Britain oversaw foreign relations and defense for the ruling Kuwaiti Al-Sabah dynasty from 1899 until independence in 1961.

Kuwait was attacked and overrun by Iraq on Aug. 2, 1990.

Following several weeks of aerial bombardment, a U.S.-led, UN coalition began a ground assault on Feb. 23, 1991, that liberated Kuwait in four days.

Kuwait spent more than $5 billion to repair oil infrastructure damaged during 1990-91.

The Al-Sabah family has ruled since returning to power in 1991, and reestablished an elected legislature that in recent years has become increasingly assertive.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 2,505,559 note: includes 1,291,354 non-nationals (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 26.7% (male 340,814/female 328,663) 15-64 years: 70.5% (male 1,128,231/female 636,967) 65 years and over: 2.8% (male 44,542/female 26,342) (2007 est.)

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Median age: total: 26 years male: 27.9 years female: 22.4 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 3.561% note: this rate reflects a return to pre-Gulf crisis immigration of expatriates (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 21.95 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 2.39 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: 16.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.037 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.771 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.691 male(s)/female total population: 1.526 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 9.47 deaths/1,000 live births male: 10.48 deaths/1,000 live births female: 8.42 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.36 years male: 76.25 years female: 78.52 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 2.86 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.12% (2001 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA

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Nationality: noun: Kuwaiti(s) adjective: Kuwaiti

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Ethnic groups: Kuwaiti 45%, other Arab 35%, South Asian 9%, Iranian 4%, other 7%

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Religions: Muslim 85% (Sunni 70%, Shi'a 30%), other (includes Christian, Hindu, Parsi) 15%

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Languages: Arabic (official), English widely spoken

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 93.3% male: 94.4% female: 91% (2005 census)

Kuwait is a small, rich, relatively open economy with self-reported crude oil reserves of about 96 billion barrels - 10% of world reserves. Petroleum accounts for nearly half of GDP, 95% of export revenues, and 80% of government income. Kuwait's climate limits agricultural development. Consequently, with the exception of fish, it depends almost wholly on food imports. About 75% of potable water must be distilled or imported. Kuwait continues its discussions with foreign oil companies to develop fields in the northern part of the country. High oil prices in recent years have helped build Kuwait's budget and trade surpluses and foreign reserves. As a result of this positive fiscal situation, the need for economic reforms is less urgent and the government has not earnestly pushed through new initiatives.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $55.91 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $60.72 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 12.6% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $23,100 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 0.4% industry: 48.3% services: 51.3% (2006 est.)

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Labor force: 1.136 million note: non-Kuwaitis represent about 80% of the labor force (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA%

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Unemployment rate: 2.2% (2004 est.)

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Population below poverty line: NA%

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 26.4% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $59.58 billion expenditures: $33.62 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)

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Public debt: 8.1% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: practically no crops; fish

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Industries: petroleum, petrochemicals, cement, shipbuilding and repair, water desalination, food processing, construction materials

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Industrial production growth rate: 13.1% (2005 est.)

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Electricity - production: 40.37 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - consumption: 37.54 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2004)

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Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2004)

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Oil - production: 2.418 million bbl/day (2005 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 335,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - exports: 2.2 million bbl/day (2004)

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Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - proved reserves: 96.5 billion bbl (2006 est.)

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Natural gas - production: 9.7 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 9.7 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - proved reserves: 1.572 trillion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)

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Current account balance: $40.75 billion (2006 est.)

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Exports: $56.06 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: oil and refined products, fertilizers

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Exports - partners: Japan 20.2%, South Korea 16%, Taiwan 11.5%, Singapore 9.6%, US 8.9%, Netherlands 5.1%, China 4.1% (2006)

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Imports: $19.12 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: food, construction materials, vehicles and parts, clothing

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Imports - partners: US 14.1%, Japan 7.8%, Germany 7.7%, Saudi Arabia 6.8%, China 5.7%, UK 5.4%, Italy 4.6% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $11.08 billion (2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $19.7 billion (2006 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient: $NA Currency (code): Kuwaiti dinar (KD)

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Exchange rates: Kuwaiti dinars per US dollar - 0.29 (2006), 0.292 (2005), 0.2947 (2004), 0.298 (2003), 0.3039 (2002)

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Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March