About Kuwait

The State of Kuwait occupies the north western corner of the Arabian Gulf. It is bounded in the east by the Arabian Gulf, in the south west by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and in the north and the west by the Republic of Iraq. Due to this location Kuwait is the veritable gateway to the Arab Peninsula.

Extension between the extreme points of state boundaries from south to north is about 200 Kilometers (124 miles) and from west to east along parller 29° about 170 kilometers (106 miles).

The total length of frontiers is about 685 kilometers (426 miles) about 195 kilometers (121 miles), of these borders to the east is maritime borders on the gulf. The land frontiers being 490 kilometers (304 miles) of which 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the frontiers with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the south and west, 240 kilometers with the Republic of Iraq in the North and west (149 miles).

And because location of Kuwait is between (latitude) °28.45/ and °30.06 to the north of the Equator and between longitudes, °46.30/ and °48.30 to the east of Greenwich determines, the weather of the country is typical of the Sahara geographical region.

The total area of the State of Kuwait is 17.818 square kilometers or approximately seven thousand square miles. The earth surface slopes down gently from west to east . The earth surface is generally flat with the exception of few rocky hills. Among those are "Al-Zore" hill "Al-Jahra" village, "Al-Laiah" hill and "Kira Al-Maro" Shallow valeys are also found in the desert- Among these are "Wadi Al Bateen" which extends from south west to north east near the Iraqi boundaries, and "Wadi Al - Shigaia" which is located in the south west near the frontier line with Saudi Arabia.

Several islands in Kuwait are scattered in the Arabian Gulf. the largest in area is the uninhabited "Bubian" island which is located at the north east corner, "Warba" island is located to the north of "Bubian" and is also uninhabited. In the entrance of the "Bay of Kuwait" lies the ancient "Failaka" island which is densely populated "Maskan" and , Oha " are two small islands near Failaka. Three of the deserted islands, namely "Kobbar", "Qarroh" sand "Om El-Maradem" are located along the southern coast. Along side the Bay of Kuwait there are "Korien island, near to Shuwaikh coast, and another small island "Om Al-Namel".

General Information

AREA: 17,818 sq km (6880 sq miles).

POPULATION: 1,620,086 (1994 estimate).

POPULATION DENSITY: 90.9 per sq km.

CAPITAL: Kuwait City. Population: 44,335 (1985).

GEOGRAPHY: Kuwait shares borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia. To the southeast lies the Persian Gulf, where Kuwait has sovereignty over nine small islands (the largest is Bubiyan and the most populous is Failaka).

LANGUAGE: Arabic, but English is widely understood, especially in commerce and industry.

Religion: 95Muslim (mostly of the Sunni sect), with Christian and Hindu minorities.

CLIMATE: Summers (April to October) are hot and humid with very little rain. Winters (November to March) are cool with limited rain. Springs are cool and pleasant.

TIME: GMT + 3.