Middle East strategic location(see appendix fig) at head of the Persian Gulf, between Saudi Arabia & Iraq.

Currency :- Kuwaiti Dinar It is the highest valued currency in the world with its valuation rate as that of

1 KWD = Rs. 161.18

1 KWD = $ 3.483

Area :-

17,820 sq km

It is a very small country in terms of area which is a bit more than the area of the Indian state of Nagaland’s area (16,700 sq km)

Population :-

35,00,000

Out of which about 20,00,000 to 25,00,000 are immigrants who are not Kuwaiti citizens but are here for work with the rest who are the original Kuwaiti inhabitants.

The Arabic is the national language but English is widely used. The south Asian languages like Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Filipino are also widely spoken

The non Kuwaiti citizens mainly include immigrants from India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia & Egypt.

Its net migration rate is third highest in the world (16.09 %).

Also the literacy is very high about 93.9%

The population is young with a large amount of people falling to the age group of 20 to 35(refer fig)

Important Cities:-

Kuwait City:- The capital and the largest city of Kuwait with the population of about 96,100 in the main city and about 2,38,000 in its suburbs.

The other important cities include Hawalli, Al Farwaniyah, Al Jahra.

About 96% of the total population lives in the urban areas.

Political Situation in Kuwait

Kuwait an emirate is a constitutional monarch which is the oldest directly elected parliament in the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf. The head of Kuwait is the Emir or Sheikh, which is a hereditary office belonging to Al-Sabah dynasty. A council of ministers(cabinet ministers) helps the Prime Minister to perform his task as the head of Kuwaiti Government which must contain minimum one elected member of the Kuwaiti parliament, the Majlis Al-Umma the Kuwaiti National Assembly. The National Assembly of Kuwait has the power to dismiss the Prime Minister or any member of cabinet through a series of legislative procedures. Cabinet ministers are answerable to the Prime Minister & The National Assembly.

Emir is the supreme commander or the dictator of the State. The Emir has the right to appoint and dismiss diplomats & even the PM. Legislative power is shared by the Emir and the National Assembly as per the Constitution. The Emir of Kuwait cannot be punished by law. He has the power to dissolve the National Assembly and announce the elections, or in cases of national emergency has the power to dissolve the National Assembly assuming the supremacy over the country. The Emir is also the chief of Kuwait’s armed forces. The Emir has power to grant pardon from the death penalty or prison.

Political Instability

Several conflicts have been occurring between the Emir, the Prime minister and the National Assembly over various policies due to which National Assembly of Kuwait was dissolved in the following years: 1976-1981, 1986-1991 and again from May 1999- July 1999 due to serious conflicts between Cabinet Ministers and the National Assembly. Recently the Assembly was dissolved in May 2009 by the Emir forcing the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah and his Cabinet causing the nationwide elections on May 16, 2009.

Elections

More than two-thirds of people living in Kuwait are devoid of Kuwaiti citizenship and thus don’t have the right to vote in parliamentary elections. The validity of elections is of 4 years. Prior to 2005, 15% of the Kuwaiti population were allowed to vote, with all citizens (i.e. including those of less than thirty years’ citizenship), and members of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces excluded. The decision to include them raised Kuwait’s eligible voter population by about 243% from 1,39,000 to about 3,39,000. In 2006, Kuwaiti citizens were estimated to be more than 9,60,000.

Women In politics

In 2005, the then Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah appointed the first women as a cabinet minister, Massouma Mubarak offering her the post in his Cabinet as Planning Minister as well as Minister of State for Administrative Development Affairs. In 2008 parliamentary elections, about 27 of the 275 candidates were women i.e approximately 10 %. But all of them lost. In the recently concluded parliamentary elections on 16 May 2009, 16 female candidates contested for 50 seats for a four-year term. Four female candidates won their seats becoming Kuwait’s first female lawmakers.