A Brief History of Kuwait

Kuwait is a sovereign Arab Emirate state situated in the northeast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia. The country, which borders Saudi Arabia and Iraq, has a long and interesting history.

The first known settlers in the area were the Greeks who settled on Failaka, an island just off Kuwait, around two and a half thousand years ago. The first time permanent Arab settlers are thought to have come to the area was in the 17th century, when the Bani Utbah people came to the area. Over the century that followed the area became a centre of trade and commerce with a major port developing between India and Mesopotamia. This lead to the development of one of the largest sea fleets in the Persian Gulf. Industries flourished, with the pearl industry a particular success.

In 1756 Sabah I Jaber was elected as the first Amir of Kuwait. The only time since there has not been an Amir was during Iraq's occupation of Kuwait in 1990. In the early 1800's Kuwait became part of the Turkish Empire, and the Turk's took over much of the countries trading. This was a blow to the development of Kuwait. It once again changed ownership in 1899 when they entered into an agreement with the United Kingdom. Under the treaty the UK gained control over Kuwaiti foreign policy, and in exchange Kuwait was guaranteed protection and an annual subsidy. Britain broke the treaty, though, after the First World War, when they declared Kuwait a full member of the British Empire.

Eventually Kuwait gained full independence, but not until 1961. Since this time oil has become a major industry. The country owns vast oil reserves which has accounted for a large proportion of their GDP over the last fifty years.

The next major events in Kuwait's history came in the 1980's. The country helped to fund neighbouring Iraq's war with Iran. The implications of this were vast. They suffered some attacks from Iran, but it became far more serious than this with Iraq themselves the culprits. Iraq requested that Kuwait write off the debt they had with them after the Iraq-Iran war. This request was refused though, and subsequently resulted in an invasion. Iraq invaded in 1990 and the Amir was replaced by a Kuwaiti Governor installed by Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. During the invasion 1,000 Kuwaiti civilians were killed. Kuwait was liberated by a United States led military invention as the Iraqi's were driven out. During the events of 1990 much of the country was damaged, including many of its oil reserves. The country was forced to rebuild but is now largely recovered, as is its oil industry. There has been much political and social unrest in the surrounding countries (in particular relating to the US-UK war in Iraq) but Kuwait has been largely unaffected.

Andrew Marshall (c)

Masahati provide Kuwait Real Estate throughout the country.