According to the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA; 2017) World Fact Book, Kuwait gained its independence from the British in 1961 and has since been governed through a constitutional monarchy that, at least in part, has existed since the 18th century. The country’s current population estimate is somewhat confusing. The CIA reports a July 2017 estimate of 2.875 million but because a majority of those living in Kuwait are immigrants (61%), the actual number exceeds 4 million. This discrepancy may be due to Kuwait’s preference towards its own citizens and the fact that no matter where immigrants have come from they will never be granted citizenship (CIA, 2017). Most noncitizens (1.1 million) come from the various Muslim nations throughout the Middle East and North Africa, while approximately 1.4 million immigrants expatriate from Asia. A large contingent of expatriates (825,000) are from India, while almost 200,000 moved from the Philippines (World Population Review, 2017). Slightly over 75% living in the country are Muslim, 17.3% report being Christian, and almost 6% are reported as unspecified (CIA, 2017).
Kuwait is an oil rich nation. The gross domestic product (GDP) reflects a heavy reliance on petroleum, petrochemicals, and other industrial activities including manufacturing cement as well as ship building and repair. Other economic activities include food processing, the production of materials for construction and water desalination (CIA, 2017). Agriculture in Kuwait is negligible (estimated at 0.4%) which primarily comes from fishing. A large percentage of the country’s GDP is comprised of the service sector (40%), where is where a majority of immigrants are employed. While poverty exists, it remains difficult to find data on the issue. The Borgen Project, a US-based nonprofit advocacy group focusing on world poverty, reports that most of the data concerning poverty in Kuwait omits poverty, “Statistical tables published by organizations such as UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the CIA World Fact Book don’t show any measurable poverty in Kuwait; Nations Encyclopedia flatly states that “poverty is almost non-existent” in Kuwait” (Cornet, 2016, par 1). However, they argue that people living in poverty are primarily non-citizens who live in rural settings, are former domestic workers who have fled cruel employers, or have entered the country illegally (Cornet, 2016). Because any type of social welfare is reserved for Kuwaiti citizens, life for impoverished noncitizens may be quite bleak.
Bordering Iraq to its north and Saudi Arabia in the south, Kuwait is a small country located in the Middle East and on the northwestern shores of the Persian Gulf. Its terrain is mainly flat with a mean elevation of 108 meters, or roughly 0.07 of a mile, above sea level (CIA, 2017). Kuwait appears not to be dense with natural resources. As stated previously, oil is the primary natural resource that also serves as the backbone of Kuwait’s economic (for export purposes) as well as civic activities, however the country does appear to have an inventory of natural gas reserves and because Kuwait is situated along the Persian Gulf it is said to have robust numbers of fish and shrimp (CIA, 2017). Kuwait’s fishing industry represent the bulk of the country’s agriculture.
The country has extremely sparse water resources and within Kuwait’s approximately 11,000 square miles of land only 26,000 acres is used for purposes of agriculture (CIA, 2017). The country is besieged with environmental problems: Kuwait’s landscape is riddled with increasing litter; air pollution resulting from sandstorms, increasing traffic congestion and emissions produced through oil production activities; marine pollution caused by industrial runoff, litter and both treated and untreated sewage, and; coastal muds rich in bacteria that pose health risks to those who visit Kuwait’s coastline (Geo International Environmental Consultation Company, n.d.).
Communities, most of which being urban, are divided between those who are citizens and those who are not. Kuwaiti citizens enjoy constitutional protections while immigrants, or expatriates, do not. It is extremely difficult for expatriates to move about cities and the country as a whole (Townsend, 2015). Kuwait has been voted by expatriates as the world’s worst country to work and immigrate to, and there is no reason to believe such a widespread opinion will change any time soon as the government has set strict limits on the numbers of expats who may enter the country and has gone as far as to deport thousands of immigrants over recent years (Townsend, 2015). This issue goes to the heart of politics in Kuwait, which is essentially under the purview of a chief of state, a member of the Al-Sabah dynasty which has ruled the country since the 18th century (CIA, 2017). The current ruler is Amir al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah who appoints the head of government, a prime minister, who then appoints a cabinet of minister subsequently approved by the Amir. There are no political parties in Kuwait and while a legislative branch is elected by citizens, it has been known to be disbanded by order of the Amir of the years (CIA, 2017).
While little crime or violence is reported to exist in Kuwait, the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC; part of the United States Department of State) the most serious area of concern is traffic safety. A high degree of traffic accidents, injuries and deaths occur in the country each year, mainly resulting from speeding (OSAC, 2015). However, this claim obscures the fact that a majority of its migrant workforce is subject to abuse, arbitrary deportation, forced labor and receives a high number of its domestic workforce from human traffickers (Human Rights Watch, 2017). Another area of concern is the government’s treatment of the Budin (also referred to as Bedoon), an ethnic minority throughout the Middle East which is consider by the Kuwaitis as “illegal residents” who have falsified their claims for citizenship. As a result, the Budin have no rights and exist only marginally (Human Rights Watch, 2017).
