: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