KUWAIT PROFILE

Geography

Kuwait is located at the far northwestern corner of the Persian Gulf. Kuwait is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the South, Iraq to the north and west, and the Arabian Gulf coast to the east. It is a small state of about 17,818 square kilometers. At its most distant points, it is about 200 kilometers north to south and 170 kilometers east to west.

Shaped roughly like a triangle, Kuwait borders the Persian Gulf to the east, with 195 kilometers of coast. Kuwait includes within its territory nine Persian Gulf islands, two of which, Bubiyan (the largest) and Warbah, are largely uninhabited but strategically important. Other islands off its coast, i.e Maskan, Faylaka, Awhah, Umm al-Maradim, Umm al-Namil, Kubbar and Qaruh. Bubiyan is the largest island (863 sq kms) and is connected to the mainland by a steel bridge. Warbah, located at the northern extremity of the Gulf, occupies an area of 37 sq kms. Maskan lies to the north of Failaka island while Awhah is to Failaka's south. Umm al-Namil is in the mouth of Kuwait bay and has a rich Islamic history. Kubbar, Qaruh, and Umm al-Maradim are situated towards the southern section of Kuwait's territorial waters. The island of Failaka, which is pronounced "Failacha" in the local dialect, is the most attractive and well known of Kuwait's islands.

The Kuwait mainland, having no mountains or rivers or other natural features, was for a long time a transit area for nomadic tribes and caravans. Such freedom of movement made delineation of borders rather difficult and resulted in some border problems. The whole matter was amicably resolved following the creation of the Neutral Zone between the State of Kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 7 July 1965. The northern part of the partitioned zone is administered by Kuwait, whilst the southern part is the administrative responsibility of Saudi Arabia. The crude oil extracted from the partitioned zone is shared equally by both countries.

To the south and west, Kuwait shares a long border of 250 kilometers with Saudi Arabia. The boundary between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia was set by the Treaty of Al Uqayr in 1922, which also established the Kuwait-Saudi Arabia Neutral Zone of 5,700 square kilometers. In 1966 Kuwait and Saudi Arabia agreed to divide the Neutral Zone; the partitioning agreement making each country responsible for administration in its portion was signed in December 1969. The resources in the area, since known as the Divided Zone, are not affected by the agreement, and the oil from onshore and offshore fields continues to be shared equally between the two countries.

The third side of the triangle is the 240 kilometers of historically contested border to the north and west that Kuwait shares with Iraq. Although the Iraqi government, which had first asserted a claim to rule Kuwait in 1938, recognized the borders with Kuwait in 1963 (based on agreements made earlier in the century), it continued to press Kuwait for control over Bubiyan and Warbah islands through the 1960s and 1970s. In August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait and, shortly thereafter, formally incorporated the entire country into Iraq. Under United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 687, after the restoration of Kuwaiti sovereignty in 1991, a UN commission undertook formal demarcation of the borders on the basis of those agreed to in 1963. The boundary was demarcated in 1992, but Iraq refuses to accept the commission's findings.

Administrative Divisions

Kuwait is divided into 6 governorates or provinces (Arabic: muhafazat, singular - muhafadhah). The Kuwaiti government prefers to use the term governorate over province:
Al Ahmadi, Al Farwaniyah, Al Asimah, Al Jahra, Hawalli, and Mubarak Al-Kabeer.

The major cities are the capital Kuwait, and Jahrah (further in the north-west, 30-minute drive from the capital). The main residential and business areas are Salmiya and Hawalli. The main industrial area is Shuwaikh which resides within the Al Asimah Governorate.

Climate

Kuwait has a desert climate, hot and dry. Rainfall varies from seventy-five to 150 millimeters a year across the country; actual rainfall has ranged from twenty-five millimeters a year to as much as 325 millimeters. In summer, average daily high temperatures range from 42° C to 46° C; the highest recorded temperature is 51.5° C. The summers are relentlessly long, punctuated mainly by dramatic dust storms in June and July when northwesterly winds cover the cities in sand. In late summer, which is more humid, there are occasional sharp, brief thunderstorms. By November summer is over, and colder winter weather sets in, dropping temperatures to as low as 3° C at night; daytime temperature is in the upper 20° C range. Frost rarely occurs; rain is more common and falls mostly in the spring.

Natural Resources

Kuwait's economy is heavily dependent on oil export revenues. Current high oil prices are producing a surge in oil export revenues for Kuwait, with 2004 the the best year for oil export revenues in the past decade. Non-oil sectors of the Kuwaiti economy, particularly services, have experienced strong growth fueled by the inflow of oil revenues.

Despite its currently strong macroeconomic position, including sizable fiscal and trade surpluses, Kuwait would like to diversify its economy away from near-complete dependence on oil revenues. Currently, the country relies on oil revenues for around 90-95 percent of total export earnings and around two-fifths of GDP. Kuwait channels around 10 percent of its oil revenues into the "Future Generations Fund" for the day when oil income runs out.

Kuwait produces a relatively modest volume of natural gas (around 293 billion cubic feet - Bcf - in 2002), the vast majority of which is "associated gas" (i.e., found and produced in conjunction with oil). Kuwait hopes to significantly increase its use of natural gas, both domestic and imported, especially in electricity generation, water desalination, and petrochemicals.

Population

Population in Kuwait approximately 2,418,393 peoples (January 2006). The majority of people residing in the State of Kuwait are Arab, but only about one million (45%) are Kuwaiti citizens. Large expatriate populations include Egyptians, Iranian and other Arab 35%, South Asian 9% (Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans) and other 7% (Filipinos and Indonesia). There is also a population of approximately 100,000 stateless Arabs, (known locally as Bidoon, an Arabic word meaning without. Before the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait in 1990, there was a large population of Palestinian expatriates, many holding Jordanian nationality, though after the liberation of Kuwait they, along with most nationals of countries who had supported Iraq were deported. In the fifteen years since, the Kuwait national population and expatriate population have increased significantly.