Kuwait
is 4.45 million, of which 1.45 million are citizens of the State of
Kuwait, and the remaining 3 million are foreigners from more than a
hundred other countries.
A significant part of modern Kuwait
occupies the territory of ancient Mesopotamia. Before the discovery
of oil fields, Kuwait was a strategic trading port between
Mesopotamia, Persia and India. Large oil deposits were discovered in
1938. In 1946, Kuwaiti oil was exported for the first time. The
country underwent a massive modernization between 1946 and 1982,
largely based on revenues from crude oil production. In the 1980s,
Kuwait experienced an era of geopolitical instability and economic
crisis following a stock market crash and a collapse in oil prices.
In 1990, after accusations from Saddam Hussein of illegal extraction
of Iraqi oil by Kuwait, Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait and after a
short two-day conflict, Kuwait was captured, and later became part
of Iraq as the new 19th province called As -Saddamia. The Iraqi
occupation of Kuwait ended on February 26, 1991 after the military
intervention of a military coalition led by the United States of
America and a number of other countries.
The head of state is
the emir, and the Al Sabah dynasty is the ruling family that
dominates the political system of the country. The official state
religion of Kuwait is Islam. Kuwait is a developing country with a
highly profitable economy, which is the sixth state in the world in
terms of oil reserves. The Kuwaiti dinar is the most valuable
currency in the world. In 2009, Kuwait had the highest human
development index in the Arab world. Kuwait has the largest number
of stateless people in the entire region. Kuwait is one of the
founders of the GCC, as well as a member of the UN, Arab League,
OPEC and OIC.
Kuwait City - capital
Of course, the capital offers the most to see in
Kuwait. Excursions to the north and northeast of the country are also
worthwhile, where there is something like a mountain ridge to admire,
but also extensive desert sections and deserted beaches.
Fahhaheel south of the capital is interesting. In a relatively original
souq there are plenty of shops for everyday needs, as well as many small
and large restaurants for every taste.
In addition to a small
fishing port, there is a pretty fish market and on weekends a camel
market on the southern outskirts of the city near the large gas station.
Inland, the Wafra oasis is also interesting, there are vegetable
plantations. Much larger agricultural areas are located in the north
around the village of Al Abdali. Here, date palms are grown in huge tree
nurseries, and vegetables and fruit come from the numerous greenhouses
(which serve to cool and protect the plants from excessive solar
radiation).
North of the capital is the small town of Doha. In
the vicinity of the power plants there is a tucked away shipyard for
dhows, the traditional ships of the Arabian Gulf, with a small museum
attached.
In the far south there is a retort city under
construction. Here in Khiran - in contrast to the islands that were
heaped up in the sea off Dubai - the sea has been brought far inland in
kilometer-long channels. With the tide, the water in the canals is
completely exchanged, which has allowed countless animal species to
settle there. Unfortunately, there is a power plant in the immediate
vicinity.
Also in the south of the country are extensive salt
marshes, which serve as a resting place for countless migratory birds in
winter.
All Swiss, Liechtensteiners and EU nationals
(except Croatians) can get a visa-on-arrival when entering via the
airport. The passport must be valid for at least six months and must not
have an entry stamp from the State of Israel. In order to avoid waiting
times, it may make sense to obtain an e-visa (available for the group of
people mentioned) in advance. In both cases, the fee of 3 KWD is payable
at the airport.
When arriving by land or sea, an entry permit must be
obtained in advance.
Consular Section of the Embassy of the State
of Kuwait, Griegstraße 5-7, 14193 Berlin. Tel.: +49 30 89 73 00 57.
Application form. In addition, a "No Objection Certificate" to be
obtained in Kuwait by a local person/company is required, as well as an
English-language letter from the German employer. Open: Mon.-Fri. 9.00 -
15.00. Price: single entry € 50, multiple € 100. last change:
Hesse,
Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate
and Saarland:
Consulate General, An der Welle 4, 6th floor, 60322
Frankfurt am Main.
Overstay of stay
The normal tourist visa is
for a single trip within one month from the date of issue and is valid
for three months from entry. Under no circumstances should you overdraw,
as you can only leave the country after paying a fine of 10 KWD per day.
However, this cannot be paid at the airport, but must be paid at the
immigration office via the coffee shop.
Customs
The
importation of alcohol, drugs, weapons, pornographic material, pork and
pork products is prohibited. Upon entry, baggage checks with x-rays take
place.
By plane
In most cases, entry will take place via the
airport, as tourist transit through Saudi Arabia is almost impossible.
About 15 km outside of Kuwait City is
Kuwait Airport (مطار
الكويت الدولي, IATA: KWI) Fly Dubai does not fly from the General
Terminal. By the standards of the Arabian Peninsula, the airport is
below average. The new terminal, started in 2012, should be ready by the
end of 2016. In fact, the construction contract was only awarded that
year, and completion is expected in six years.
Kuwait is flown to
from Frankfurt with Lufthansa, various German cities with the Turkish
Pegasus with a change in Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen.
The airport can be
reached by bus lines (4.30-23.45); 13, 99 and 501. The fare (2016) is
250 fils.
By train
There is no railway in Kuwait.
By
bus
Arrival by bus is not possible.
Car
The border with
Iraq is closed to civilians. Leaving Kuwait and entering Iraq is only
possible with a special permit from the Kuwaiti interior authorities.
Arriving by car only makes sense in exceptional cases. Entry is
currently only possible from Saudi Arabia.
In the Arab world, it
is common that the visa is only valid for entry by plane, so it is
essential to coordinate an arrival by car with Kafeel.
By boat
Although entry by ship is possible in principle, it is practically out
of the question as a travel option from Europe. Saudi Arabia's use of
desert ships will also generally encounter obstacles.
Persian
Valfajr 8 Shipping Co. (☎ +965 2410498) ferry from Khorramshahr-Kuwait
(5-6 hrs): departs from there Saturday and Wednesday from 11.00. In the
opposite direction Sunday and Thursday from 10.30 a.m. Prices (2016):
2nd class per person around €65, 1st class around 10% more. Return
tickets slightly cheaper.
Western travelers should take a rental car, the bus connections
within Kuwait are bad and hardly recommended for western travelers,
especially since they are mostly without air conditioning.
Taxis
are also available, the phone number for the taxi company should be
inquired in advance as there is no regular service, meaning waiting on
the street for a taxi is almost always unsuccessful.
There are
several rental car companies in Kuwait, driving a car is not a problem
once you get used to the adventurous driving style of the local drivers.
Orientation is more difficult since almost everything looks the same. A
map and a mobile phone are therefore mandatory equipment.
It is a
good idea to memorize the map BEFORE you travel and understand the
location of the Ring Roads in relation to your destination before
venturing within Kuwait City.
Trips to other towns are easier to
plan, but the same applies here: the detailed navigation at the end of
the trip is the problem.
In Europe, usual designations for street
names are rather unknown. When you give an address, you describe how to
get there from a known point. No one takes it amiss if you get lost and
let yourself be guided by mobile phone.
The fuel supply is
naturally good, even if the number of filling stations is rather too
small. It is advisable to fill up during the day and not in the evening,
because then all of Kuwait suddenly has long queues at the gas stations.
Most petrol stations are closed during Friday prayers, so plan
ahead.
The official language of Kuwait is Arabic, but enough English is
spoken almost everywhere so that you can move around the country without
any problems.
The road signs are bilingual, Arabic and English.
If the signs are only in Arabic, you've lost your way. :-)
1 KWD = €2.89 (July 2020)
Kuwait is one of the richest countries
on earth, so you can buy almost anything. The food supply is very good,
almost everything is available that does not violate the rules of Islam.
Alcohol and pork are naturally not available, and products made from
blood (blood sausage, for example) would also be against the rules of
Islam.
The huge shopping malls on the 5th and 6th Ringroad (The
Avenues, 360) are worth seeing.
Groceries are
easy to buy in supermarkets:
They are divided into the
semi-public coops and a few private supermarkets (e.g. Sultan Center or
Lulu Hypermarket). French supermarket chains such as Géant and
Carrefour, where you can also find mostly European groceries, have
spread into the large shopping malls.
While you can buy
practically all everyday groceries at very moderate prices in the coops,
the selection is there for more special things, e.g. B. Cheese, but very
limited. Apart from melted cheese in the form of corners or slices,
don't expect much. Even if the cheese counter is gigantic.
However, each coop has its own program, so it's worth visiting different
shops and browsing. In general, the vegetables and meat products in the
coops are excellent and there is a good selection.
The Sultan
Center is a superlative supermarket and also has a lot of European
groceries. If you are looking for a German butter cheese or a
gorgonzola, you will find it here. However, at a rather high price
level.
But everything is very clean and well sorted.
You
don't need to worry about grocery shopping. The food is well controlled
by the state and is therefore in no way inferior to the food in Europe
in terms of quality. On the contrary, when British beef was on the
market in Europe despite BSE, Kuwait had long since closed its market.
If you like adventure, you can buy fruit and vegetables practically
outdoors in the Shuwaikh district. There is a wholesale market under
small roofs. You can buy fruit and vegetables there in larger containers
at a good price.
Haggling is of course a matter of honour and
experienced shoppers know that the large, well-formed pieces are in the
top crates, while the less attractive ones are hidden in the second
layer. But shopping there is always an experience.
A few lines
further on you can also buy chicken eggs in bulk, but I can't say
anything about the quality as I have never bought eggs there.
Very close by, a few streets further on, you can also buy meat; the
sheep hang in the shop windows.
In small chicken farms you can
choose a chicken, which the seller then discreetly takes to the back and
slaughters according to Islamic rites. You can't buy chicken any fresher
than that.
In Al-Kout in Fahaheel you can visit a fish, meat and
poultry market. Al-Kout also invites you to linger at the spacious pools
with water features and music. Numerous restaurants, cafes and ice cream
parlors are grouped around the pools.
In the city center by the
sea is the fish market, which was completely renovated in the mid-1990s.
In the early evening, around sunset, the fishermen come and deliver
their fish. Often enough, it is so fresh that it is still wriggling on
the counter. Local delicacies are Hammoor, a very fine fish, and Al
Hambra, a red fish that is hardly inferior to Hammoor in quality but is
considerably cheaper.
In general, fish is surprisingly expensive
in Kuwait, but connoisseurs also like to buy roe, squid or shark, which
are available at cheaper prices. The shrimps are particularly good and
also inexpensive, but you can only buy them in winter.
The Friday
market near the tree nurseries at the Ministry of Electricity and Water
is a particular hit. There, in a huge square under high, shady roofs,
you can buy practically anything from a cleaning bucket to a carpet and
even a complete living room furniture. For us Europeans, the things are
rather bad taste, but if you like it, you can. Most of the stuff comes
from China, India or Bangladesh.
Occasionally you can find old
items. There is oriental knick-knacks in all sorts and some of the
things are really interesting. The second-hand goods section is also
nice, where you can get everything from broken washing machines to
four-poster beds. Next to the Friday market there is a huge animal
market. You can buy everything from ornamental fish to camels. The
animals are in relatively good health, as there is a state veterinary
inspectorate with a clinic right next to the market. Within sight of the
animal market there is a row of shops where incredible furniture is for
sale, as well as general stores where you can buy ceramics and small
wooden souvenirs at reasonable prices.
In the center of the
capital is the old souq. Visiting it is a special experience and should
not be missed on any trip to Kuwait. You can buy almost anything here,
from cloth for tailoring to mysterious spices. There is also a large
building with countless tailors where you can have shirts, jackets,
trousers or entire suits made for you quite cheaply. A complete suit -
besides the cloth - costs around 15 - 20 dinars.
Very close to
the souq is the gold market. There are unimaginable amounts of gold made
into jewelry. Most of the pieces are too heavy and pompous for our
taste, but with a knowledgeable guide you can also find shops that have
goods that Europeans like.
European furniture can be bought at
IKEA. There are a number of furniture shops near the airport, but the
goods are of dubious taste and quality.
Kuwaiti cuisine is a blend of Arabic, Persian, Indian and
Mediterranean cuisines.
Seafood is a very important part of the
Kuwaiti diet, especially fish. Local favorites include hamour (grouper),
which is typically grilled, fried or served with biryani rice for its
texture and flavor, zbaidi, safi (harefish) and sobaity (bream).
The traditional Kuwaiti flatbread is called Iranian khubz. It is a large
flatbread baked in a special oven and often topped with sesame seeds.
Numerous local bakeries are scattered across the country, the bakers are
mostly Iranian (hence the name of Iranian khubz bread). The bread is
often served with mahyawa fish sauce.
Due to Kuwait's
international workforce, there are many other cuisines to choose from.
Eating pork is forbidden to Muslims in Kuwait, in accordance with
Sharia, Islamic law
A well-known dish in Kuwaiti
cuisine is machboos, a rice-based specialty usually prepared with
basmati rice, various spices, chicken or mutton (pork is severely
restricted for religious reasons).
Biryani (Arabic: برياني) - a very
common dish consisting of heavily seasoned rice cooked with chicken or
lamb. It originally comes from the Indian subcontinent.
Gabout
(Arabic: قبوط), - stuffed dumplings in a thick meat stew.
Harees
(Arabic: هريس), - Wheat cooked with meat then mashed, usually coated
with cinnamon sugar.
Jireesh (Arabic: جريش) - a puree of cooked
spelled with chicken or lamb, tomatoes and some spices.
Mashkhool
(Arabic: مشخول) - white rice cooked in a pot where there are onion
rings with turmeric and black pepper at the bottom, sometimes potatoes
and eggplant are also added.
Marabyan (Arabic: مربين) - a rice
cooked with either fresh or dried shrimp.
Maglooba (Arabic: مقلوبة)
- a rice, cooked with meat and potatoes and eggplant.
Margoog
(Arabic: مرقوق) - Vegetable stew, usually containing pumpkin and
eggplant, cooked with thin flatbreads of dough.
Mumawwash (Arabic:
مموش) – Rice cooked with green lentils and often topped with dry
shrimp.
Muaddas (Arabic: معدس) – rice cooked with red lentils and
topped with dried shrimp.
Mutabbaq-samak (Arabic: مطبق سمك) - Fish
served on rice. The rice is cooked in well-seasoned fish stock.
Quzi
(Arabic: قوزي) - Kuwaiti dish consisting of a roast lamb stuffed with
rice, meat, eggs and other ingredients.
Daqqus (Arabic: دقوس) is a type of tomato sauce served with rice
Mabboj (Arabic: معبوج) is hot sauce, made from fresh red or green hot
peppers seasoned with coriander, garlic, salt, cumin and various spices.
The brown version consists of green chillies and additional tomatoes
Marrag (Arabic: مرق) this is a kind of broth with tomato paste and
various vegetables.
lentil soup
Asida (Arabic:
عصيدة) - consists of wheat flour, additive and butter or honey.
Balaleet (Arabic: بلاليط) - sweet saffron noodles served with egg
omelettes on top
Bayth elgitta (Arabic: بيض بيض) - a fried dough
filled with a mixture of ground nuts and rolled in powdered sugar. It
was named after the sandgrouse's egg (which is common in this area)
because of its similar shape.
Darabeel (Arabic: درابيل) - made with
flour, eggs, milk and sugar in very thin rolled layers. Cardamom or
cinnamon are sometimes added.
Lugaimat (Arabic: لقيمات) - deep fried
yeast dumplings doused with sugar syrup (sugar, saffron).
Gers ogaily (Arabic: قرص قرص) - a traditional cake made with eggs,
flour, sugar, cardamom and saffron. Traditionally served with tea.
Zalabia (Arabic: زلابية) - deep-fried dough soaked in syrup (sugar,
lemon, and saffron) and twisted into a round shape.
Ghraiba -
delicate pastry made from flour, butter, powdered sugar and cardamom.
Usually served with Arabic coffee.
Khabeesa - Sweet made from flour
and oil.
Sab Alqafsha (Kuwaiti Arabic: صب القفشة) - similar to
Lugaimat but with added saffron and cardamom syrup.
Elba (Arabic:
ألبة) - Kuwaiti milk pudding with saffron and cardamom.
The beach promenade in the Salmiya district invites you to stroll and linger. A popular meeting place are the restaurants and (shisha) cafes around the marina.
Hotels are very expensive in Kuwait. It's almost impossible to get a room for less than €100. 4 and 5 star hotels often charge significantly more. Opened in 2017, the Four Seasons is the best property around. Another Grand Hyatt is scheduled to open in fall 2022.
If you want to work here, you have to get a work visa in advance through a Kuwaiti sponsor. It is impossible to find a job without a work visa.
Police: 199
Ambulance: 4311750
If you rent a
car as a tourist, even for a day, you have to buy a Kuwaiti driver's
license for 10 KWD, which is easy to do when you present your home
driver's license.
Apart from the dangers of heat stroke and
traffic, Kuwait is a very safe country to travel to.
There is an
isolated danger from mines along the Iraqi border - however, only the
very least travelers will come to these remote areas.
Water should never be drunk from the tap in Kuwait, as this is desalinated seawater.
Kuwait is one of the hottest inhabited areas on earth in summer. In
July and August, midday temperatures of around 50°C in the shade are not
uncommon, sometimes even hotter.
Already in the morning at 8 or 9
a.m. the thermometer rises to over 40°C and during the night it hardly
cools down.
But the heat is bearable because it is very dry. The
main wind direction is north-east, so Kuwait has a continental climate,
the wind comes from the expanses of Iran across the small Gulf and the
air hardly absorbs any significant moisture over the short distance.
In September, the wind turns to the southeast and brings a few
degrees of cooling, but also a lot of humidity. The weather then gets
really muggy and unpleasant.
In October the moisture problem
subsides and until about mid-December the climate is similar to what we
know from very hot summers in our latitudes.
The rainy season in
Kuwait begins in mid to late December. Although there is no land rain
for days, but frequent showers, which can also be very heavy.
January and February then become cool with cold nights. During the day
you rarely have more than 10°C to 15°C with mostly bright sunshine, at
night it can cool down to freezing point. Living without heating becomes
difficult. From the end of February to mid-March it will be a bit rainy
again. Then a trip to the desert is worthwhile. The plants there bloom
like crazy on the few wet days and enchant the desert with a carpet of
flowers.
Then from March it gets warmer again and air
conditioning is required during the day but can rest at night. April and
May then correspond to hot European summers and also require adequate
air conditioning at night. A rule of thumb says that you should have
your air conditioner ready by National Day, February 25th at the latest.
June, July and August are unbearably hot again. No wonder that
during these months the wealthy Kuwaitis leave the country and vacation
in Europe or America.
Telephoning within Kuwait is free.
International parcel post
is sent by EMS, at the usual high rates.
As an unmarried couple, you must bring a marriage certificate when booking a shared hotel room. Otherwise, the couple must book two separate rooms. It is forbidden by law for unmarried couples to stay in the same room. This also applies to tourists!
The history of the desert state is largely unknown until the beginning of modern times. Archaeological finds suggest, however, that the island of Failaka was already a trading post in the 3rd millennium BC and from the 3rd century BC onwards was in the sphere of influence of the Seleucid Empire. In the 3rd century AD, what is now Kuwait was incorporated into the Persian Empire; from 630 onwards it belonged to the Umayyad Caliphate, later to the Abbasids, and was Islamized. In the middle of the 13th century, the empire collapsed after the Mongol invasion. In the early 16th century, the Portuguese arrived in the region.
In the same century, the area became a part of the Ottoman Empire that was hardly noticed due to its peripheral location. In 1756, the As-Sabah family, who still rule today, came to power from the interior of the Arabian Peninsula; Kuwait became an increasingly independent sheikdom from the Ottomans. Due to its geopolitical location, the emirate subsequently gained a position on the Persian Gulf that was courted by the Ottomans and the British. When the threat from the Ottomans became too great, Sheikh Mubarak as-Sabah placed his country under British protection in 1899. The price was the assurance that relations with other states would only be established with British consent. In this way, London managed to prevent the German-Ottoman project of the Baghdad railway, which had begun in 1903, from being continued as far as the Gulf.
After the defeat of the Ottomans in the First World War, the British declared Kuwait an independent emirate under British protection. From 1919 onwards, there were several Wahhabi campaigns against Kuwait, and there were also repeated border conflicts with Najd. The final borders were set out in the Protocol of Uqair on December 2, 1922. In 1940, Saudi Arabia recognized Kuwait as an independent state. From 1922, the newly created Neutral Zone, which had been created at the instigation of the British, protected the Emirate of Saudi Arabia. In 1938, the first oil was discovered, and from 1946 onwards Kuwait developed into one of the largest oil producers in the Persian Gulf. Large parts of the enormous revenues were used for modernization, e.g. for the expansion of social facilities. In 1960, Kuwait was a founding member of OPEC.
The country became independent on June 19, 1961. Territorial claims
by neighboring Iraq led to the conclusion of a military agreement with
Great Britain (terminated by Kuwait in 1971) and the introduction of
general conscription in 1973. Iraq did not recognize Kuwait's
declaration of independence and declared the emirate to be part of the
Iraqi state. Iraqi Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim threatened to
invade in the summer of 1961. In June, the British ambassador to Iraq
reported troop movements in the Basra region near Kuwait to London. He
expected an offensive on July 14, the anniversary of the Iraqi
revolution.
The British government had already decided on a plan
for this eventuality the year before under the code name Operation
Vantage. It envisaged an intervention by the Middle East Command of the
British armed forces from its bases in the Persian Gulf and in Kenya.
Great Britain decided to launch the operation on June 29, 1961. At first
this only meant that the US government asked for its consent and the
British representative in Kuwait visited Emir Abdullah III to persuade
him to make an official request for British troops, which would provide
political and diplomatic security for the operation. When both requests
were answered in the affirmative the following day, Operation Vantage
was launched that evening. Within a few days, around 7,000 British
soldiers were ready for combat in Kuwait. The Iraqi invasion did not
then materialise, but there were expressions of displeasure within
Kuwait and the Arab world, and later also from the USA, about the
presence of foreign troops. With the support of the British, Kuwait then
joined the Arab League on July 20 and persuaded the organisation to send
a peacekeeping force to the country. The first Arab soldiers arrived in
Kuwait in August, and the British withdrawal began on August 27 and was
completed on October 10. However, in the autumn of 1961 the British
government decided on a plan for a rapid military return to Kuwait,
called Operation Sodabread, which was implemented in the following
months.
The emirate's admission to the Arab League took place
amid fierce protests from the Iraqis, who prevented it from joining the
UN until 1963 with the help of the Soviet Union. Iraq only recognized
Kuwait after the fall of Qasim in 1963, and an agreement to normalize
relations was signed in the same year. In 1966, 1969, 1973 and 1976
there were various border conflicts in which Iraqi troops occupied
Kuwaiti territory. In 1977 a new border agreement was signed between the
two countries. From the beginning of the 1960s onwards, pan-Arab groups
also gained strength in Kuwait, but their political activities were
subsequently stopped just like those of other groups, such as the
Palestinians. Many of them were expelled. After the Six-Day War in 1967,
the emirate spent large sums of money to support Israel's war opponents
Egypt and Jordan.
The Iran-Iraq War, which broke out in 1980,
increasingly threatened Kuwait's vital oil exports over time. After
repeated Iranian air attacks on Kuwaiti ships, the country had its
tankers "re-flagged" in 1987: they sailed under the US flag until the
end of the First Gulf War, in which Kuwait supported Iraq and was
therefore the target of several Iranian air attacks in October 1981. In
1981, the country was a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Following a political dispute over an oil field on the Iraqi-Kuwaiti
border, Iraqi troops marched into Kuwait on August 2, 1990. After the
emir and the government were deposed, Kuwaiti territory was annexed,
despite the unanimous condemnation of the UN Security Council. The main
reason for the occupation of the oil-rich state was the conflict between
the two states, which arose due to Iraq's high debt (80 billion US
dollars) as a result of the First Gulf War. A puppet government was
initially formed under Alaa Hussein Ali, but Kuwait was annexed by Iraq
a few days later.
In response to the Iraqi occupation, the United
Nations decided on an economic embargo against Iraq, which was
reinforced primarily by American naval units through a naval blockade.
Despite Iraqi proposals for a solution (such as withdrawal from Kuwait
and, in return, resumption of negotiations between Israel and the
Palestinians), diplomatic efforts failed, and the UN decided to set up a
multinational force and station it in Saudi Arabia. When a UN ultimatum
for Iraqi withdrawal, which was due to expire on January 15, 1991,
expired without result, Kuwait was liberated on February 27, 1991 during
the five-week Second Gulf War. After the Iraqi invasion, Kuwait suffered
numerous deaths; the emirate's infrastructure and industrial potential
were largely destroyed. The extent of the environmental damage caused by
the fires in the oil fields and the oil spill in the Gulf was temporary.
Iraq recognized the country's renewed independence in November 1994. The
Palestinians' support of Iraq during the Second Gulf War resulted in the
expulsion of the Palestinians from Kuwait in 1991. Within a few days,
around 450,000 Palestinians were expelled from Kuwait. The expulsion,
which was comparable to the Nakba but received far less attention, had
significant consequences for the PLO and for the people of Kuwait.
In 2003, Kuwait was the starting point for the invasion of Iraq by
US troops.
Most of the country belongs to the ad-Dibdiba desert. Apart from the
coastal high strip of the Zaur Mountains on the Bay of Kuwait and
isolated hills, the terrain is almost flat. There are a few oases in the
interior. The 40-kilometer-long Bay of Kuwait divides the coast into two
parts. To the north, the alluvial deposits extend to the Shatt al-Arab.
At the southern tip of the bay lies the capital with its protected
natural harbor. To the south of this are the large oil fields that are
connected to the Saudi deposits. To the southwest, the country gradually
rises. The highest elevation (290 meters) is in the sandstone plateau at
the western tip of the country. The western border with Iraq runs along
the Wadi al-Batin, a dry river valley that only occasionally has water.
Kuwait has nine islands. Bubiyan, the largest island, is connected to
the mainland by a 2400-meter-long bridge. After liberation in 1991, the
island was converted into a military base. Civilians currently have no
access to Bubiyan. The remaining eight islands are called: Auha,
Failaka, Kubbar, Miskan, Qaruh, Umm al-Maradim, Umm an-Namil and Warba.
Kuwait wants to build the planned city of Madinat al-Hareer (City of
Silk) for 700,000 inhabitants on an area of 250 square kilometers on
the southern tip of a peninsula about 30 kilometers north of Kuwait city
center. The spectacular center of the urbanization, which is broken up
by many bodies of water, is to be the 1001 meter high skyscraper Burj
Mubarak al-Kabir; the planning was carried out by Kuhne & Associates,
and the city is to be completed by 2030.
Apart from a few oases
where date palms thrive, the country is desert with no notable animal
life and only sparse shrub vegetation. Grass only grows for a short time
after the winter rains. The rich fishing grounds and crab beds in the
coastal waters were threatened by the oil spill in the early 1990s.
Kuwait is home to one amphibian and 44 reptile species.
In the hot season (May to September) average temperatures are around 30 °C; however, it can get as hot as 50 °C. In the winter months, however, it is milder (13 to 15 °C), up to 25 °C during the day and below 0 °C at night. This is also the time when there is meager rainfall of 10 to 220 millimeters per year. The water temperatures in the bay are around 30 °C in summer and 20 °C in winter.
Kuwait had 4.3 million inhabitants in 2023. Annual population growth was + 1.0%. A birth surplus contributed to population growth (birth rate: 9.7 per 1,000 inhabitants vs. death rate: 2.6 per 1,000 inhabitants). The number of births per woman in 2022 was statistically 2.1, compared to 2.6 in the Middle East and North Africa region. The life expectancy of Kuwait's residents from birth was 80.3 years in 2022. The median age of the population in 2021 was 38.3 years. In 2023, 20.1 percent of the population was under 15 years of age, while the proportion of those over 64 was 5.4 percent of the population.
The population structure of Kuwait is characterized by the very high proportion of foreign workers and their relatives (around 60% of all residents). Of the approximately 4.3 million inhabitants, only around 33% are Kuwaitis. 150,000 to 180,000 Bedouins and the other inhabitants who have immigrated from Iran, India, Pakistan and many other - mainly Arab and Southeast Asian - countries do not have Kuwaiti citizenship. The Bedouins and the immigrants are socially disadvantaged compared to the citizens. In 2017, the proportion of migrants rose to 75.5% of the population, making it one of the highest in the world. The most common countries of origin were India (1,160,000 people), Egypt (420,000) and Bangladesh (380,000).
The official language is Arabic, the colloquial language of Kuwaitis among themselves is Iraqi Arabic. The language of trade is English.
The population is predominantly Muslim, of which 65% are Sunnis and 35% are Shiites. Islam is the state religion. 6% of the population belong to the Roman Catholic Church. The remaining 9% are mainly other Christian denominations, Hindus and Parsis.
There is compulsory education for 6- to 14-year-olds, with free
tuition. The illiteracy rate is declining (1980: 40%, 2015: 3.7%). The
first of the country's two universities was founded in 1954.
Citizens are covered by a comprehensive social security system. The
country's health expenditure amounted to 5.8% of gross domestic product
in 2021. In 2020, there were 22.9 doctors per 10,000 inhabitants
practicing in Kuwait. The mortality rate for children under 5 was 8.6
per 1,000 live births in 2022. The life expectancy of Kuwait's residents
from birth was 80.3 years in 2022 (women: 82.8, men: 78.9). Life
expectancy increased by 5% from 76.7 years in 2000 to 2022.
The
high prevalence of obesity is considered a major health problem in
Kuwait. In 2016, 73.4% of the adult population was overweight and 37.9%
were obese. Both figures are only exceeded by a few small Pacific
islands worldwide. The reasons are the increasing spread of Western
eating habits (fast food) and too little exercise due to the hot climate
almost all year round (April - October).
Until 1991, Kuwait was an absolute monarchy under the rule of the
Sabah dynasty.
According to the constitution of 1962, last
amended in 1997, Kuwait is now a constitutional hereditary monarchy. The
first parliament (National Assembly) was then elected in 1962, which was
also the first parliament in the Arab world. The Emir is both the
secular and spiritual head of state. He appoints and dismisses the
government and can also dissolve parliament. The legal system is based
on Islamic law (Sharia) and British models.
Parliament consists
of 50 members who are elected every four years. All Kuwaitis aged 21 and
over are eligible to vote, with the exception of members of the military
and security forces. The government relies on a certain level of trust
in parliament.
Kuwait is a member of the UN, the Arab League,
GATT, OPEC and OAPEC.
On January 15, 2006, Emir Jabir al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah died at
the age of 79. He had been unable to perform his official duties for
several years after a stroke. In accordance with the constitution, the
government first proclaimed the 75-year-old Crown Prince Sheikh Sa'ad
al-Abdallah al-Salim al-Sabah, a cousin of the deceased, as the new
Emir. Since his health was also seriously ailing, the majority of the
ruling family had proposed that Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah,
a half-brother of the deceased Emir, should take over the rule. Sa'ad
was even too weak to take the oath of office before parliament. At the
government's request, parliament met on January 24, 2006 and decided by
consensus to remove Sheikh Sa'ad from office. On January 29, Sheikh
Sabah was confirmed as Emir by parliament and took the oath of office.
This process was a break with the previous custom in the as-Sabah
dynasty that the office should alternate between the two branches
(al-Jabir and as-Salim) of the ruling family.
Furthermore, the
removal of an incapacitated ruler by parliament was a first not only in
the history of Kuwait, but in the entire Gulf region. On February 20,
parliament confirmed the Emir's cabinet. He then dissolved parliament on
May 21 and scheduled new elections for June 29. This step was preceded
by a fierce dispute between the government and parliament over the
re-division of the constituencies. A group of opposition MPs had opposed
the government's proposed reduction of the constituencies from 25 to 10
and instead proposed a reduction to just five. This was intended to
reduce the preferential treatment of certain sections of the population,
which had arisen from the disproportion between the number of
inhabitants and the number of MPs per constituency. However, neither the
government's proposal nor that of the opposition found the necessary
majority in parliament, so the government asked the Emir to dissolve it.
Such a precedent, which would have diminished the primacy of the
ruling house over the parliamentarians, was something that was to be
avoided at all costs. In the elections, the opposition forces managed to
increase the number of their seats from 26 to 33 in the 50-seat chamber.
Of these, around 15 are classified as Islamists, seven are considered
liberals, and ten are considered reformists. 17 MPs are considered loyal
to the government. Since cabinet members have voting rights in
parliament, the balance of power there is more favorable to the
government than it might seem at first glance. On May 16, 2005,
parliament voted 35:23 with one abstention to grant women the right to
vote and stand for election. "I want our women to help us build our
country and our future," said Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad
as-Sabah. In the elections in June 2006, none of the 28 female
candidates entered parliament, although women make up 57 percent of the
electorate.
In the subsequent parliamentary elections in May
2009, four women finally entered parliament.
On September 29,
2020, Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir as-Sabah died at the age of 91 and
his half-brother Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jabir as-Sabah was sworn in as Emir
on September 30, 2020. Since his death on December 16, 2023, his
half-brother Mishal al-Ahmad al-Jabir as-Sabah has been the head of
state.
The country's foreign policy is determined by the country's history
and geopolitical situation between Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. There is
a close security partnership with the United States, which acts as a
guarantor of Kuwait's state independence. In 2004, Kuwait was named a
major non-NATO ally.
Diplomatic relations with its northern
neighbor Iraq were resumed on August 2, 2004, and in July 2008 Kuwait
sent an ambassador to Baghdad for the first time since 1990, and the
Iraqi ambassador began his work in March 2010. However, relations
between the two countries remain strained, the main reasons for this
being the outstanding Iraqi reparations payments of 23.3 billion US
dollars and the border defined by the United Nations. Saddam Hussein
recognized this in 1994, but the new government did not reaffirm
recognition.
The rights to freedom of expression and assembly are severely
restricted in Kuwait, according to Amnesty International. Thousands of
stateless Bidun living in Kuwait are particularly affected. They are not
granted citizenship and therefore do not have equal access to the health
and education system or the job market. The riot police sometimes use
excessive violence against this minority.
According to the
non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders, there are
"identifiable problems" with the situation of press freedom in the
country, but it is the third best among the Arab League countries. A
journalist is in prison in Kuwait.
Since 2014, the Kuwaiti
Ministry of Information has banned thousands of books, including
numerous classics of world literature such as The Hunchback of Notre
Dame, One Hundred Years of Solitude and The Brothers Karamazov.
According to Amnesty, women are discriminated against by law and in everyday life. In 2011, female law graduates filed lawsuits against the Ministry of Justice to have their rights stopped. The ministry had advertised positions with the note that they were reserved for men. In September 2012, the Supreme Judicial Council announced that women could apply for a number of positions in the Kuwaiti public prosecutor's office and the judiciary, in response to the women's pending lawsuits.
Kuwait is a constitutional monarchy. Kuwaiti men have had the right
to vote since 1999. In May 1999, the Emir Jabir al-Ahmad al-Jabir
al-Sabah issued a decree guaranteeing women's suffrage, but the National
Assembly refused to approve it, and the decree was dropped in November.
An active women's movement built on the Emir's stance and campaigned for
women's suffrage; these were not protests but expressions of loyalty to
the ruler who had supported women's suffrage. Technological developments
have created new opportunities for mobilization: in 2005, economist Rola
Dashti organized protests by girls on the streets, calling for them to
do so via her cell phone.
On May 16, 2005, women were granted
universal active and passive national voting rights by a parliamentary
decision by 35 votes to 23. As an ambiguous concession to the
fundamentalists, the wording that women had to comply with Islamic law
during the campaign and election was included. In the election that
followed the granting of voting rights, not a single female candidate
was elected to parliament. Two women were appointed to the 16-member
government, and thus gained voting rights in parliament. In 2005/2006,
laws came into force that restricted freedom of speech and the freedom
of the media to criticize the government. In 2009, Dashti and two other
women were the first to be elected to parliament. Dashti became Minister
of State Planning and Development in 2012.
In the current
government (January 2019), two of the fifteen members are women. Among
the fifty MPs (after the election on November 26, 2016) there is only
one woman (January 2019).
Kuwait imposes the death penalty. However, four of the nine death sentences imposed in 2012 were commuted to prison terms. At least one prisoner died in custody in 2012 after apparently being tortured or otherwise ill-treated. Death sentences are heard by an appeals court and then submitted to the Supreme Court before the Emir has to decide on the verdicts. If the sentence is approved and not commuted to life imprisonment, the sentence is no longer negotiable and thus final. People who are not sane and under the age of 18 are not sentenced to death. However, foreigners and women can also be executed. The death penalty is mandatory for crimes such as murder, rape, drug trafficking, terrorism or kidnapping. The death penalty was temporarily suspended in 2007. In 2013, the state of Kuwait executed five murderers, for the first time since 2007. In January 2017, a total of seven people were executed, along with a member of the Kuwaiti royal family. In Kuwait, executions are carried out in public by hanging.
The protection of migrant workers from Asia in particular is
inadequate in Kuwait. Female domestic helpers are repeatedly attacked in
Kuwait. They are sometimes beaten, psychologically terrorized or
sexually abused by their Kuwaiti employers. In 2011 and 2012, the
Philippines, Nepal and Indonesia banned their female citizens from being
recruited by Kuwait and other Arab states. According to the US State
Department, the mistreatment of domestic helpers in Kuwait is so
widespread that it constitutes human trafficking.
In 2012, the UN
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recommended that
Kuwait enact laws to protect foreign workers and domestic workers and to
guarantee their rights in accordance with international standards.
Kuwait is a member of the International Labor Organization (ILO), but
does not comply with its conventions.
The poor working and living
conditions of the approximately 260,000 migrant workers from the
Philippines, mainly women who work as domestic workers, led to a
diplomatic crisis between Kuwait and their home country. This was
triggered by the discovery of the body of 29-year-old Filipino domestic
worker Joanna D. in a freezer at the beginning of 2018, after which her
employers were sentenced to death in absentia for murder on April 1.
Following the discovery, the Philippines stopped issuing foreign
certificates on January 19, 2018, and imposed a ban on sending Filipino
guest workers to Kuwait on February 12. In addition, the Foreign
Ministry announced that 10,000 Filipinos would be brought back from
Kuwait. The Kuwaiti government responded to this after it became known
that employees of the Philippine embassy had helped compatriots to flee
from their employers by expelling the Philippine ambassador on April 25
and recalling its own ambassador from Manila. The Philippine embassy was
accused of violating Kuwaiti sovereignty and its employees were accused
of human trafficking and arrested. The conflict was resolved by an
agreement signed on May 11, which, among other things, provided for the
right of Filipino workers to keep their mobile phones and passports,
which had previously been confiscated by Kuwaiti employers. In addition,
assurances were made regarding the right to food and lodging, work
clothes and health insurance. In the future, employment contracts will
only be concluded with the prior consent of the Philippine embassy.
In 2017, Kuwait spent almost 5.8 percent of its economic output, or 6.8 billion US dollars, on its armed forces. Defense spending as a share of economic output is among the highest in the world.
Kuwait is divided into six governorates (Arabic محافظة, DMG
muḥāfaẓa), namely al-Ahmadi, al-Asima, al-Farwaniyya, al-Jahra, Hawalli
and Mubarak al-Kabir.
The governorates are in turn divided into
numerous districts (Arabic مناطِق, DMG minṭaqah) (in English areas, in
German also districts).
Kuwait, which is very financially strong due to its oil wealth (state
reserves estimated at USD 550 billion), had benefited considerably from
high and stable oil prices in the 16 years before the oil price
collapse. The country has oil reserves of 101.5 billion barrels of oil
(= 8% of global reserves), which will last for about 90 years at current
production levels. Kuwait wanted to increase production capacity to 4
million barrels per day by 2020. In 2015, Kuwait was in ninth place in
global oil production with a daily production of 2.85 million barrels of
oil. Oil production in Kuwait will also amount to around 3 million
barrels per day in 2022.
According to estimates by the
International Monetary Fund, gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016 was
33.5 billion Kuwaiti dinars (KWD, around EUR 103 billion); GDP per
capita was estimated at around EUR 26,000. Given the large number
(around 2.5 million) of low-earning foreigners, the per capita income of
Kuwaiti citizens is significantly higher.
The high revenues from
the oil business are used to cover equally high expenditures to satisfy
the Kuwaiti population's demands for welfare benefits. Reserves can also
be created. Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund, the Kuwait Investment
Authority, manages assets of 592 billion US dollars (as of 2018).
Due to the loss of revenue as a result of the fall in oil prices,
the financial situation is now more tense than in the past. The IMF had
already pointed out before the fall in oil prices that if the trend
continued unchanged, revenues would no longer cover expenditures in the
near future. In the 2015/2016 fiscal year, revenues of 12.2 billion KWD
(around 37 billion EUR) were offset by expenditures of 19.2 billion KWD
(around 58 billion EUR). At the end of the fiscal year (end of March
2016), a deficit of around 7 billion KWD (around 20 billion EUR) was
recorded. From 2015 to 2017, public debt rose from 5% to over 20%. The
IMF expects this to rise to around 47% of economic output by 2023.
In 2017, four percent of the workforce worked in agriculture, while
27 percent of workers were employed in industry and a full 70 percent
worked in the service sector. Agriculture generated one percent of GDP
in 2015, the industrial sector 51 percent and services accounted for 48
percent.
In the Global Competitiveness Index, which measures a
country's competitiveness, Kuwait ranks 46th out of 141 countries,
making it the most improvement in the Middle East and North Africa
region compared to the previous year (as of 2019). In the Index of
Economic Freedom, the country ranked 81st out of 180 countries evaluated
in 2018.
The country's wealth is based on oil, which has been produced since
1946. Kuwait is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC). 94 percent of its income is dependent on oil, of which
around 2.6 million barrels are produced daily. A large part of this
comes from the Burgan field, which is the second largest oil field in
the world. The south of Kuwait lies in the northern part of the neutral
zone, which has been divided between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia since 1969.
All costs and income from natural resources in the entire former neutral
zone, i.e. on both the Kuwaiti and Saudi sides, are shared equally with
Saudi Arabia.
Around one million barrels are processed daily in
the country's three refineries. On March 6, 2006, the government
announced that new, significant oil and natural gas deposits had been
discovered in the north of the country. A total of one trillion cubic
meters of gas is suspected in two deposits; In addition, new oil fields
with resources of between 10 and 13 billion barrels have been explored.
This would make Kuwait a major natural gas producer for the first time
and could also increase its oil reserves by ten percent. Kuwait is one
of the countries located in the so-called strategic ellipse.
In
December 2013, a program to expand renewable energies, wind energy and
photovoltaics, was announced. By 2030, they are to cover 15% of the
country's electricity needs. The aim is to preserve oil primarily for
lucrative exports, and to diversify the resource base and reduce
climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions. An alternative plan to enter
nuclear energy and build a nuclear power plant was abandoned, however,
because wind and solar energy are cheaper, according to the Ministry of
Electricity.
Four percent of all employed people were employed in agriculture in
2017. Agriculture has only limited potential for expansion due to
climatic conditions, soil conditions and water shortages. Only 0.2
percent of the country's land area is currently cultivated using
artificial irrigation. Dates, melons and fodder clover are grown for the
domestic market. Sheep, goats and cattle are mainly kept for meat.
Foreign trade
In 2017, imports worth 33.6 billion US dollars were
made, most of which came from the People's Republic of China (16%), the
United States (10%), the United Arab Emirates (9%), Germany (6%), Saudi
Arabia (6%), India (5%) and Japan (5%). The main imports were machinery
(15% of imports) and food (13%), followed by motor vehicles and motor
vehicle parts (11%), electronics (8%) and electrical engineering (5%).
The export volume in 2017 was 54.8 billion US dollars, of which
crude oil and petroleum products made up the vast majority. Crude oil
was the main export product, accounting for 70% of exports, and
petrochemicals (17%), natural gas (4%), industrial chemicals (2%) and
motor vehicles and parts (2%) were also exported. In 2017, the main
buyers were India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, China, Iraq,
Qatar and Oman, while in 2014 the main buyers were South Korea (16.7%),
India (14.9%), Japan (12.3%), the USA (11.3%) and China (9.9%).
Kuwait has been committed to the medium and long-term restructuring
of its economic structure since 2010 as part of Kuwait Vision 2035
(since 2017 under the title "New Kuwait") or development plans that are
valid for 4-5 years. In this way, Kuwait wants to come closer to its
stated goal of diversifying its economy and becoming a trade and
financial center in the region. However, this is counteracted by
administrative weaknesses and slow decision-making processes as well as
the structural conflict between government and parliament. The
development plan for 2015-2020 has a volume of 34 billion KWD (> 100
billion EUR) and contains numerous long-discussed major projects in the
areas of infrastructure and tourism, such as the construction of a
subway and a railway, the expansion of the airport, power plants, etc.
Allocations were made in 2014 to the amount of 7.5 billion KWD (22.5
billion EUR), and in 2015 to the amount of 12 billion KWD (36 billion
EUR). According to the government, there will be no cuts or
postponements in the major projects included in the development plan,
despite the budget deficit.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia have presented
comparable development plans.
The national budget in 2016 included expenditures of the equivalent
of 65.3 billion US dollars, compared to revenues of the equivalent of
47.1 billion US dollars. This results in a budget deficit of 16.6% of
GDP.
National debt in 2016 was 20.2 billion US dollars, or 18.6%
of GDP. Kuwaiti government bonds are rated AA by the rating agency
Standard & Poor's, just one notch behind the top rating (as of December
2018).
In 2020, the share of government spending (in % of GDP)
was in the following areas:
Health: 6.3%
Education: 6.6%
Military: 5.0% (2023)
Kuwait's very well-developed road network covers around 3,600
kilometers. Kuwait has an industrial port and four oil ports. The
international airport is close to the capital. With the billions in
revenue from the oil sector and encouraged by the fall of Saddam
Hussein, the country has started to diversify its economy. A modern
container port is to be built and an island is to be converted into a
tourist complex.
There are plans to build a subway in Kuwait, the
routes of which will be divided into four lines and will be 171
kilometers long. Annual passenger traffic is estimated at 69.1 million
passengers. Construction was scheduled to begin in autumn 2011 and be
completed in spring 2016. As of January 2020, no construction work had
been carried out. The total cost is estimated at 11.3 billion US
dollars, 24% of which will be raised by the Kuwaiti state, 26% by the
contractor and 50% through an IPO. This approach is part of Kuwait's
strategy to use private capital to innovate public projects.
Kuwait Metro proposals:
Line 1: Length 23.7 km, 19 stations
Line
2: Length 21.0 km, 27 stations
Line 3: Length 24.0 km, 15 stations
Line 4: Length 22.7 km, 16 stations
In later expansion phases,
Line 1 will be extended by 23.6 to 57.3 kilometers and Line 2 by 16.4 to
37.4 kilometers.
There are also plans by Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates to build a railway network of around 2,000
kilometers in the Gulf region. Of this, around 505 kilometers of
double-track line, electrified with 50 kV alternating current, would run
in Kuwait.
Special Olympics Kuwait was founded in 1986 and has participated in the Special Olympics World Games several times.