]! ^! 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 $5 billion to repair oil infrastructure damaged during 1990-91. The AL-SABAH family has ruled since returning to power in 1991, and reestablished an elected legislature that in recent years has become increasingly assertive. 
]" ^" Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iraq and Saudi Arabia ^# 29 30 N, 45 45 E ^$ Middle East ^% `! 17,820 sq km `" 17,820 sq km `# 0 sq km ^& slightly smaller than New Jersey ^' `! 462 km `Y 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 ^. `' 0.84% `( 0.17% `) 98.99% (2005) ^/ 130 sq km (2003) ^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 _P `P Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection `Q Marine Dumping ^2 strategic location at head of Persian Gulf 
]# ^3 2,505,559 `* includes 1,291,354 non-nationals (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 26.7% (male 340,814/female 328,663) `, 70.5% (male 1,128,231/female 636,967) `- 2.8% (male 44,542/female 26,342) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 26 years `. 27.9 years `/ 22.4 years (2007 est.) ^6 3.561% `* this rate reflects a return to pre-Gulf crisis immigration of expatriates (2007 est.) ^7 21.95 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 2.39 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 16.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.04 male(s)/female `1 1.037 male(s)/female `, 1.771 male(s)/female `- 1.691 male(s)/female `2 1.526 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 9.47 deaths/1,000 live births `. 10.48 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 8.42 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 77.36 years `. 76.25 years `/ 78.52 years (2007 est.) ^= 2.86 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> 0.12% (2001 est.) ^? NA ^@ NA ^A `3 Kuwaiti(s) `4 Kuwaiti ^B Kuwaiti 45%, other Arab 35%, South Asian 9%, Iranian 4%, other 7% ^C Muslim 85% (Sunni 70%, Shi'a 30%), other (includes Christian, Hindu, Parsi) 15% ^D Arabic (official), English widely spoken ^E `5 age 15 and over can read and write `2 83.5% `. 85.1% `/ 81.7% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `6 State of Kuwait `7 Kuwait `Z Dawlat al Kuwayt `[ Al Kuwayt ^H constitutional hereditary emirate ^I `8 Kuwait `9 29 20 N, 47 59 E `: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) ^J 6 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Al Ahmadi, Al 'Asimah, Al Farwaniyah, Al Jahra', Hawalli, Mubarak Al Kabir ^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 NA years of age; universal (adult); note - males in the military or police are not allowed to vote; adult females were allowed to vote as of 16 May 2005; all voters must have been citizens for 20 years ^P `; Amir SABAH al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah (since 29 January 2006); Crown Prince NAWAF al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah `< Prime Minister NASIR MUHAMMAD al-Ahmad al-Sabah (since 3 April 2007); First Deputy Prime Minister JABIR Mubarak al-Hamad al-Sabah (since 9 February 2006); Deputy Prime Ministers MUHAMMAD al-Sabah al-Salim al-Sabah (since 9 February 2006) and Faysal al-HAJJI (since 5 April 2007) `= Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister and approved by the amir `> none; the amir is hereditary; the amir appoints the prime minister and deputy prime ministers ^Q unicameral National Assembly or Majlis al-Umma (50 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms; all cabinet ministers are also ex officio voting members of the National Assembly) `> last held 29 June 2006 (next election to be held in 2010) `? percent of vote by bloc - NA; seats by bloc - Islamic Bloc (Sunni) 17, Popular Bloc 9, National Action Bloc (liberals) 8, independents 16 ^R High Court of Appeal ^S none; formation of political parties is in practice illegal, but is not forbidden by law ^T a number of political groups act as de facto parties; several legislative blocs operate in the National Assembly: tribal groups, merchants, Shi'a activists, Islamists, secular liberals and pro-government deputies; in mid-2006, a coalition of Islamists, liberals, and Shia campaigned successfully for electoral reform to reduce corruption ^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, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO ^V `R Ambassador SALIM Abdallah al-Jabir al-Sabah `S 2940 Tilden Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 `T [1] (202) 966-0702 `U [1] (202) 966-0517 ^W `R Ambassador Richard LEBARON `_ Bayan 36302, 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 `T [965] 259-1001 `U [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 self-reported 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. High oil prices in recent years have helped build Kuwait's budget and trade surpluses and foreign reserves. As a result of this positive fiscal situation, the need for economic reforms is less urgent and the government has not earnestly pushed through new initiatives. ^Z $52.17 billion (2006 est.) ^[ $58.3 billion (2006 est.) ^\ 8% (2006 est.) ^] $21,600 (2006 est.) ^^ `@ 0.4% `A 48.3% `B 51.3% (2006 est.) ^_ 1.136 million `* non-Kuwaitis represent about 80% of the labor force (2006 est.) ^` `@ NA% `A NA% `B NA% ^a 2.2% (2004 est.) _! NA% _" `C NA% `D NA% _# 3% (2006 est.) _V 26.4% of GDP (2006 est.) _$ `E $59.58 billion `F $33.62 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.) _% 8.1% of GDP (2006 est.) _& practically no crops; fish _' petroleum, petrochemicals, cement, shipbuilding and repair, water desalination, food processing, construction materials _( 13.1% (2005 est.) _) 40.37 billion kWh (2004) _* 37.54 billion kWh (2004) _+ 0 kWh (2004) _, 0 kWh (2004) _- 2.418 million bbl/day (2005 est.) _. 335,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) _/ 1.97 million bbl/day (2003) _0 NA bbl/day _W 96.5 billion bbl (2006 est.) _1 9.7 billion cu m (2004 est.) _2 9.7 billion cu m (2004 est.) _X 0 cu m (2004 est.) _Y 0 cu m (2004 est.) _Z 1.572 trillion cu m (1 January 2005 est.) _Q $40.75 billion (2006 est.) _3 $56.06 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) _4 oil and refined products, fertilizers _5 Japan 19.7%, South Korea 15.4%, US 11.9%, Taiwan 11.1%, Singapore 9.5%, Netherlands 4.7% (2005) _6 $19.12 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) _7 food, construction materials, vehicles and parts, clothing _8 US 14.1%, Germany 10.8%, Japan 8.4%, Saudi Arabia 6.2%, UK 5.7%, France 4.8%, China 4.5% (2005) _[ $11.08 billion (2006 est.) _9 $19.7 billion (2006 est.) _: $NA _; Kuwaiti dinar (KD) _< Kuwaiti dinars per US dollar - 0.29 (2006), 0.292 (2005), 0.2947 (2004), 0.298 (2003), 0.3039 (2002) _= 1 April - 31 March 
]& _> 510,300 (2005) _? 2.536 million (2006) _@ `G the quality of service is excellent `H 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 `I 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 _A AM 6, FM 11, shortwave 1 (1998) _B 13 (plus several satellite channels) (1997) _C .kw _D 2,310 (2006) _E 700,000 (2005) 
]' _F 7 (2006) _G `! 4 `a 1 `J 2 `b 1 (2006) _R `! 3 `b 1 `W 2 (2006) _] 5 (2006) _^ gas 269 km; oil 540 km; refined products 57 km (2006) _H `! 5,749 km `K 4,887 km `L 862 km (2004) _S `! 38 ships (1000 GRT or over) 2,424,983 GRT/3,996,755 DWT by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 1, container 6, liquefied gas 5, livestock carrier 3, petroleum tanker 21 `d 28 (Bahrain 3, Comoros 1, Liberia 1, Libya 1, Panama 2, Qatar 7, Saudi Arabia 5, UAE 8) (2006) _I Ash Shu'aybah, Ash Shuwaykh, Az Zawr (Mina' Sa'ud), Mina' 'Abd Allah, Mina' al Ahmadi 
]( _J Land Forces, Kuwaiti Navy, Kuwaiti Air Force (Al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Kuwaitiya), National Guard (2007) _T 18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; 1 month annual training to age 40; women have served in police forces since 1999 (2001) _K males age 18-49: 864,745 females age 18-49: 467,120 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 737,292 females age 18-49: 405,207 (2005 est.) _L males age 18-49: 18,743 females age 18-49: 20,065 (2005 est.) _U 5.9% (2006 est.) 
]) _N Kuwait and Saudi Arabia continue negotiating a joint maritime boundary with Iran; no maritime boundary exists with Iraq in the Persian Gulf __ `f Kuwait is a destination country for men and women who migrate legally from South and Southeast Asia for domestic or low-skilled labor, but are subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude by employers in Kuwait including conditions of physical and sexual abuse, non-payment of wages, confinement to the home, and withholding of passports to restrict their freedom of movement; Kuwait is reportedly a transit point for South and East Asian workers recruited for low-skilled work in Iraq; some of these workers are deceived as to the true location and nature of this work, and others are subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude in Iraq; in past years, Kuwait was also a destination country for children exploited as camel jockeys, but this form of trafficking appears to have ceased `g Tier 2 Watch List - Kuwait is placed on the Tier 2 Watch List based largely on pledges of future actions 