Kuwait has been ruled by the AL-SABAH dynasty since the 18th century. The threat of Ottoman invasion in 1899 prompted Amir Mubarak AL-SABAH to seek protection from Britain, ceding foreign and defense responsibility to Britain until 1961, when the country attained its independence. Kuwait was attacked and overrun by Iraq in August 1990. Following several weeks of aerial bombardment, a US-led UN coalition began a ground assault in February 1991 that liberated Kuwait in four days. In 1992, the Amir reconstituted the parliament that he had dissolved in 1986. Amid the 2010-11 uprisings and protests across the Arab world, stateless Arabs, known as Bidoon, staged small protests in early 2011 demanding citizenship, jobs, and other benefits available to Kuwaiti nationals. Other demographic groups, notably Islamists and Kuwaitis from tribal backgrounds, soon joined the growing protest movements, which culminated in late 2011 with the resignation of the prime minister amidst allegations of corruption. Demonstrations renewed in late 2012 in response to an amiri decree amending the electoral law that lessened the voting power of the tribal blocs.
An opposition coalition of Sunni Islamists, tribal populists, and some liberals, largely boycotted legislative elections in 2012 and 2013, which ushered in a legislature more amenable to the government's agenda. Faced with the prospect of painful subsidy cuts, oppositionists and independents actively participated in the November 2016 election, winning nearly half of the seats, but a cohesive opposition alliance largely ceased to exist with the 2016 election and the opposition became increasingly factionalized. Since coming to power in 2006, the Amir has dissolved the National Assembly on seven occasions (the Constitutional Court annulled the Assembly elections in June 2012 and again in June 2013) and shuffled the cabinet over a dozen times, usually citing political stagnation and gridlock between the legislature and the government.
The current Amir, who assumed his role in 2020, launched a "National Dialogue" in September 2021 meant to resolve political gridlock. As part of the "National Dialogue," the Amir pardoned several opposition figures who had been living in exile, and they returned to Kuwait. Legislative challenges remain, and the cabinet was reshuffled in March 2022.

arable land: 0.6% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 0.3% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 7.6% (2018 est.)

كتاب حقائق العالم، المصدر الذي لا يمكن الاستغناء عنه للمعلومات الأساسية (Arabic)
The Gheos World Guide, the indispensable source for basic information.

urban: NA
rural: NA
total: 100% of population

urban: NA
rural: NA
total: 0% of population (2020 est.)

urban: NA
rural: NA
total: 100% of population

urban: NA
rural: NA
total: 0% of population (2020 est.)

KuwaitACS@state.gov
[link]

$209.74 billion (2019 est.)
$208.85 billion (2018 est.)
$206.274 billion (2017 est.)

-3.3% (2017 est.)
2.2% (2016 est.)
-1% (2015 est.)

$49,900 (2019 est.) note: data are in 2017 dollars
$50,500 (2018 est.) note: data are in 2017 dollars
$50,856 (2017 est.)

1.1% (2017 est.)
1.1% (2016 est.)

20.6% of GDP (2017 est.)
9.9% of GDP (2016 est.)

1.5% (2017 est.)
3.5% (2016 est.)

$7.127 billion (2017 est.)
-$5.056 billion (2016 est.)

$72.83 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$85.2 billion (2018 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

$59.65 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$68.2 billion (2018 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

$33.7 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$31.13 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

$47.24 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$38.34 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

Kuwaiti dinars (KD) per US dollar
0.3049 (2020 est.)
0.3037 (2019 est.)
0.304 (2018 est.)
0.3009 (2014 est.)
0.2845 (2013 est.)

6.8% of GDP (2021 est.)
6.3% of GDP (2020 est.)
5.6% of GDP (2019) (approximately $10.2 billion)
5.1% of GDP (2018) (approximately $9.25 billion)
5.6% of GDP (2017) (approximately $10 billion)