CAPITAL: Kuwait City
AREA: 17,818 sq kilometres (6,880 sq miles)
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POPULATION (June 30, 2011): 3.6 million. Nearly 32 percent Kuwaitis, 20 percent other Arab nationals, the rest Asians plus several thousand Americans and Europeans.
GEOGRAPHY: Kuwait, at the head of the Gulf, is bound by Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
CLIMATE: The desert country has an arid subtropical climate, which can top 50 degrees Celsius (122 F) in the summer, between April and October.
RELIGION: Official religion is Islam, with some 90 percent of the population Muslims -- one third Shiites, the rest Sunnis.
LANGUAGES: Official language is Arabic. English is widely spoken.
CURRENCY: Currency is the dinar, which equals $3.6 or 2.75 euros.
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT: Constitutional monarchy. Head of state: Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.
The 1962 constitution provided for a 50-member National Assembly, elected for four years. Unelected ministers are ex-officio members. The assembly has legislative and monitoring powers. Political parties are banned but many groupings are openly active.
HISTORY: Kuwait was founded in the 1700s. The Al-Sabah family has ruled since 1756. Oil was discovered in the 1930s. Iraq claimed the emirate and invaded it in August 1990; it was then liberated by a US-led coalition in February 1991.
ECONOMY: Nominal 2010 gross domestic product was $128 billion, according to the Kuwait Central Bank, while per capita income was $40,740. Oil earns over 94 percent of national revenues.
