Dictionary:

Kuwait

  (kū-wāt')

also Kuwait City The capital of Kuwait, in the east-central part of the country on the Persian Gulf. It was heavily damaged during the Persian Gulf War. Population: 32,400.

For more information on Kuwait, visit Britannica.com.

Capital of Kuwait.

The origins of modern Kuwait appear to date to a settlement generally identified on early maps as Grane, a phonetic spelling of of Qurayn (Arabic for either "hillock" or "little horn," both describing features of the coast). By the last third of the eighteenth century, the name Kuwait ("little fort") also was used by the migrating clans from central Arabia who had settled there. In the nineteenth century, Kuwait developed into a significant entrepôt, the home port of large trading vessels. Shipbuilding was a major industry, along with pearl fishing, which employed some 700 ships and 15,000 men by the early twentieth century. The town was walled in 1920 during four months of furious preparation to defend it against bedouin marauders, an event laying the groundwork for the state's current definition of citizenship. Residents of the town in 1920 and their descendants became "first category" citizens under the nationality law of 1959.

With the influx of oil wealth in the 1950s, the town was transformed. Under a master plan drawn up by a British firm, most of the old city was razed and rebuilt to contemporary Western tastes. Between 1960 and 1964 the Palestinian-American architect and city planner Saba George Shiber sought to reincorporate elements of Kuwait's past into the city's urban landscape. His influence is visible in the National Assembly building and the seafront water towers.

The 1990 to 1991 Iraqi occupation and war inflicted extensive damage on buildings and infrastructure in the city. Remnants of the wall and its gates were almost totally lost, the Dasman and Sief Palaces were damaged extensively, and the old suq was destroyed. Much of the new Kuwait was trashed as well. Public and private buildings, including homes, were filled with broken furniture, damaged books and papers, and occasional strategic deposits of human waste. An appalling wreckage was left in the Kuwait Museum, a complex housing a notable collection of Islamic art whose courtyard on the seafront had been home to a now-missing old Kuwaiti dhow.

Postwar rehabilitation proceeded rapidly and has been overtaken by new construction. The city center has acquired new high-rises. There is an explosion of growth in the suburbs, especially in Salmiya, which now sports American-style malls and a seafront aquarium. Prior to the invasion, urban sprawl spilled primarily southward, along the coast beyond Salmiya and inland to suburbs such as Jabriya and Rumaythiya. Now the city is spreading north and west as well, past the health and science complexes lying beyond the university's Shuwaykh campus, and inland, toward Jahra.

What has not changed is the traffic. The city hub is surrounded by a series of concentric arcs - the Ring Roads - connected by major thoroughfare and highway "spokes." On and off the highways, the city is beset by traffic congestion with its associated noise, pollution, accidents, and parking problems. The population of Kuwait in 2004 was 2,257,549 residents.

Bibliography

Bonine, Michael E. "The Urbanization of the Persian Gulf Nations." In The Persian Gulf States: A General Survey, edited by Alvin J. Cottrell. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980.

Crystal, Jill. Kuwait: The Transformation of an Oil State. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992.

— MALCOLM C. PECK
UPDATED BY MARY ANN TÉTREAULT

Local Time: Jul 25, 7:12 PM

Kuwait City مدينة الكويت
At 372 meters (1,220 ft), Liberation Tower in Kuwait City is the tallest structure in Kuwait, and thirteenth-tallest freestanding structure in the world.
Coordinates: 29°22′11″N 47°58′42″E / 29.36972, 47.97833
Country	Kuwait
Governorate	Al Asimah
Area
- Metro	km² ( sq mi)
Population (2005 estimate)
- City
- Metro
Time zone	EAT ([[UTC+3]])

Kuwait City from space, by NASA.

Built in 1979, the Kuwait Towers are the most famous landmark in Kuwait City.

Majlis Al-Umma (مجلس الأمة, "The Council of the Nation"), the Kuwaiti parliament, in Kuwait City.

Burgan Bank in Kuwait City.

Kuwait City (Arabic: مدينة الكويت, transliteration: Madīnat al-Kūwait), is the capital city of Kuwait. It has an estimated population of 32,500 (2005 estimate) within city limits and 2.38 million in the metropolitan area. Located at the heart of the country on the shore of the Persian Gulf, and containing Kuwait's parliament (Majlis Al-Umma), most governmental offices, the headquarters of most Kuwaiti corporations and banks, it is the indisputable political, cultural and economical center of the emirate.

Kuwait City’s trade and transportation needs are served by Kuwait International Airport, Mina Al-Shuwaik (Shuwaik Port) and Mina al-Ahmadi (Ahmadi Port) 50 kilometers to the south, on the Persian Gulf coast.

Kuwait City is located at 29°22'11" North, 47°58'42" East (29.369722, 47.978333)[1].

History

Kuwait City was first settled in the early 18th Century by the Al-Sabāh clan, later the ruling family of Kuwait and a branch of the Al-Utūb tribe (that also included the Al-Khalīfah clan, the ruling family of Bahrain), and their leader, Sheikh Sabāh I. Its name may have derived from an earlier abandoned fort located there, called "Kūt" (كوت) - Arabic for a fortress by the sea.

The settlement grew quickly, and by the time its first wall was built (1760), the town had its own dhow fleet of about 800 and trading relations to Baghdad and Damascus. It was a successful and thriving sea port by the early 19th Century.

It was unclear whether or not Kuwait was part of the Ottoman Empire, and as a result, tensions often broke out between the sheikhdom and the empire. These tensions peaked when, in 1896, Sheikh Mubārak Al-Sabāh assassinated his brother, the emir Muhammad Al-Sabāh, over Mubārak's deep suspicion that the Ottoman Empire was willing to annex Kuwait.

In exchange for British naval protection, Mubārak was not to negotiate or give territory to any other foreign power without British consent. With the discovery of oil in 1936, the city’s standard of living improved dramatically, including health and education services.

In August 2, 1990, Iraqi forces seized the city and on August 8 they annexed the emirate. During the occupation, the city was extensively damaged and many buildings were destroyed after it, including the Kuwait National Museum.

After Iraqi forces retreated from Kuwait in January-February 1991, foreign investors and the Kuwaiti government were actively involved in modernizing the city and turning it into a world-class business hub. Many hotels, shopping malls and offices were built in the city indicating the economic growth since the war.

Suburbs

Main article: List of cities in Kuwait

Although the districts below are not usually recognized as suburbs, the following is a list of a few areas surrounding Kuwait city:

Bayan بيان Bneid Al-Qar بنيد القار Hawalli حولي Al Jabriya الجابرية Mishref مشرف Al Salmiya السالمية Sabah Al-Salem صباح السالم Salwa سلوى Sharq شرق Al Shuwaikh الشويخ Al Rumaithiya الرميثية Abdullah Al-Salem عبدالله السالم Al-Nuzha النزهه Keifan كيفان

Khaitan خيطان South Khaitan خيطان الجنوبي Al Shamiya الشامية Al Da'iya الدعية Al Faiha الفيحا Al Qadisiya القادسية Al Dasma الدسمه Qurtoba قرطبة Al Surra السره Al Yarmouk اليرموك Al Mansouriah المنصورية Al Andalus الاندلس Farwaniya

Economy

Kuwait’s booming economy has allowed many international hotel chains to enter agreements to open hotels in the country. According to the Kuwait Hotel Owners Association, over twenty-five new hotels are planned or in construction, including the following:

• Ibis Salmiya - opening Q3 2007
• Le Méridien Mubarakiya - opening late 2007
• Golden Tulip Kuwait - opening early 2008
• The Regent Messilah Beach Resort & Spa - opening early 2008
• Hotel Missoni Kuwait - opening Q3 2008 (the world's first Hotel Missoni)
• Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait City - opening late 2008
• Hilton Olympia Kuwait - opening late 2008
• The Monarch Luxury Hotel & Conference Center - opening late 2008
• InterContinental Kuwait - opening early 2009
• The Square Capital Tower - opening 2009

By 2010, over 3,000 rooms are expected to be added to Kuwait’s hotel inventory.

See also

• Madinat al-Hareer

External links

• Kuwait City at "goruma" (German)

• Maps and aerial photos for 29°′″N 47°′″E / 29.371, 47.988Coordinates: 29°′″N 47°′″E / 29.371, 47.988
  • Maps from MapQuest, Multimap and Yahoo! Maps
  • Satellite images and maps from Google Maps and Live Search
  • Other mapping from GlobalGuide and WikiMapia

Capitals of Asia
Central Asia	Kabul, Afghanistan (sometimes considered South Asian) · Astana, Kazakhstan · Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan · Dushanbe, Tajikistan · Ashgabat, Turkmenistan · Tashkent, Uzbekistan
East Asia	Beijing, People's Republic of China (China) · Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan) · Tokyo, Japan · Pyongyang, North Korea · Seoul, South Korea · Ulan Bator, Mongolia
South Asia	Kabul, Afghanistan (often considered Central Asian) · Dhaka, Bangladesh · Thimphu, Bhutan · New Delhi, India · Malé, Maldives · Kathmandu, Nepal · Islamabad, Pakistan · Kotte (official, administrative) and Colombo (commercial), Sri Lanka
Southeast Asia	Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei · Phnom Penh, Cambodia · Dili, East Timor · Jakarta, Indonesia · Vientiane, Laos · Kuala Lumpur (official) and Putrajaya (administrative), Malaysia · Naypyidaw, Myanmar · Manila, Philippines · Singapore, Singapore · Bangkok, Thailand  · Hanoi, Vietnam
Southwest Asia	Yerevan, Armenia · Baku, Azerbaijan · Manama, Bahrain · Nicosia, Cyprus · Tbilisi, Georgia · Tehran, Iran · Baghdad, Iraq · Jerusalem (official, administrative) and Tel Aviv, (diplomatic) Israel · Amman, Jordan · Kuwait City, Kuwait · Beirut, Lebanon · Muscat, Oman · Doha, Qatar · Riyadh, Saudi Arabia · Damascus, Syria · Ankara, Turkey · Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates · San‘a’, Yemen

frp:Koveyit (vela)

be-x-old:Кувэйт (горад)nov:Kuwayt Urbe

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