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Wednesday 2 December 2015

Kuwait

On June 19, 1961 Kuwait became independent with the end of the British protectorate and the sheikh Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah became Emir of Kuwait.

The flag of Kuwait was adopted on September 7, 1961, and officially hoisted on November 24, 1961. It is a horizontal tricolour of green (top), white, and red, with a black trapezium based on the hoist side. The flag's colors are symbolic of Pan-Arabism, with green representing the fertile land of Arabia, white representing purity and noble deeds, red representing the blood shed by Arab martyrs, and black representing defeat of enemies. The trapezium is said to represent the ruling Al-Sabah dynasty.


Kuwait held its first parliamentary elections in 1963. It was the first Gulf country to establish a constitution and parliament.

In 1963, Kuwait changed its National Day from June 19th, the anniversary of its independence, to February 25th to avoid the hot weather of June. February 25 was the anniversary of Sheikh Abdullah becoming Emir of Kuwait in 1950.

On August 2, 1990, Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait, overrunning the Kuwaiti military within two days, and eventually sparking the outbreak of the Gulf War seven months later.

After a series of failed diplomatic negotiations, the United States led a coalition to remove the Iraqi forces from Kuwait, in what became known as the Gulf War. On February 26, 1991, the coalition succeeded in driving out the Iraqi forces.

Oil fires caused by the scorched earth policy of Iraqi military forces retreating from Kuwait

When Saddam Hussein occupied Kuwait in 1990 and named it the 19th Province of Iraq some dissidents in the UK called it "Wimbledon" whose postal area is SW19.

The citizens of Kuwait celebrated the end of the first Gulf War by firing weapons into the air. 20 Kuwaitis died as a result of bullets falling from the sky.

In 2006, Kuwait became the first country to introduce the sport of camel racing, with remote controlled robot jockeys.

Kuwait has won two Olympic medals, both bronze for Fehaid Al-Dehani at trap shooting.

Kuwait is the only country in the world with no natural water supply from lakes or reservoirs.


It has about 96 billion barrels of crude oil reserves, which is 10% of all of the oil reserves in the world (the world's fifth largest oil reserves).

As of 2014, Kuwait has a population of 4.1 million people; 1.2 million are Kuwaitis and 2.8 million are expatriates.]

Kuwait's official religion is Islam, although 15% of its population are Christian or Hindu.

The national bird of Kuwait is the falcon.

There are 1.43 males to every female in Kuwait.

Source Daily Express

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