]! ^! Britain oversaw foreign relations and defense for the ruling Kuwaiti AL-SABAH dynasty from 1899 until independence in 1961. Kuwait was attacked and overrun by Iraq on 2 August 1990. Following several weeks of aerial bombardment, a US-led, UN coalition began a ground assault on 23 February 1991 that liberated Kuwait in four days. Kuwait spent more than $5 billion to repair oil infrastructure damaged during 1990-91. 
]" ^" Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iraq and Saudi Arabia ^# 29 30 N, 45 45 E ^$ Middle East ^% `! 17,820 sq km `" 17,820 sq km `# 0 sq km ^& slightly smaller than New Jersey ^' `! 462 km `U Iraq 240 km, Saudi Arabia 222 km ^( 499 km ^) `$ 12 nm ^* dry desert; intensely hot summers; short, cool winters ^+ flat to slightly undulating desert plain ^, `% Persian Gulf 0 m `& unnamed location 306 m ^- petroleum, fish, shrimp, natural gas ^. `' 0.73% `( 0.11% `) 99.16% (2001) ^/ 60 sq km (1998 est.) ^0 sudden cloudbursts are common from October to April and bring heavy rain, which can damage roads and houses; sandstorms and dust storms occur throughout the year, but are most common between March and August ^1 limited natural fresh water resources; some of world's largest and most sophisticated desalination facilities provide much of the water; air and water pollution; desertification _J `K Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection `L Marine Dumping ^2 strategic location at head of Persian Gulf 
]# ^3 2,335,648 note: includes 1,291,354 non-nationals (July 2005 est.) ^4 `* 27.2% (male 323,382/female 311,700) `+ 70.1% (male 1,045,589/female 591,243) `, 2.7% (male 40,439/female 23,295) (2005 est.) ^5 `! 25.86 years `- 28.05 years `. 22.12 years (2005 est.) ^6 3.44% note: this rate reflects a return to pre-Gulf crisis immigration of expatriates (2005 est.) ^7 21.88 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^8 2.42 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^9 14.96 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^: `/ 1.04 male(s)/female `0 1.04 male(s)/female `+ 1.77 male(s)/female `, 1.74 male(s)/female `1 1.52 male(s)/female (2005 est.) ^; `! 9.95 deaths/1,000 live births `- 10.96 deaths/1,000 live births `. 8.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) ^< `1 77.03 years `- 76.01 years `. 78.1 years (2005 est.) ^= 2.97 children born/woman (2005 est.) ^> 0.12% (2001 est.) ^? NA ^@ NA ^A `2 Kuwaiti(s) `3 Kuwaiti ^B Kuwaiti 45%, other Arab 35%, South Asian 9%, Iranian 4%, other 7% ^C Muslim 85% (Sunni 70%, Shi'a 30%), Christian, Hindu, Parsi, and other 15% ^D Arabic (official), English widely spoken ^E `M age 15 and over can read and write `1 83.5% `- 85.1% `. 81.7% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `4 State of Kuwait `5 Kuwait `V Dawlat al Kuwayt `W Al Kuwayt ^H nominal constitutional monarchy ^I Kuwait ^J 5 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Al Ahmadi, Al Farwaniyah, Al 'Asimah, Al Jahra', Hawalli ^K 19 June 1961 (from UK) ^L National Day, 25 February (1950) ^M approved and promulgated 11 November 1962 ^N civil law system with Islamic law significant in personal matters; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction ^O adult males who have been naturalized for 30 years or more or have resided in Kuwait since before 1920 and their male descendants at age 21 note: only 10% of all citizens are eligible to vote; in 1996, naturalized citizens who do not meet the pre-1920 qualification but have been naturalized for 30 years were eligible to vote for the first time ^P `6 Amir JABIR al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah (since 31 December 1977); Crown Prince SAAD al-Abdullah al-Salim al-Sabah `7 Prime Minister SABAH al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah (since 13 July 2003); First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior NAWWAF al-Ahmad al-Sabah (since 2003); Deputy Prime Ministers JABIR MUBARAK al-Hamad al-Sabah (since 2001) and Muhammad Dayfallah al-SHARAR (since 2003) `8 Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister and approved by the monarch `9 none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the monarch ^Q unicameral National Assembly or Majlis al-Umma (50 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) `9 last held 6 July 2003 (next to be held NA 2007) `: percent of vote - NA%; seats - Islamists 21, government supporters 14, liberals 3, and independents 12; note - all cabinet ministers are also ex officio members of the National Assembly ^R High Court of Appeal ^S none; formation of political parties is illegal ^T several political groups act as de facto parties: Bedouins, merchants, Sunni and Shi'a activists, and secular leftists and nationalists ^U ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, BDEAC, CAEU, FAO, G-77, GCC, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO ^V `N Ambassador SALIM Abdallah al-Jabir al-Sabah `O 2940 Tilden Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 `P [1] (202) 966-0702 `Q [1] (202) 364-2868 ^W `N Ambassador Richard LEBARON `Z Bayan, Area 14, Al-Masjed Al-Aqsa Street (near the Bayan palace), Kuwait City `[ P. O. Box 77 Safat 13001 Kuwait; or PSC 1280 APO AE 09880-9000 `P [965] 539-5307, 5308 `Q [965] 538-0282 ^X three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and red with a black trapezoid based on the hoist side; design, which dates to 1961, based on the Arab revolt flag of World War I 
]% ^Y Kuwait is a small, rich, relatively open economy with proved crude oil reserves of about 96 billion barrels - 10% of world reserves. Petroleum accounts for nearly half of GDP, 95% of export revenues, and 80% of government income. Kuwait's climate limits agricultural development. Consequently, with the exception of fish, it depends almost wholly on food imports. About 75% of potable water must be distilled or imported. Kuwait continues its discussions with foreign oil companies to develop fields in the northern part of the country. ^Z $48 billion (2004 est.) ^[ 6.8% (2004 est.) ^\ purchasing power parity - $21,300 (2004 est.) ^] `; 0.4% `< 60.5% `= 39.1% (2004 est.) ^^ 1.42 million note: non-Kuwaitis represent about 80% of the labor force (2004 est.) ^_ agriculture NA, industries NA, services NA ^` 2.2% (2004 est.) ^a NA _! `> NA `? NA _" 2.3% (2004 est.) _P 8% of GDP (2004 est.) _# `@ $35.82 billion `A $19.53 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) _Q 29.6% of GDP (2004 est.) _$ practically no crops; fish _% petroleum, petrochemicals, cement, shipbuilding and repair, desalination, food processing, construction materials _& -5% (2002 est.) _' 32.43 billion kWh (2002) _( 30.16 billion kWh (2002) _) 0 kWh (2002) _* 0 kWh (2002) _+ 2.319 million bbl/day (2004 est.) _, 293,000 bbl/day (2003 est.) _- 1.97 million bbl/day (2003) _. NA _R 96.5 billion bbl (2004 est.) _S 8.7 billion cu m (2002 est.) _T 8.7 billion cu m (2002 est.) _U 0 cu m (2002 est.) _V 0 cu m (2002 est.) _W 1.548 trillion cu m (2004) _X $12.04 billion (2004 est.) _/ $27.42 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) _0 oil and refined products, fertilizers _1 Japan 20.5%, South Korea 13.7%, US 12.4%, Singapore 11.3%, Taiwan 9.9% (2004) _2 $11.12 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) _3 food, construction materials, vehicles and parts, clothing _4 US 12.9%, Germany 11.9%, Japan 7.9%, UK 5.5%, Saudi Arabia 5.5%, Italy 5%, France 4.5%, China 4.1% (2004) _Y $7.333 billion (2004 est.) _5 $15.02 billion (2004 est.) _6 NA (2001) _7 Kuwaiti dinar (KD) _8 Kuwaiti dinars per US dollar - 0.2947 (2004), 0.298 (2003), 0.3039 (2002), 0.3067 (2001), 0.3068 (2000) _9 1 April - 31 March 
]& _: 486,900 (2003) _; 1.42 million (2003) _< `B the quality of service is excellent `C new telephone exchanges provide a large capacity for new subscribers; trunk traffic is carried by microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, and open-wire and fiber-optic cable; a cellular telephone system operates throughout Kuwait, and the country is well supplied with pay telephones `D country code - 965; coaxial cable and microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia; linked to Bahrain, Qatar, UAE via the Fiber-Optic Gulf (FOG) cable; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean, 2 Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean), and 2 Arabsat _= AM 6, FM 11, shortwave 1 (1998) _> 13 (plus several satellite channels) (1997) _? .kw _@ 3,437 (2001) _A 567,000 (2003) 
]' _B `! 4,450 km `E 3,587 km `F 863 km (1999 est.) _[ gas 169 km; oil 540 km; refined products 57 km (2004) _C Ash Shu'aybah, Ash Shuwaykh, Mina' 'Abd Allah, Mina' al Ahmadi, Mina' Su'ud _K `! 39 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 2,319,082 GRT/3,768,828 DWT by type: bulk carrier 3, container 6, liquefied gas 5, livestock carrier 5, petroleum tanker 20 `\ 19 (2005) _D 7 (2004 est.) _E `! 4 `] 1 `G 2 `^ 1 (2004 est.) _L `! 3 `^ 1 `T 2 (2004 est.) _\ 3 (2004 est.) 
]( _F Land Forces, Navy, Air Force (includes Air Defense Force), National Guard (2002) _M 18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service (2001) _] males age 18-49: 864,745 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 737,292 (2005 est.) _^ `` 18,743 (2005 est.) _N $2,584.5 million (2004) _O 5.3% (2004) 
]) _H Kuwait and Saudi Arabia continue negotiating a joint maritime boundary with Iran; no maritime boundary exists with Iraq in the Persian Gulf 