:Kuwait Geography

Total area:
    17,820 km2
Land area:
    17,820 km2
Comparative area:
    slightly smaller than New Jersey
Land boundaries:
    462 km; Iraq 240 km, Saudi Arabia 222 km
Coastline:
    499 km
Maritime claims:
  Continental shelf:
    not specific
  Territorial sea:
    12 nm
Disputes:
    in April 1991 official Iraqi acceptance of UN Security Council Resolution
    687, which demands that Iraq accept the inviolability of the boundary set
    forth in its 1963 agreement with Kuwait, ending earlier claims to Bubiyan
    and Warbah Islands or to all of Kuwait; a UN Boundary Demarcation Commission
    is demarcating the Iraq-Kuwait boundary persuant to Resolution 687, and, on
    17 June 1992, the UN Security Council reaffirmed the finality of the
    Boundary Demarcation Commission's decisions; ownership of Qaruh and Umm al
    Maradim Islands disputed by Saudi Arabia
Climate:
    dry desert; intensely hot summers; short, cool winters
Terrain:
    flat to slightly undulating desert plain
Natural resources:
    petroleum, fish, shrimp, natural gas
Land use:
    arable land NEGL%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures 8%; forest and
    woodland NEGL%; other 92%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment:
    some of world's largest and most sophisticated desalination facilities
    provide most of water; air and water pollution; desertification
Note:
    strategic location at head of Persian Gulf

:Kuwait People

Population:
    1,378,613 (July 1992), growth rate NA (1992)
Birth rate:
    32 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
    2 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
    NA migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
    14 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
    72 years male, 76 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
    4.4 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
    noun - Kuwaiti(s); adjective - Kuwaiti
Ethnic divisions:
    Kuwaiti 50%, other Arab 35%, South Asian 9%, Iranian 4%, other 2%
Religions:
    Muslim 85% (Shi`a 30%, Sunni 45%, other 10%), Christian, Hindu, Parsi, and
    other 15%
Languages:
    Arabic (official); English widely spoken
Literacy:
    74% (male 78%, female 69%) age 15 and over can read and write (1985)
Labor force:
    566,000 (1986); services 45.0%, construction 20.0%, trade 12.0%,
    manufacturing 8.6%, finance and real estate 2.6%, agriculture 1.9%, power
    and water 1.7%, mining and quarrying 1.4%; 70% of labor force was
    non-Kuwaiti
Organized labor:
    labor unions exist in oil industry and among government personnel

:Kuwait Government

Long-form name:
    State of Kuwait
Type:
    nominal constitutional monarchy
Capital:
    Kuwait
Administrative divisions:
    5 governorates (mu'hafaz'at, singular - muh'afaz'ah); Al Ah'madi, Al Jahrah,
    Al Kuwayt, 'Hawalli; Farwaniyah
Independence:
    19 June 1961 (from UK)
Constitution:
    16 November 1962 (some provisions suspended since 29 August 1962)
Legal system:
    civil law system with Islamic law significant in personal matters; has not
    accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday:
    National Day, 25 February
Executive branch:
    amir, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch:
    National Assembly (Majlis al `umma) dissolved 3 July 1986; elections for new
    Assembly scheduled for October 1992
Judicial branch:
    High Court of Appeal
Leaders:
  Chief of State:
    Amir Shaykh JABIR al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah (since 31 December 1977)
  Head of Government:
    Prime Minister and Crown Prince SA`UD al-`Abdallah al-Salim al-Sabah (since
    8 February 1978); Deputy Prime Minister SALIM al-Sabah al-Salim al-Sabah
Political parties and leaders:
    none
Suffrage:
    adult males who resided in Kuwait before 1920 and their male descendants at
    age 21; note - out of all citizens, only 10% are eligible to vote and only
    5% actually vote
Elections:
  National Assembly:
    dissolved 3 July 1986; new elections are scheduled for October 1992
Other political or pressure groups:
    40,000 Palestinian community; small, clandestine leftist and Shi`a
    fundamentalist groups are active; several groups critical of government
    policies are active
Member of:
    ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, BDEAC, CAEU, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, GATT, GCC, IAEA,
    IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT,
    INTERPOL, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPEC, UN,
    UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation:
    Ambassador Shaykh Sa`ud Nasir al-SABAH; Chancery at 2940 Tilden Street NW,
    Washington, DC 20008; telephone (202) 966-0702
  US:
    Ambassador Edward (Skip) GNEHM, Jr.; Embassy at Bneid al-Gar (opposite the
    Kuwait International Hotel), Kuwait City (mailing address is P.O. Box 77
    SAFAT, 13001 SAFAT, Kuwait; APO AE 09880); telephone [965] 242-4151 through
    4159; FAX [956] 244-2855

:Kuwait Government

Flag:
    three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and red with a black
    trapezoid based on the hoist side

:Kuwait Economy

Overview:
    Up to the invasion by Iraq in August 1990, the oil sector had dominated the
    economy. Kuwait has the third-largest oil reserves in the world after Saudi
    Arabia and Iraq. Earnings from hydrocarbons have generated over 90% of both
    export and government revenues and contributed about 40% to GDP. Most of the
    nonoil sector has traditionally been dependent upon oil-derived government
    revenues. Iraq's destruction of Kuwait's oil industry during the Gulf war
    has devastated the economy. Iraq destroyed or damaged more than 80% of
    Kuwait's 950 operating oil wells, as well as sabotaged key surface
    facilities. Firefighters brought all of the roughly 750 oil well fires and
    blowouts under control by November 1991. By yearend, production had been
    brought back to 400,000 barrels per day; it could take two to three years to
    restore Kuwait's oil production to its prewar level of about 2.0 million
    barrels per day. Meanwhile, population had been greatly reduced because of
    the war, from 2.1 million to 1.4 million.
GDP:
    exchange rate conversion - $8.75 billion, per capita $6,200; real growth
    rate -50% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
    NA
Unemployment rate:
    NA
Budget:
    revenues $7.1 billion; expenditures $10.5 billion, including capital
    expenditures of $3.1 billion (FY88)
Exports:
    $11.4 billion (f.o.b., 1989)
  commodities:
    oil 90%
  partners:
    Japan 19%, Netherlands 9%, US 8%, Pakistan 6%
Imports:
    $6.6 billion (f.o.b., 1989)
  commodities:
    food, construction materials, vehicles and parts, clothing
  partners:
    US 15%, Japan 12%, FRG 8%, UK 7%
External debt:
    $7.2 billion (December 1989 est.)
Industrial production:
    growth rate 3% (1988); accounts for 52% of GDP
Electricity:
    3,100,000 kW available out of 8,290,000 kW capacity due to Persian Gulf war;
    7,300 million kWh produced, 3,311 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
    petroleum, petrochemicals, desalination, food processing, building
    materials, salt, construction
Agriculture:
    virtually none; dependent on imports for food; about 75% of potable water
    must be distilled or imported
Economic aid:
    donor - pledged $18.3 billion in bilateral aid to less developed countries
    (1979-89)
Currency:
    Kuwaiti dinar (plural - dinars); 1 Kuwaiti dinar (KD) = 1,000 fils
Exchange rates:
    Kuwaiti dinars (KD) per US$1 - 0.2950 (March 1992), 0.2843 (1991), 0.2915
    (1990), 0.2937 (1989), 0.2790 (1988), 0.2786 (1987)

:Kuwait Economy

Fiscal year:
    1 July - 30 June

:Kuwait Communications

Railroads:
    6,456 km total track length (1990); over 700 km double track; government
    owned
Highways:
    3,900 km total; 3,000 km bituminous; 900 km earth, sand, light gravel
Pipelines:
    crude oil 877 km; petroleum products 40 km; natural gas 165 km
Ports:
    Ash Shu`aybah, Ash Shuwaykh, Mina' al 'Ahmadi
Merchant marine:
    29 ships (1,000 GRT or over), totaling 1,196,435 GRT/1,957,216 DWT; includes
    2 cargo, 4 livestock carrier, 18 oil tanker, 4 liquefied gas; note - all
    Kuwaiti ships greater than 1,000 GRT were outside Kuwaiti waters at the time
    of the Iraqi invasion; many of these ships transferred to the Liberian flag
    or to the flags of other Persian Gulf states; only 1 has returned to Kuwaiti
    flag since the liberation of Kuwait
Civil air:
    9 major transport aircraft
Airports:
    7 total, 4 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over
    3,659 m; 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; none with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
    civil network suffered extensive damage as a result of Desert Storm;
    reconstruction is under way with some restored international and domestic
    capabilities; broadcast stations - 3 AM, 0 FM, 3 TV; satellite earth
    stations - destroyed during Persian Gulf war; temporary mobile satellite
    ground stations provide international telecommunications; coaxial cable and
    radio relay to Saudi Arabia; service to Iraq is nonoperational

:Kuwait Defense Forces

Branches:
    Army, Navy, Air Force, National Police Force, National Guard
Manpower availability:
    males 15-49, 389,770; 234,609 fit for military service; 12,773 reach
    military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures:
    exchange rate conversion - $9.17 billion, 20.4% of GDP (1992 budget)