Kuwait has diplomatic relations with the USSR and the People's Republic of China, as well as with the US, which has supplied Kuwait with $1.5 billion of sophisticated weaponry from foreign military sales (FMC). In 1981 Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman formed the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for mutual defense, and in 1987 Kuwait was elected chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Kuwait has been modernizing its own military forces as well as purchasing sophisticated weapons from the UK, the US, France, and the USSR. In 1987 the US reflagged 11 Kuwaiti tankers to protect them from Iranian attacks. Kuwait lent Iraq $6 billion, in retaliation for which Iran bombed a Kuwaiti oil depot, and Shi'a Muslim terrorists bombed the French and US embassies and hijacked a Kuwaiti airliner in 1984.
Kuwait has been engaged in continuing border disputes with Iraq since 1961, but the most immediate threat to Kuwait has been the Iran-Iraq war. In addition to domestic expenditures and imports, Kuwait has extended $5 billion worth of loans to developing countries, made through the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. About $75 billion is kept in 2 reserve funds: the Fund for Future Generations and the General Reserve Fund. Nevertheless exports exceed imports by $2 billion, and the Kuwaiti dinar is a strong currency (1 KD=US$3.57). Kuwait imports machinery, manufactured goods, and food. Other industrial products include ammonia, chemical fertilizers, fishing and water desalinization (215 million gallons a day). Kuwait has more than 66 billion barrels of recoverable oil but limits production to 999,000 barrels per day. All petroleum-related activities are managed by the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), which includes the nationalized Kuwait Oil Company, petrochemical industries, the 22-vessel tanker fleet, and refineries and service stations in Europe, where Kuwaiti oil is marketed under the brand name Q8. Oil accounts for 85% of Kuwait's exports, which total $7.42 billion income from foreign investments (about $60 billion) makes up most of the balance. Despite the fall in oil prices in 1982 and the loss of trade due to the Iran-Iraq war, Kuwait is one of the world's wealthiest countries with a per capita gross domestic product of $10,175. Kuwait and Iraq have been disputing Kuwait's northern border since 1913, and the southern border includes a Divided Zone, where sovereignty is disputed by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. However, the Assembly has since been suspended due to internal friction. A constitution was promulgated in 1962, and a National Assembly was elected by adult male suffrage in 1963. In 1899 the ruler, Sheikh Mubarak Al Sabah, whose descendents still rule Kuwait, signed a treaty with Britain and Kuwait remained a British protectorate until it became independent in 1961. Kuwait was first settled by Arab tribes from Qatar.
Infant mortality among Kuwaitis is 26.1/1000, and life expectancy is 70 years.
#1.7 MILLION PEOPLE LIVE FREE#
Education is free and compulsory, and literacy is 71%. Kuwait is a highly developed welfare state with a free market economy. Arabic is the official language, but English is widely spoken. The Kuwaitis are 70% Sunni and 30% Shi'a Muslims. The annual growth rate of Kuwaitis is 3.8%. 1.7 million people live in Kuwait, of whom 680,000 are Kuwaitis the rest are expatriate Arabs, Iranians, and Indians. The Republic of Kuwait occupies an area of 6,880 square miles at the head of the Persian Gulf, bounded on the north and west by Iraq and on the south by Saudi Arabia.
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