Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the north and Saudi Arabia to the south. With a coastline of approximately 500 km (311 mi), Kuwait also shares a maritime border with Iran, across the Persian Gulf. Kuwait is a city-state; most of the country's population reside in the urban agglomeration of Kuwait City, the capital and largest city. As of 2024, Kuwait has a population of 4.82 million, of which 1.53 million are Kuwaiti citizens while the remaining 3.29 million are foreign nationals from over 100 countries. In 2019, Kuwait had the world's third largest number of foreign nationals as a percentage of the population, where its citizens make up less than 30% of the overall population.
The territory of modern-day Kuwait has been occupied by humans since antiquity, particularly due to its strategic location at the head of the Persian Gulf near the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In the early 18th century, the territory of modern-day Kuwait was under the jurisdiction of the Bani Khalid clan; then the territory became known as the Sheikdom of Kuwait and a British protectorate in 1899. Prior to the discovery of oil reserves in 1938, the territory of modern-day Kuwait contained a regional trade port. The protectorate agreements with the United Kingdom ended in June 1961 when Kuwait officially became an independent state.
