Kuwait

Geography

Location: Asia, Middle East, bordering
the Persian Gulf, between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Area: 17,820 sq. km. Principal cities: Kuwait city. Tourist attractions: Failaka Island, Oil Display Centre and Red Fort. Time zone: GMT + 3 hours.

People

Population: 2,505,559. This includes 1,291,354 non-nationals (July 2007 est.). Population growth rate: 3.561% (2007 est.). Sex ratio: 1.52 male(s)/female (2007 est.). Religions: Muslim (Sunni,Shi'a), Christian, Hindu. Parsi, and oth­ers. Languages: Arabic (official). En­glish widely spoken. Literacy rate: Total 93.3%, Male 99.4%, Female 91% (2005 census est). Infant mortality rate: 9.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.). Life expectancy: Total 77.36 years, Male 76.25 years. Female 78.52 years (2007 est.).

Government

Capital: Kuwait City. National an­them: Al-Nasheed, Al-Watani. Gov­ernment type: Nominal constitutional monarchy. Independence: 19 June 1961 (from UK). Legal system: Civil law system with Islamic law significant in personal matters. Executive branch: Chief of state: Amir Sheikh Sabah al-ahmad al-jaber al-sabah (since 29 January 2006). Head of government: Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammed al-ahmed al-sabah (since 3 April 2007). Legislative branch: Kuwait has a unicameral National Assembly or Majlis al-Umma that has 50 seats. Judicial branch: High court of appeal.

Economy

Currency: Kuwaiti dinar. Currency conversion: Kuwaiti dinar per Indian rupee—0.0071 (June 2007 est.). GDP: Purchasing power parity-—$55.91 billion (2006 est.). GDP—real growth rate: 12,6% (2006 est.). GDP—per capita: Purchasing power parity—$23,100 (2006 est,). Inflation rate: 3% (2006 est.). Exports: $56.06 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.). Imports: $19.12 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.). External debt: $19.7 billion (2006 est.),

Transport and Communications

Railways: None. Roads: 5,749 km. Airports: Kuwait International Airport. Telephones: 510,300 (2005). Mobile cellular: 2.536 million (2005). Internet users: 700,000 (2005). Internet country code: .kw. ISD code: 965.