Kuwait

Dawlat al-Kuwayt

Note: On December 1, 2008, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah accepted the resignation of the government and reappointed Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Muhammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah, asking him to form a new government. The government had tendered its resignation on November 25.

Political Status: Constitutional hereditary emirate; independent since June 19, 1961, save for occupation by Iraq from August 2, 1990, to February 26, 1991.

Area: 6,880 sq. mi. (17,818 sq. km.).

Population: 1,575,983 (1995C), including 655,820 Kuwaitis and 920,163 non-Kuwaitis; 3,387,000 (2007E). The 1995 figure is not adjusted for underenumeration.

Major Urban Centers (2005E): KUWAIT CITY (32,000), Salmiya (145,000), Hawalli (107,000).

Official Language: Arabic.

Monetary Unit: Dinar (official rate November 1, 2008: 1 dinar = $3.70US). In May 2007 Kuwait abandoned the dinar's peg to the dollar, instead ...