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| Basic Facts |
| Official name |
State of Kuwait |
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| Capital |
Kuwait |
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| Area |
17,818 sq km |
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6,880 sq mi |
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| Administrative divisions (population) |
| Al Ahmadi |
313,424 (1998) |
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| Al 'Asimah |
305,694 (1998) |
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| Al Farwaniyah |
498,584 (1998) |
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| Ḩawallī |
496,245 (1998) |
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| Al Jahra' |
252,157 (1998) |
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| Largest cities (population) |
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| As Salimiyah |
130,215 (1995) |
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| Jalib ash Shuyukh |
102,178 (1995) |
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| Hawalli |
82,238 (1995) |
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| Kuwait |
1,222,000 (2003 estimate) |
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| Kuwaiti Flag and Anthem |
 Expand |
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| People |
| Population |
2,691,158 (2009 estimate) |
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| Population growth rate |
3.55 per cent (2009 estimate) |
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| Population density |
151 persons per sq km (2009 estimate) |
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391 persons per sq mi (2009 estimate) |
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| Urbanization |
| Per cent urban |
96 per cent (2003 estimate) |
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| Per cent rural |
4 per cent (2003 estimate) |
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| Life expectancy |
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| Total |
77.7 years (2009 estimate) |
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| Female |
79 years (2009 estimate) |
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| Male |
76.5 years (2009 estimate) |
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| Infant mortality rate |
| 9 deaths per 1,000 live births (2009 estimate) |
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| Literacy rate |
| Total |
93.9 per cent (2007 estimate) |
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| Female |
92.2 per cent (2007 estimate) |
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| Male |
94.9 per cent (2007 estimate) |
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| Ethnic divisions |
| Kuwaiti |
45 per cent |
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| Other Arab |
35 per cent |
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| Indian and Pakistani |
9 per cent |
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| Iranian |
4 per cent |
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| Other or none |
7 per cent |
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| Languages |
| Arabic (Standard Arabic is official), Mehri |
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| Religions |
| Sunni Muslim |
45 per cent |
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| Shiite Muslim |
30 per cent |
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| Other Muslim |
10 per cent |
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| Christian |
10 per cent |
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| Hindu, Parsi, and other |
5 per cent |
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| Government |
| Type of government |
Nominal constitutional monarchy |
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| Independence |
June 19, 1961 (from the United Kingdom) |
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| Constitution |
November 11, 1962 (some provisions suspended since August 29, 1992) |
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| Voting rights |
Adult males and as of May 16, 2005, adult females, who have been citizens for 20 years and are not in the security forces |
| NOTE: Only 14 per cent of all citizens are eligible to vote; since 1996, naturalized citizens who do not meet the pre-1920 qualification but have been naturalized for 30 years are eligible to vote. |
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| Economy |
| Gross domestic product (GDP) (US$) |
| 112,116 million (2007) |
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| GDP per capita (US$) |
42,102 (2007) |
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| GDP by economic sector |
| GDP, agriculture |
0.5 per cent (2003) |
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| GDP, industry |
51.1 per cent (2003) |
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| GDP, services |
48.5 per cent (2003) |
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| National budget (US$) |
| Total revenue |
54,135 million (2007) |
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| Total expenditure |
35,829 million (2007) |
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| Monetary unit |
| 1 Kuwaiti dinar (KD), consisting of 1,000 fils |
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| Exports |
| Oil, refined oil and products, fertilizers, chemicals |
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| Imports |
| Food, construction materials, vehicles and parts, clothing |
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| Major trading partners for exports |
| Japan, United States, Netherlands, Singapore |
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| Major trading partners for imports |
| United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, France, India |
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| Industries |
| Petroleum, petrochemicals, desalinization, food processing, building materials, salt, construction |
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| Agriculture |
| Cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, and other vegetables, fish; about 75 per cent of potable water must be distilled or imported |
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| Natural resources |
| Petroleum, fish, shrimp, natural gas |
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| Sources |
| Basic Facts and People sections |
| Area data are from the statistical bureaus of individual countries. Population, population growth rate, and population projections are from the United States Census Bureau, International Programs Center, International Data Base (IDB) (www.census.gov). Urban and rural population data are from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), FAOSTAT database (www.fao.org). Largest cities population data and political divisions data are from the statistical bureaus of individual countries. Ethnic divisions and religion data are largely from the latest Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook and from various country censuses and reports. Language data are largely from the Ethnologue, Languages of the World, Summer Institute of Linguistics International (www.sil.org). |
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| Health and Education section |
| Life expectancy and infant mortality data are from the United States Census Bureau, International Programs Center, International database (IDB) (www.census.gov). Population per physician and population per hospital bed data are from the World Health Organization (WHO) (www.who.int). Education data are from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) database (www.unesco.org). |
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| Government section |
| Government, independence, legislature, constitution, highest court, and voting qualifications data are largely from various government Web sites, the latest Europa World Yearbook, and the latest Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook. The armed forces data are from Military Balance. |
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| Economy section |
| Gross domestic product (GDP), GDP per capita, GDP by economic sectors, employment, and national budget data are from the World Bank database (www.worldbank.org). Monetary unit, agriculture, mining, manufacturing, exports, imports, and major trade partner information is from the latest Europa World Yearbook and various International Monetary Fund (IMF) publications. |
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| Energy, Communication, and Transportation section |
| Electricity information is from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) database (www.eia.doe.gov). Radio, telephone, television, and newspaper information is from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) database (www.unesco.org). Internet hosts, motor vehicles, and road data are from the World Bank database (www.worldbank.org). |
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| Note |
| Figures may not total 100 per cent due to rounding. |
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