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Embassies

Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the State of Kuwait
Ambassador: Mr. Huang Jiemin
Address: Yarmouk, Block 4, Street 1, Villa 82, Kuwait City, Kuwait
Mailing Address: P. O. Box 2346 Safat, 13024 Kuwait
Tel: +965-5333340, 5333342
Fax: +965-5333341
Email: chinaemb_kw@mfa.gov.cn

Economic and Commercial Counselor's Office
Address: No.4 House, No.85 Street, Block 8, Al-Shamiya
Mailing Address: P. O. Box 25713 Safat, 13118 Kuwait
Telephone Switchboard: +965-4822816, 4822817
Fax: +965-4822867, 4822873
Email: kw@mofcom.gov.cn
Office Hours: 8:00 a.m.-2:00p.m. Sun.-Thu.
Website: http://kw.mofcom.gov.cn/

Embassy of the State of Kuwait in Beijing
Ambassador: H.E. Mr. Faisal R.Al-Ghais
Address: No. 23, Guang Hua Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing
Tel: (+86)10 6532 2216, 6532 2182, 6532 4135, 6532 1272
(+86)10 6532 2374 (for consular section)
Fax: (+86)10 6532 1607

Military Attaché's Office
Address: F-59 King's Garden Villas, No.18 Xiao Yun Lu, Chaoyang District
Tel: (+86)10 6464 9930 or 6464 9931
Fax: (+86)10 6464 9934



Geography

Located in the north-east corner of the Arabian Peninsula, Kuwait is one of the smallest countries in the world in terms of land area. The flat, sandy Arabian Desert covers most of Kuwait. Kuwait is the only country in the world which has no natural lake or water reservoir.There is little difference in the country's altitude with the highest point in the country being 306 m above sea-level.It has nine islands, all of which with the exception of Failaka Island are uninhabited.[35] With an area of 860 km?, the Bubiyan is the largest island in Kuwait and is connected to the rest of the country by a 2,380 m long bridge.[36] The land area is considered arable[9] and sparse vegetation is found along its 499 km long coastline.Kuwait City is located on Kuwait Bay, a natural deep-water harbor.
Kuwait has some of the world's richest oil fields with the Burgan field having a total capacity of approximately 70 billion barrels (1.1?1010 m3) of proven oil reserves. During the 1991 Kuwaiti oil fires, more than 500 oil lakes were created covering a combined surface area of about 35.7 km?.The resulting soil contamination due to oil and soot accumulation had made eastern and south-eastern parts of Kuwait uninhabitable. Sand and oil residue had reduced large parts of the Kuwaiti desert to semi-asphalt surfaces. The oil spills during the Persian Gulf War had also drastically affected Kuwait's marine resources.
Kuwait has an arid continental climate. Summer, which lasts from May to September, is extremely hot and dry with temperatures easily crossing 45 °C (113 °F) during daytime.[40] Kuwait has a fairly high diurnal temperature range (day-night temperature difference). Winter season, from November through February, is cool with some precipitation and average temperatures around 13 °C (56 °F) with extremes from -2 °C to 27 °C. Annual rainfall averages less than 127 mm and occurs chiefly between October and April. The spring season in March is warm and pleasant with occasional thunderstorms. The frequent winds from the northwest are cool in winter and spring and hot in summer. Southeasterly winds, usually hot and damp, spring up between July and October; hot and dry south winds prevail in spring and early summer. The shamal, a northwesterly wind common during June and July, causes dramatic sandstorms




Government

Kuwait is a constitutional monarchy and has the oldest directly elected parliament among the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. The head of state is the Emir or Sheikh, a hereditary office. A council of ministers, also known as cabinet ministers, aids the Prime Minister in his task as the head of Government of Kuwait which must contain at least one elected member of the Kuwaiti parliament, known as Majlis Al-Umma (National Assembly). The National Assembly has the power to dismiss the Prime Minister or any member of cabinet through a series of constitutional procedures. All cabinet ministers are answerable to the National Assembly.
The National Assembly consists of fifty elected members, who are chosen in elections held every four years




Population

Kuwait's population was estimated to be 3 to 3.5 million people which included approximately 2 million non-nationals Kuwaiti citizens are therefore a minority of those who reside in Kuwait. The government rarely grants citizenship to foreigners to maintain status quo.
About 57% of the Kuwaiti population is Arab, 39% Asian, and 4% are classified Bidoon.Bidoons are a group of stateless Arab residents of Kuwait. In 2008, 68.4% of the population consisted of expatriâtes most of whom are from other Arab nations and South Asia. In 2009, more than 580,000 Indian nationals lived in Kuwait, making them the single largest expatriate community there. In 2003, there were also an estimated 260,000 Egyptians, 100,000 Syrians and 80,000 Iranians in Kuwait.
Kuwait's official language is Arabic, though English is widely spoken. Other important languages include Persian, Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, and Filipino.
About 85% of Kuwait's population practises Islam] Despite Islam being the state religion,Kuwait has large communities of Christians (est. 300,000 to 400,000), Hindus (est. 300,000), Buddhists (est. 100,000), and Sikhs (est. 10,000). Of the Muslims in Kuwait, 85% are Sunni and 15% are Shia Muslims.
Population: 2,691,158
country comparison to the world: 140
note: includes 1,291,354 non-nationals (July 2009 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 26.4% (male 361,150/female 348,518)
15-64 years: 70.7% (male 1,219,075/female 683,587)
65 years and over: 2.9% (male 49,163/female 29,665) (2009 est.)
Population growth rate: 3.547%
country comparison to the world: 3
note: this rate reflects a return to pre-Gulf crisis immigration of expatriates (2009 est.)
Birth rate: 21.81 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 86
Death rate: 2.37 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 221
Urbanization 98% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 2.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
country comparison to the world: 53
Life expectancy at birth:
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.12% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living
with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
Religions: Muslim 85% (Sunni 70%, Shia 30%), other (includes Christian, Hindu, Parsi) 15%
Education expenditures: 3.8% of GDP (2006)
country comparison to the world: 119




Economy

Kuwait is a small, rich, relatively open economy with self-reported crude oil reserves of about 104 billion barrels - 8% of world reserves. Petroleum accounts for nearly half of GDP, 95% of export revenues, and 80% of government income. Kuwait experienced rapid economic growth over the last several years on the back of high oil prices and in 2008 posted its tenth consecutive budget surplus. As a result of this positive fiscal situation, the need for economic reforms was less urgent and the government did not push through new initiatives. The drop in oil prices in late 2008 will reduce Kuwait's fiscal surplus in 2009. The global financial crisis may slow the pace of investment and development projects, but Kuwait has vowed to use its considerable financial resources to stabilize the economy if necessary.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $149.1 billion (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 58
$137.4 billion (2007)
$131.2 billion (2006)
GDP (official exchange rate): $159.7 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 8.5% (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 16
4.7% (2007 est.)
6.3% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $57,400 (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 5
$54,800 (2007 est.)
$54,300 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 0.3%
industry: 52.2%
services: 47.5% (2008 est.)
Labor force: 2.225 million
country comparison to the world: 112
note: non-Kuwaitis represent about 80% of the labor force (2008 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
Unemployment rate:
Household income
or consumption by % share
Population below poverty rate
Budget: revenues: $113.3 billion
expenditures: $63.55 billion (2008 est.)
Public debt: 7.2% of GDP (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 116
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 11.7% (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 169
5.5% (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products: practically no crops; fish
Industries: petroleum, petrochemicals, cement, shipbuilding and repair, water desalination, food processing, construction materials
Electricity - production: 44.75 billion kWh (2006 est.)
country comparison to the world: 51
Electricity - consumption: 39.54 billion kWh (2006 est.)
country comparison to the world: 52
Telephones - main lines in use: 517,000 (2006)
country comparison to the world: 96
Telephones - mobile cellular: 2.774 million (2007)
country comparison to the world: 97
Telephone system general assessment: the quality of service is excellent
Internet hosts: 3,289 (2008)
country comparison to the world: 131
Internet users: 900,000 (2007)
country comparison to the world: 88



- Imagine Media, 2009 -