Kuwait

**Kuwait** (Arabic: الكويت) is a small Arab country (about 17,819 square kilometers) in the Middle East.

Kuwait is the most socially progressive country in the Gulf region. It has a small and rich economy. It has about 96 billion barrels of crude oil reserves. Crude oil reserves are the oil that is still under the ground and has not yet been cleaned up. Kuwait has 10% of all of the oil reserves in the world. The country makes a lot of money by selling oil. This money is almost half of all the money the country makes. The oil money is also 95% of the money made by selling things to different countries (people call that exports). Also, the oil money is 80% of the money the government makes. Kuwait is now talking with oil companies of other countries to make oil fields in the northern part of the country.

Kuwait's weather makes farming hard (too little rain). Instead of farming, the country catches fish and buys food from other countries. About 75% of the country's water to drink has to be distilled (have the salt removed) or purchased from other countries.

In 1990, Iraq invaded (brought an army in to fight against) Kuwait. This started the first Gulf War. Kuwait's official religion is Islam, although 15% of its population are Christian or Hindu. Arabic is mostly spoken in Kuwait but English is widespread among Kuwaitis (residents of Kuwait). Kuwait is one of the few nations that has education for every age.

## Demographics

As of 2023, Kuwait has a population of 4.82 million people of which 1.53 million are Kuwaiti citizens while the remaining 3.29 million are foreign nationals from over 100 countries. Of the total population of Kuwait, only 31% are Kuwaitis while around 69% are Non-Kuwaitis. Indians are the biggest Expat community in Kuwait making 21% of the population followed by Egyptians who are 13% of the population.

Population (in thousands) for 2004: 2595. CBR (per 1000) for 2004: 19.4. CDR (per 1000). Growth rate (%) for 2004: 1.9. For 1992-2002: 2.1. The total fertility rate for 2002 is 2.7. Percent population living in urban  areas is 96.2 in 2003. Per capita gross national income ($) in 2002: 612. Population density (per square kilometer) in 2000: 107.4. Infant mortality rate (per 1000) for 2005: 9.95. Adult literacy rate: 85%. Female literacy rate: 81% as of 2002.

## Governorates

Kuwait is divided into 6 governorates. The governorates are divided into districts, And the establishment of the governorates of Kuwait dates back to the Emiri Decree No. 6 issued in 1962, which divided Kuwait into three governorates: the Capital Governorate, Hawalli Governorate and Al-Ahmadi Governorate. The decree clarified the work of the governor, his subordination of the governor to the Ministry of Interior, and his responsibility towards security, provided that the Ministry of Interior issues the necessary decisions to indicate the limits of the governor's jurisdiction. There have been some changes regarding the governorates of Kuwait, which we summarize as follows:

. On November 14, 1979: Some provisions of the administrative division decree were amended so that a fourth governorate, Al-Jahra Governorate, was added.

. On October 12, 1988: The first article of the article was amended to divide Kuwait into five governorates by adding Al-Farwaniyah Governorate.

. On November 27, 1999: Emiri Decree No. 290 was issued to add a sixth governorate, Mubarak Al-Kabeer Governorate.

Thus, Kuwait has become administratively divided into six governorates, each affiliated with several regions. Warba Island and Bubiyan Island belong to the Jahra Governorate, while the rest of the islands belong to the Capital Governorate.

|bgcolor="#ffffff" colspan="25" width="80%" valign="right"|||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Al Asimah (Al Kuwayt)<sup>2)</sup>|Al Kuwait|200|261 013|original Governorate|
|Hawalli|Hawalli District|84|487 514|original Governorate|
|Al Farwaniyah|Al Farwaniyah|190|622 123|1988 from Al Asimah|
|Al Ahmadi<sup>1)</sup>|Al Ahmadi|5 120|393 861|1946 from Al Asimah|
|Al Jahra<sup>3)</sup>|Al Jahra|12 130|272 373|1979 from Al Asimah|
|Mubarak Al-Kabeer|Mubarak Al-Kabeer|94|176 519|November 1999 from Hawalli|
|TOTAL||17 818|2 213 403||
|colspan=5 bgcolor="#ffffff"|<sup>1)</sup> The Neutral Zone was dissolved on 18 December 1969, and the northern part with 2590 km² was added to Al Ahmadi (with small part in the northwest added to Al Jahra)||||
|colspan=5 bgcolor="#ffffff"|<sup>2)</sup> including the islands of Failaka, Miskan, and Auhah||||
|colspan=5 bgcolor="#ffffff"|<sup>3)</sup> including the islands of Warbah and Bubiyan||||

## Related pages

- Kuwait at the Olympics
- Kuwait national football team
- List of rivers of Kuwait

## Infobox (country)

- **conventional long name**: State of Kuwait
- **common name**: Kuwait
- **native name**:
__
- **image flag**: Flag of Kuwait.svg
- **image coat**: Emblem of Kuwait.svg
- **symbol type**: Emblem
- **national anthem**: "Al-Nasheed Al-Watani"
"National Anthem"

- **image map**: KWT orthographic.svg
- **image map2**: Kuwait - Location Map (2013) - KWT - UNOCHA.svg
- **capital**: Kuwait City
- **largest city**: capital
- **official languages**: Modern Standard Arabic, Arabic
- **demonym**: Demographics of Kuwait, Kuwaiti
- **government type**: Unitary state, Unitary constitutional monarchy
- **leader title1**: Emir of Kuwait, Emir
- **leader name1**: Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
- **leader title3**: List of Speakers of Kuwait National Assembly, Speaker of the National Assembly
- **leader name3**: Ahmed Al-Sadoun
- **leader title2**: List of Prime Ministers of Kuwait, Prime Minister
- **leader name2**: Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah
- **legislature**: National Assembly (Kuwait), National Assembly
- **sovereignty type**: History of Kuwait, Establishment
- **established event1**: Independence from the Emirate of Al Hasa
- **established date1**: 1752
- **established event2**: Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, Anglo-Ottoman Convention
- **established date2**: 1913
- **established event3**: End of treaties with the United Kingdom
- **established date3**: 19 June 1961
- **area km2**: 17,818
- **area rank**: 152nd
- **area sq mi**: 6,880
- **percent water**: negligible
- **population census**: 2,213,403
- **population estimate rank**: 128th
- **population census year**: 2005
- **population density km2**: 200.2
- **population density sq mi**: 518.4
- **population density rank**: 61st
- **gdp ppp**: $303 billion
- **gdp ppp year**: 2018
- **gdp ppp per capita**: $69,669
- **gdp ppp per capita rank**: 5th
- **gdp nominal**: $118.271 billion
- **gdp nominal year**: 2018
- **gdp nominal rank**: 55th
- **gdp nominal per capita**: $28,199
- **gdp nominal per capita rank**: 23rd
- **hdi**: 0.803
- **hdi year**: 2017
- **hdi change**: increase
- **hdi rank**: 56th
- **currency**: Kuwaiti dinar
- **currency code**: KWD
- **time zone**: Arabia Standard Time, AST
- **utc offset**: +3
- **date format**: dd/mm/yyyy (Common Era, CE)
- **drives on**: right
- **calling code**: Telephone numbers in Kuwait, +965
- **cctld**: .kw
- **official website**: [https://www.e.gov.kw/sites/kgoEnglish/Pages/HomePage.aspx www.e.gov.kw]
- **footnote a**: Nominal Order of succession, succession within the House of Sabah.
- **footnote b**: Emirate
- **religion**: Islam