International disputes: Kuwait and Saudi Arabia continue negotiating a joint maritime boundary with Iran; no maritime boundary exists with Iraq in the Persian Gulf. Major sources and definitions. It is slightly larger than Hawaii. The low-lying desert land is mainly sandy and barren. Kuwait is believed to have been part of an early civilization in the 3rd millennium B. Archeological and historical traces disappeared around the first millennium B. At the beginning of the 18th century, the 'Anizah tribe of central Arabia founded Kuwait City, which became an autonomous sheikdom by In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the sheikdom belonged to the fringes of the Ottoman Empire.
Kuwait obtained British protection in when the sheik feared that the Turks would expand their hold over the area. In , Britain ended the protectorate, giving Kuwait independence, but agreed to give military aid on request.
Iraq immediately threatened to occupy the area, and the British sent troops to defend Kuwait. Soon afterward, the Arab League sent in troops, replacing the British. Iraq's claim was dropped when the Arab League recognized Kuwait's independence on July 20, Historically, Kuwait followed a neutral and mediatory policy among Arab states.
Since it has been the world's second-largest oil exporter. The sheik, who receives half of the profits, devotes most of them to the education, welfare, and modernization of his kingdom.
By , the sheikdom had established a model welfare state, and it sought to establish dominance among the sheikdoms and emirates of the Persian Gulf. After a failed Arab mediation attempt to solve the dispute peacefully, Iraq invaded Kuwait on Aug. A coalition of Arab and Western military forces drove Iraqi troops from Kuwait in a mere four days, from Feb. The emir returned to his country from Saudi Arabia in mid-March. Martial law, in effect since the end of the Gulf War, ended in late June.
The U. A Kuwaiti appeal brought the quick deployment of U. In , the emir gave women the right to vote and run for parliament, but later that year Parliament defeated the ruler's decree. Kuwaiti society has grown increasingly conservative under the influence of Islamic fundamentalists. In , traditionalists won a sweeping victory in parliamentary elections. The emir and crown prince who served as prime minister were elderly and ailing; in July , the country's de facto leader, foreign minister Sheik Sabah, replaced the crown prince as prime minister.
In May , Kuwait abandoned its ban on women's suffrage, and in June a woman was appointed to the cabinet. In April , women voted for the first time. In Jan. Consul to Kuwait. Diplomatic relations were established on September 22, , by agreement between the governments of both states.
American Ambassador W. The American Embassy reopened on March 1, , following the expulsion of Iraqi armed forces from Kuwait by the military forces of the United States and a multinational coalition. Menu Menu. Kuwait - Countries. In the Burgan oil field, located south of Kuwait city, was discovered. It is considered the richest single oil field in the world. Other fields have since been discovered. The Kuwait Oil Company was nationalized in Oil accounted for nearly 90 percent of its earnings.
The government has also invested much of its oil income abroad. It includes oil refining, the processing of oil products, and the production of natural gas. Manufactures include sand-and-lime bricks, concrete, prefabricated houses, and processed foods.
Furniture making, fishing, and shipbuilding are traditional industries. Kuwait city is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Kuwait. It has changed dramatically from its days as a mud-walled fishing village and center of the pearling trade. Graceful sailing ships called dhows once dotted its waters. Today Kuwait city has broad avenues and high-rise buildings.
It is the commercial, financial, and industrial heart of the country. Many Kuwaitis fled the city when the country was invaded. Those who remained suffered under the Iraqi occupation. Other important urban areas include Mena al Ahmadi, an oil port; the port of Shuwaykh; and the new city of Ahmadi, built by the Kuwait Oil Company.
Kuwait is a constitutional monarchy. Its ruler is the emir, who belongs to the Sabah family that has ruled Kuwait since The emir is chosen for life by other members of the family.
He exercises power through a prime minister and a council of ministers. Traditionally, the office of prime minister has gone to the crown prince, the intended successor of the emir. In , Kuwait adopted its first constitution. It provides for an elected legislature, the National Assembly. Its members serve 4-year terms. Only male citizens over the age of 21 who are able to read and write and whose parents have lived in Kuwait since are allowed to vote and take part in political life.
This includes only a small fraction of the total population. But all people living in the country may benefit from the wide range of social services offered by the government. Early History. In they chose the Sabahs to be the ruling family of what is now the nation of Kuwait.
The region was nominally part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, but the Sabah family was allowed much self-government in local matters. But attacks on the town of Kuwait by raiding Arab tribes and by Persian Gulf pirates led to its economic decline. British Influence. Britain became especially interested in Kuwait because the Persian Gulf was a vital waterway on the route to British-controlled India.
In he signed a treaty with Britain, in return for British protection. After the war—under the pro-British rule of Sheikh Ahmad, a nephew of Salem—the country began to flourish.
Concessions were signed with the oil companies, and immigrant workers swelled the population. The oil boom and its accompanying prosperity began in , when oil operations, halted during World War II , were resumed.
Under Abdullah the country made great economic progress. Kuwait gained full independence from Britain on June 19, Abdullah died in and was succeeded as emir by Sheikh Sabah al-Salim al-Sabah. To protect Kuwaiti oil shipments during the Iran-Iraq war of , the U. The Persian Gulf War. In spite of its support of Iraq during the war, Kuwait was invaded by its much larger neighbor in Iraq had claimed Kuwait as part of its territory under Turkish rule.
Using the pretext of disputed oil fields and disagreements over oil production quotas, Iraq quickly overran Kuwait, as the emir fled to Saudi Arabia. The aggression was condemned by the United Nations Security Council and by many governments. When Iraq refused to withdraw from Kuwait, the United Nations authorized the use of military force by a coalition alliance of nations led by the United States.
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