Kuwait 

Kuwait is located in the Middle East, bordering Iraq to the North and Saudi Arabia to the South.  It has a 500 kilometer coastline along the Persian Gulf to the East.  It occupies 17,818 sq. kilometers (slightly smaller than New Jersey) and has a total population of 2.59 million, about half of whom are non-nationals, growing at a rate of 1.986%.  Its capital and largest city is Kuwait City, which contains the vast majority of the country’s population at 2.23 million people.  The predominantly Muslim population is ruled as a constitutional emirate, and the official language is Arabic, although English is also very widely spoken.  The currency used is the Kuwaiti dinar. 

Kuwait itself reports that it holds approximately 9% of the world’s crude oil reserves.  Although it is very small geographically, Kuwait has a very wealthy economy driven by petroleum, which accounts for almost half of the GDP ($136.5 billion, $48,900 per capita, 2% real growth rate) and 95% of government income.  Significant imports include food, construction materials, and vehicles.   Rising oil prices around the world have sustained Kuwait’s economic growth despite the lack of economic diversity.  However, legislation was passed in 2010 with the aim of creating private sector economic growth diversifying the economy away from oil, and attracting private-sector investment. 

Kuwait ranks 74^th out of 183 in the World Bank Group’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking. 

Currency Exchange Rate: 

7/22/11: 1 USD = .273 KWD 

Demographic Data: 

Area (sq. Km): 17,818           Population (mil.): 2.59          Pop. Growth (%): 1.98% 

Economic Data: 

Cultural Data: 

*CPI Score is published by Transparency International and relates to the perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and ranges from 10 (very clean) to 0 (highly corrupt). 

**Ease of Doing Business Ranking is determined by the World Bank Group and is ranked out of a possible 183 countries.  A high ranking on the ease of doing business index means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm. 

Most statistics have been taken from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise noted. 

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