KUWAIT

officially State of Kuwait, Arabic Al-Kuwayt, or Dawlat Al-Kuwayt, country lying at the upper northwestern corner of the Persian (Arabian) Gulf. The country spans a distance of about 100 miles (160 km) from north to south and about 90 miles (140 km) from east to west and is bordered by Iraq on the west and north and by Saudi Arabia on the south; it fronts the Persian Gulf to the east. The capital is Kuwait city. Area 6,880 square miles (17,818 square km). Pop. (1995) 1,575,983; (1997 est.) 1,809,000. Arabic Al-kuwayt, city and national capital, eastern Kuwait. The city lies on the southern shore of Kuwait Bay of the Persian Gulf; its name is derived from the Arabic kut (fort). Kuwait city was founded at the beginning of the 18th century by a group of families who migrated to the coast from the interior of the Arabian Peninsula. The old mud-walled city, only about 5 square miles (13 square km) in area, made its livelihood by fishing, pearling, and trading with the Indian subcontinent and eastern Africa. It was long the only populated place of consequence in the country. With the development of Kuwait's petroleum industry after World War II, Kuwait city and the surrounding area, including the residential suburb of Hawalli, began to grow rapidly. The mud wall was torn down in 1957, and only three gates remain. The city rapidly became a flourishing administrative, commercial, and financial centre, with modern hotel and high-rise office buildings; its banking facilities were among the largest in the Middle East. Kuwait city has many luxurious residences, as well as a number of parks and gardens; tree-lined avenues carry heavy automobile traffic. Kuwait University opened in 1966; the city's historical museum exhibits artifacts from Faylakah island. When Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait from August 1990 to February 1991, Iraqi forces systematically stripped Kuwait city of its food supplies, consumer goods, equipment, and other movable assets, and many of the city's inhabitants fled the country. Kuwait city suffered considerable damage to buildings and infrastructure, but, after the war, Kuwaitis were able to return to their capital. Pop. (1985) 44,335. Dawlat Ahmed Sadek John Duke Anthony Jill Ann Crystal officially State of Kuwait, Arabic Al-Kuwayt, or Dawlat Al-Kuwayt country of the Arabian Peninsula located at the upper northwestern corner of the Persian (Arabian) Gulf. It has an area of 6,880 square miles (17,818 square km) and is bounded on the west and north by Iraq, on the east by the Persian Gulf, and on the south by Saudi Arabia. A territory of 2,200 square miles (5,700 square km) along the gulf was shared by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as a neutral zone until a political boundary was agreed upon in 1969. Each of the two countries now administers half of the territory (called the Neutral, or Partitioned, Zone), but they continue to share equally the revenues from oil production in the entire area. While the boundary with Saudi Arabia is defined, the border with Iraq remains in dispute. Kuwait is largely a desert, except for Al-Jahrah oasis, at the western end of Kuwait Bay, and a few fertile patches in the southeastern and coastal areas. Kuwaiti territory includes nine offshore islands, the largest of which are the uninhabited Bubiyan and Al-Warbah. The island of Faylakah, which is located near the entrance of Kuwait Bay, has been populated since prehistoric times. The Kuwait Towers, containing two water reservoirs and a restaurant with a revolving viewing The capital city of Kuwait, a true desert metropolis, is located on the southern shore of Kuwait Bay and derives its name from the diminutive of kut, meaning fort. With almost all of its population concentrated in or near the capital, Kuwait is one of the world's most highly urbanized states. The emirthe ruler of the stateis a member of the Sabah family, which has governed Kuwait since the inception of a sheikhdom there in 1756. Since the discovery of oil in Kuwait in the 1930s and the development of the petroleum industry in the years after World War II, oil has dominated the economy of the country, accounting for more than nine-tenths of its export revenues. During the 1980s Kuwait began to earn more money from its investments than from the direct sale of oil. It was this investment income that sustained Kuwait during the Iraqi occupation of 199091 and the subsequent period when oil exports ceased for a brief period of time. Historically, Kuwait has been one of the largest oil producers in the world and has had one of the largest oil reserves of any producing country. Additional reading Comparative coverage of Kuwait and the other Arab Gulf states is provided by Helen Chapin Metz (ed.), Persian Gulf States: Country Studies, 3rd ed. (1994); F. Gregory Gause, III, Oil Monarchies: Domestic and Security Challenges in the Arab Gulf States (1994); Rosemarie Said Zahlan, The Making of the Modern Gulf States, rev. and updated ed. (1998); Khaldoun Hasan al-Naqeeb, Society and State in the Gulf and Arab Peninsula: A Different Perspective, trans. from Arabic (1990); and Michael Herb, All in the Family: Absolutism, Revolution, and Democracy in the Middle Eastern Monarchies (1999). A historical overview is found in Frederick F. Anscombe, The Ottoman Gulf: The Creation of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar (1997); and Ahmad Mustafa Abu-Hakima, The Modern History of Kuwait, 17501965 (1982). Jill Crystal, Kuwait: The Transformation of an Oil State (1992), and Oil and Politics in the Gulf: Rulers and Merchants in Kuwait and Qatar, updated ed. (1995); Anthony H. Cordesman, Kuwait: Recovery and Security After the Gulf War (1997); and Jacqueline S. Ismael, Kuwait: Dependency and Class in a Rentier State, 2nd ed. (1993), examine Kuwait specifically. Mary Ann Ttreault, The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and the Economics of the New World Order (1995), focuses on the oil industry. A thorough study of the ruling family is found in Alan Rush, Al-Sabah: Genealogy and History of Kuwait's Ruling Family, 17521986 (1987). Anh Nga Longva, Walls Built on Sand: Migration, Exclusion, and Society in Kuwait (1997); and Shafeeq N. Ghabra, Palestinians in Kuwait: The Family and the Politics of Survival (1987), discuss the expatriate population. Comparative studies on border disputes are David H. Finnie, Shifting Lines in the Sand: Kuwait's Elusive Frontier with Iraq (1992); Richard Schofield, Kuwait and Iraq: Historical Claims and Territorial Disputes, 2nd ed. rev. and enlarged (1993); and Richard Schofield (ed.), Territorial Foundations of the Gulf States (1994). Jill Ann Crystal Administration and social conditions Government Since gaining independence from Britain in 1961, Kuwait has been governed by an emir who rules in consultation with a National Assembly elected by adult male Kuwaitis. In lieu of political parties, which are prohibited in Kuwait, several quasi-political organizations have representatives in parliament. This parliament, however, was suspended in 1976, in 1985, and again in 1999. Following the 1999 suspension, the first constitutional suspension, the emir called for new elections, which were held in July 1999. He also announced that he would grant suffrage to women in future elections. Kuwait's legal system has several diverse sources. Personal and civil law (roughly, family law and probate law) are governed largely by Shari'ah (Islamic law). Commercial and criminal law, while influenced by Shari'ah, are also shaped by Ottoman and European law, notably civil but also common legal traditions, which often have been introduced by the codes of other European-influenced Arab states. There are several lower courts and a system of appeals courts. The emir sometimes acts as the final court of appeal. Health and welfare Kuwait has a comprehensive scheme of social welfare. The needy receive financial assistance, loans are provided to the handicapped to start businesses, the disabled can get treatment and training, and education is available for adult illiterates. The Ministry of Social Affairs offers a program that provides adequate, affordable housing, fully equipped with modern facilities, for citizens with limited incomes. Kuwait also has a comprehensive and highly developed free national health-care system. In 1976 the government established Kuwait's Reserve Fund for Future Generations and has set aside 10 percent of the state's revenues annually for it. The government found it necessary, however, to tap this fund during the Iraqi occupation.