Kuwait Geography and Population
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Geography
Located in Southwest Asia, Kuwait borders the Persian Gulf, and is positioned between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Located at the far north-western corner of Persian Gulf, Kuwait is a small State of 17,820 square kilometers, a little smaller than New Jersey. Kuwait is roughly triangular in shape and borders the Persian Gulf to the east. It comprises nine Persian Gulf islands within its territory, with two of the islands Bubiyan and Warbah, still largely uninhabited, but strategically important. The Bubiyan island has been converted to military base in 1991, with concrete bridge linking it to the mainland.
Among the other islands are Auhah Island, Kubbar Island, Miskan Island, Umm an Namil Island, Qaruh Island and the Failaka Island. The Failaka island located at the mouth of Kuwait Bay and is highly populated. Failakah is the site of an ancient Greek temple, built by the men of Alexander the Great.
One of the most prominent geographic features of Kuwait is the Kuwait Bay. The bay serves as natural protective shield to the Kuwait port.
Kuwait is also divided into six governorates which include Al Ahmadi, Al Asimah, Al Farwaniyah, Al Jahra, Hawalli and Mubarak Al-Kabeer. The major cities of Kuwait are Kuwait City and Jahrah, while majority of population and business activities happen at Salmiya and Hawalli. But, for industrial area, a visit to Shuwaikh is must, which forms a part of the Al Asimah Governorate.
The main natural resources of Kuwait are natural gas and petroleum.
Kuwait Population
The urbanization trend is very much in vogue in Kuwait. This is further proven by the fact that nearly 96% of the population in Kuwait live in the cities. Majority of the population in Kuwait are Arabs and expatriates from India, Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Phillippines and Sri Lanka. Prior to the Gulf War, there was considerable Palestinian population in Kuwait, although now, one hardly finds them.
Majority of the population in Kuwait are non-Kuwaitis. Among native Kuwaitis, seventy percent are Sunnis and thirty percent are Shias. There are Christians and Jews too among the natives, although very limited in number.
In Kuwait male ratio is more than that of females. The total literacy rate is nearly 79%, the highest in the whole of Emirates. This is largely due to the government support for mass education system in Kuwait. Moreover, the education is free in Kuwait from public school till University.
The total population of Kuwait in 2011 is nearly 2,247,398, in comparison to a population of 2,505,559 on 9th October 2010.