Kuwait Information
The name Kuwait appeared around the middle of XIIth Century during the Hegira. It is an abbreviation which means "the invincible citadel" but it was also known under another name "Al-Qurain" which appears in shipping registers and was used by Portuguese, Dutch, and English travelers. Al-Qurain is an abbreviation for "the hill" or "elevated land".
Oil was discovered in Kuwait in 1937 by the Oil Company of Kuwait in the Burgan field and was exported for the first time in 1946.
Kuwait has earned a fine international reputation in the areas of art, trade, and for its strategic location which creates a natural link between the desert and the ocean.
Kuwait occupies an area of 17,820 square kilometers, and has nearly 500 kilometers of coastline along the Arabian Gulf. Most of the country is flat desert plain, broken by coastal dunes, marshes, and salt depressions around Kuwait Bay, and an oasis in Jahra. Coarse grass grows in the desert most of the time. The country has nine offshore islands. Kuwait is essentially a city-state. There are smaller communities inland and to the south, but the vast majority of people live in Kuwait City on the Bay.
Kuwait's road system is well developed, with modern multi-lane expressways linking all areas of the country. There are no railways in the country.
