Where in the World is Kuwait

Located at the far northwestern corner of the Persian Gulf, known locally as the Arabian Gulf, The sovereign nation of Kuwait possesses a land area of 6,880 square miles—slightly smaller than the American state of New Jersey—with a 310 mile coastline including nine islands and 287 miles of shared borders with Iraq to the north and Saudi Arabia to the south. While coastal regions are tempered somewhat by warm gulf waters, most of Kuwait has a desert climate with annual rainfall amounts of one to seven inches, which falls primarily between October and April. During the dry season, between April and September, daytime temperates average 111 degrees Fahrenheit, with occasional heatwaves reaching 130 degrees.

Melting Pot Nation

Despite government policies intent on reducing the number of foreign workers after the Iraqi invasion of 1990, Kuwaitis remain a minority in their own country—a mere 27%—while two-thirds of Kuwait’s population is made up of expatriate workers from other Arab states, as well as South and Southeast Asians. Lacking any economic, political or citizenship rights, the melting pot diaspora of cultures creates a diverse food scene in most major Kuwaiti cities, including Al Ahmadi, Hawalli, Kuwait City and Sabah as Salim. The same applies to the rich texture of foreign languages, and while Arabic is the official language of Kuwait, others spoken and widely understood languages include English, Tagalog (tuh gaa luhg), Pidgin Arabic, Hindi, Farsi, Bengali, French and Pashto.

A Wealthy Place

Given its desert-like topographical challenges, few land animals can be found in Kuwait, save for the occasional gazelle, fox or civet, as well as the rare yet highly venomous sand viper lizard and the more benign vegetarian dab lizard. What the nation of 4.36 million people is rich in, however, is oil and natural gas, which, according to the World Bank, accounts for 90% of Kuwait’s export earnings and fiscal revenues which equal an annual GDP of $106 billion USD, making Kuwait the fifth richest country in the world by gross national income per capita. Other industries include healthcare, tourism, agriculture, finance, automotive and fisheries, making the nation of Kuwait, a small yet thriving country in the Middle East.