Fact Sheet

Official Name

State of Kuwait

Capital          

Kuwait City

Geographical location:

(Latitude) 29º and 30º North (Longitude) 47º and 48º East. Kuwait is situated in the northeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula and at the head of the Gulf. It is bound by Iraq to the north and west, Saudi Arabia to the south and the Gulf separates it to the east from Iran. Its territory includes the mainland and nine offshore islands, including Failaka and Boubyan. Kuwait is almost entirely flat desert. It has a coastline of about 250 km.

Area

17,818 sq km

Climate:

December to February – cold and sometimes windy with occasional rainfall; March to April – cool and pleasant; May to September - intensely hot & dry summer; October to November – cool and pleasant.

Population

4.415 million as on 31 December 2016 Kuwaitis 1.345 million (30.47%) and expatriates 3.07 million (69.53%).

Life Expectancy

Male - 77.8 yrs, Female - 79.9 yrs

Literacy

Male - 98.3%; Female - 86.5%

Languages (with %age of speakers, if available)

Major language (and the official language too) is Arabic; English is also spoken.

Religions (with %age, if available)

Islam.  70% Sunnis and about 30% Shias.

Administrative Divisions

Six Governorates: Al Ahmadi, Al-Farwaniyah, Capital (Kuwait) City, Al-Jahra, Hawalli, Mubarak Al-Kabeer

Ethnic groups

(including expatriates) - Kuwaiti 31.3%, other Arab 28%, South Asians 30.5% (aprox), Others 10%

Measures used

Metric system

Time difference

IST (-) 2½ hours; GMT (+) 3 hours

Currency
Exchange rate with US$ & INR              

KD1= Rs. 211
KD1= USD 3.276 (as on 11th April 2017)

Fiscal Year

April 1 to March 31

Political Structure

Kuwait is a Constitutional Monarchy with a written constitution and the oldest directly elected Parliament in the Gulf. The Amir is the Head of State and appoints the Prime Minister who heads the Government. The Constitution provides for separation of powers among the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature. The Parliament of Kuwait is called National Assembly (Majlis Al-Umma), which is unicameral with 50 members elected for a four-year term. The number of constituencies are 5 and each represented by 10 MPs. The number of Ministers is fixed at 16 including the PM (1/3rd of the strength of the House). At least one MP has to be included in the Council of Ministers.

Head of State (President)

H.H. Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Amir of the State of Kuwait

Crown Prince     

H.H. Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Crown Prince of the State of Kuwait

Head of Government (Prime Minister)

H.H. Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Prime Minister of the State of Kuwait

Minister for Foreign Affairs

H.E. Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, First Deputy Prime Minister & Foreign Minister

Economy

Kuwait is a small, rich, relatively open, petroleum-based economy. It has estimated crude oil reserves of 102 billion barrels or 6% of world reserves. Oil revenues constitute the main source of income and amount to approximately 94% of the state’s revenues.

GDP Nominal

US$ 120.682 billion (IMF Est. 2015)

GDP per capita (PPP)

US$ 70,165.99 (IMF Est. 2015)

GDP Growth Rate

0.9% (IMF Est.-2015); 2.6% (IMF Est. – 2017)

Main natural resources

Petroleum, natural gas, fish

Industries

Petroleum, Petrochemicals, cement, food processing, desalination, construction materials

Main exports

Crude oil & LPG, polymers, urea, metal scrap

Main imports

Automobiles, industrial and consumer goods, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs

Major trading partners

South Korea, USA, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan, India

Total Trade

Imports

Exports

KD 26.2 billion (US$ 31.58 billion) (CBK 2015)

KD 9.3 billion (US$ 30.46 billion) (CBK - 2015)

KD 13.98 billion (US$ 45.79 billion), comprising KD 1.45 billion (US$ 4.75 billion) of non-oil and KD 12.53 billion (US$ 41.04) of oil exports (CBK - 2016)

Bilateral Trade

Imports from India

Exports to India

US$  6.209 billion (2015-16)

US$  1.247 billion (2015-16)

US$  4.962 billion (2015-16)

Indian Origin/ PRs

Kuwaiti law does not allow granting Kuwaiti citizenship to foreigners.

Indian Expatriates (composition and any pertinent information that may be of interest)

Total: 9.20 lakh
[426,494 in the private sector; 298,691 in the domestic sector; 27,624 in the government sector; 109,733 dependents; 17,929 temporary residents, 44 Business; 11 Students; and 41 were self-dependent. ]

Indian Organizations

Banks

There is no Indian bank in Kuwait.

PSUs

TCIL, LIC (International), LIC Housing Finance, New India Assurance Company, Oriental Insurance Company and Air India Limited (Air India and Air India Express).

Government Organizations

There is no other office of Government of India in Kuwait.

Others

L&T, Shapoorji Pallonji, Dodsal, Essar Group, Punj Lloyd, Simplex Projects, Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd, Apollo Hospital group, Bridge & Roof, TCS, INFOSYS, WIPRO, Tech Mahindra, Afcons, Himalaya Pharmaceuticals,  The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI), etc.