Kuwait has attracted the attention and admiration of the modern world because of its strategic position, its oil wealth estimated at around 100 billion barrels, its open foreign relations, its authentic democratic way of life, and its openness towards other cultures and civilizations without neglecting its deep-rooted heritage. Its people are well known for their profound knowledge of maritime affairs, and their business acumen has given them an important position among nations and peoples.

Official Name: The State of Kuwait

Official Language: Arabic

Religion: Islam is the official religion of the State

Emblem of the State: A falcon with its wings spread, embracing a ship (a boom) floating on white and blue waves (in memory of Kuwait's seafaring past).

Official Weekly Holidays: Thursday and Friday every week for the Government sector.

Official Working Hours: 7.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.

Official Currency: The Kuwaiti Dinar (US$1.00 = 0.305 Dinar).

The flag was raised for the first time after independence on the morning of 24 November 1961. It is a horizontal rectangle, whose length is twice its width, divided into three equal horizontal sections. The top one of which is green, then white, then red, enclosing a black semi-trapezium whose larger base is the left edge of the flag for its full width, while its smaller base is equal to the width of the white section, and its height is one quarter of the length of the flag.

The State of Kuwait is located at the northwestern end of the Arabian Gulf, which adjoins it to the east. To the south and west the Republic of Iraq borders it by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and to the north and west. Because of its position, it is regarded as the northeastern gateway of the Arabian Peninsula.

Kuwait's continental climate is characterized by a long, hot, dry summer and a short, warm and sometimes rainy winter. There are usually winds that stir up the dust in the summer months, and the humidity level rises. Temperatures in the summer months reach an average of 44 degrees centigrade, but they rise to 49 degrees on some days. The lowest average temperature can fall to 23 degrees. In winter, the average temperature is 15 degrees in the daytime, and can fall to 3 degrees at night. Average humidity is 42%, although it can reach 95% or even 100% on some summer days, particularly if there are southeasterly winds.
Rainfall in Kuwait is slight, ranging between 110 and 121 millimeters, most of which falls between November and April. It varies from one area to another.

Modern Kuwait began more than 300 years ago when the country emerged as an independent political entity under the rule of the present Al- Sabah family.

Though Kuwait had been an independent political entity for more than two centuries, it gained international recognition as a sovereign state when, in June 1961, a new Treaty of Friendship replaced the Treaty of 1899 with Britain. A few weeks later Kuwait joined the Arab League. In 1963, the country became a member of the United Nations

Since the declaration of independence, the Kuwaitis have chosen democracy and consultation as the basis of government. A few months after the declaration of independence, Law 1/1962 was promulgated, establishing a Constituent Assembly to prepare a constitution for a system of government based on democratic principles. Elections were held on 6 January 1962, in which twenty members were elected to the Constituent Assembly. Together with eleven ministers who formed the executive authority, they drew up the Constitution of the State of Kuwait. The first written constitution in the region was ratified on 11 November 1962. The constitution contained 183 articles in five chapters dealing with the State, the System of Government, the Basic Components of Kuwaiti Society, Public Rights and Duties, and General and Temporary Powers and Regulations.
According to Article 1 of the Constitution, Kuwait is an independent and completely sovereign Arab state, whose sovereignty and all parts of its territory are inalienable, whose religion is Islam and whose official language is Arabic. It is a hereditary emirate ruled by the descendants of Mubarak Al-Sabah, whose Crown Prince is appointed by an Amiri Order on the basis of the recommendation of the Amir and a pledge of allegiance by the National Assembly with the agreement of the majority of its members. In the event that he is not appointed in the aforementioned manner, the Amir recommends at least three descendants of Sheikh Mubarak, and the National Assembly pledges allegiance to one of them as Crown Prince. This means that the members of the parliament, who are directly elected by those registered on the electoral rolls, have had considerable power in choosing their Amir since the Constitution came into force. This is not usually a feature of hereditary systems of government. The system of government in Kuwait is democratic, and sovereignty belongs to the people, the source of all authority.

The Amir of the country, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, has been the Head of State since he became Amir on 31 December 1977. He is the thirteenth ruler of the State of Kuwait. The personality of the Amir is protected and may not be harmed. He has the right to declare a defensive war as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, while aggressive war is forbidden.

Sheikh Sabah Ibn Jaber (Sabah I) who died in 1776. Historians differ on when his reign began.

The Kuwaiti economy is 90% dependent on oil revenues, while earnings from foreign investments and other economic activities cover the remainder.
According to Law 63/1999 on the opening of additional credit in the budget of ministries and government departments, the budget of financial year1999/20000 totaled 4.295 billion Kuwaiti dinars (approximately $14.17 billion). It was anticipated that there would be a deficit totaling 2.163 billion dinars (approximately $7.13 billion). This deficit is expected to disappear by the end of the year after the rise in oil prices.

The Kuwait Oil Company was established as a joint venture between the National Petroleum Company and Gulf Oil early in December 1933. It signed an oil exploration concession with the then ruler of Kuwait, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, on 23 December 1934. On 22 February 1938 it made its first discovery of oil in commercial quantities, in a field, which is still producing to this day. Production began in 1946, and Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber inaugurated the first export shipment of Kuwaiti crude oil on 30 June 1946. Exploratory drilling continued in Muqawa, Ahmadi, Rawdatain, Managish and Umm Qadir.

In 1949 the Southern Pier, the largest pier of its kind in the world, extending 1,200 meters out to sea, was built to enable eight ships to be loaded simultaneously.
Kuwait's oil production is 1.836 million barrels a day (b/d) according to the quota agreed at the OPEC Oil Ministers' meetings, while its productive capacity is estimated at around 2,4 million b/d.
Its oil reserves are estimated at about 100 billion barrels, which is nearly 10% of total world reserves estimated at 1051.7 billion barrels at the end of 1988.
The oil sector in Kuwait is supervised by the Supreme Petroleum Council, whose Chairman is First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber. The Ministry of Oil draws up and implements oil policy through the national Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), which was founded in 1980, and its subsidiaries the Kuwait Oil Company, the Kuwait National Petroleum Company, the Kuwait Oil Tanker Company, and the Petrochemical Industries Company.
To cope with the expansion of its external operations, KPC established three other subsidiaries, namely:

At the forefront of activities in this sector is industry based on oil products, electricity generation and desalination, food industries, wood industries, clothing, and others.

The State offers several incentives to support the industrial sector through:

The Petrochemical Industries Company and Union Carbide agreed in 1995 to establish the $2 billion Equate project to build one of the largest petrochemical complexes in the world. It was established in the Shuaiba area, and operations began more than two and a half years ago.

A study presented to the first conference for industrialists in April 1999 revealed that a total of about 44,000 Kuwaitis (25% of the Kuwaiti labor force and about 4% of the overall labor force in the country) work in the industrial sector.

This sector contains eight banks, one of which (the Kuwait Finance House) operates according to principles of Islamic law. They are:

All these banks have sound financial positions and personnel noted for their expertise. Many of these banks engage in investment activity outside Kuwait through investment funds and portfolios, which have achieved good results so far. This sector also includes 23 investment companies and 24 money-changing firms, all of them registered with the Central Bank of Kuwait and subject to its supervision as "the bank of banks".

Kuwait has established a special account known as the "Reserve for Future Generations", to which 10% of oil revenues are transferred each year. Before the Iraqi invasion of the State of Kuwait, this reserve contained $100 billion, but since a large part of this had to be used for the costs of the war to liberate Kuwait and postwar reconstruction, it shrank to about $35 billion. The present size of the Reserve for Future Generations is estimated at $45-50 billion.

The Kuwait Stock Exchange is regarded as one of the major stock exchanges, and its market value is estimated at around $30 billion. It has seen record levels of activity at some times, although it is at present suffering from a decline in its index and in the volume and value of dealings, in anticipation of new laws related to foreign investment and other laws, whose adoption will result in new liquidity in the market.
Kuwait's currency (the Dinar) has a free exchange rate, and the government does not intervene to determine its price. Nevertheless it is strong and stable against other world currencies.

Kuwait University was established in 1966, to help meet the country's needs for doctors, teachers, lawyers, economists and other skilled professionals, and also to enable foreign residents and students from other Gulf countries to have the benefits of a university education. It was the first university to be established in an Arab Gulf state. Courses began there in the academic year 1966-67 with a teaching staff of 31, and 418 students studying in a combined Faculty of Science, Letters, and Education.
The university expanded rapidly, with the addition of new faculties. In1967, when the university was still only a year old, Faculties of Law and Sharia (Islamic Law), Commerce, Economics and Political Science were opened. In 1971 the Faculties of Science, Letters and Education were separated from each other, the Faculty of Medicine was established in 1973, the Faculty of Engineering and Petroleum in 1974 and the Faculty of Higher Studies in 1977. A separate Faculty for Sharia and Islamic Studies was set up in 1981, and the following year saw the establishment of centers for Civil Engineering and Medical Science. Faculties of Pharmacy and Dentistry were founded in 1996.
In the academic year 1993-94, 40% of graduates were in scientific subjects and 60% in humanities.
Kuwait University pays particular attention to studies of Islamic and Arab civilization and the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf, and establishes cultural and professional links with other regional and international universities and institutes of learning.

The State of Kuwait is eager to encourage culture, through public libraries, the activities of the National Council for Culture, the Arts and Literature and its various subsidiary bodies, or through the activities of other institutions.
There are public libraries throughout Kuwait, offering hundreds of thousands of books, periodicals and reference works to their readers. There is a well-stocked central library, which occupies the Mubarakiya School building (the first school established in Kuwait).
The Higher Institute of Theatrical Arts and the Higher Institute of Music work to spread the arts of the theatre and music, hold special performances and graduate students, thus helping to raise the standards of taste in these arts.
The National Council, which was established in 1973, supervises the publication of the World Theatre, World Culture, World of Knowledge, World of Thought and World Creativity series of books. It also organizes an annual cultural festival known as the Qurain Cultural Festival,through which orchestras and artists from Kuwait, the Arab World and other countries present examples of their creativity to the public.

The festival also includes an intellectual or cultural seminar, which deals with some subject and is a true embodiment of intellectual variety and respect for opinion and counter-opinion. Kuwaitis contribute a fair amount to Arab literary, cultural and intellectual output. Two Kuwaiti novels have won appreciation in Arab literary circles and were chosen among the hundred best Arabic novels in the twentieth century.
Kuwait has also produced a number of films which have had a good response in the Arab World, including "Enough, You Sea", "Silence", The Wedding of the Beautiful", and "Shahin",but a full-fledged cinema industry has not yet developed in Kuwait.

There are many daily Arabic newspapers in Kuwait, Al-Watan, Al-Qabas and Al-Siyassah, and two English-language newspapers, The Arab Times and The Kuwait Times as well as dozens of weekly, monthly and quarterly magazines and periodicals. The press in Kuwait enjoys a wide margin of freedom. In the event that any of them is suspended temporarily from publication, its owners turn to the judiciary to judge between them and whoever took the decision to suspend them, which is a rare occurrence.
Because of its professional distinction and the freedom it enjoys, the press in Kuwait, which is all privately owned, has a high degree of credibility in the Arab region and the world.

Radio and television in Kuwait are both government-owned. They are under the authority of the Ministry of Information, although this not prevents them from dealing with local and foreign questions of interest with a high degree of objectivity. Nevertheless, Kuwaitis do not hesitate to criticize institutions subject to the Ministry of Information.

The Ministry publishes two magazines, Al-Arabi and Al-Kuwait, which concern themselves with thought-provoking issues and cultural and heritage subjects.