Kuwait
A small, oil-rich state at the head of the Persian Gulf
Kuwait is a small, flat, and intensely oil-rich emirate at the northwestern corner of the Persian Gulf, where the Arabian desert meets the sea. Built on the pearling and trading dhows of old Kuwait City and transformed by petroleum into one of the wealthiest states per capita, it sits on a sliver of strategically charged land between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. A relatively assertive elected parliament gives it a livelier political life than most Gulf monarchies.
The country is almost entirely low desert, gravel plains, and sabkha flats with no permanent rivers and barely any rainfall, its high ground rising to little more than 300 meters near the western border. Summers are among the hottest on the planet. Petroleum and refining account for the overwhelming share of revenue and exports, sustaining a generous welfare state and a large foreign workforce, with desalination supplying most fresh water.
The Al Sabah family has ruled Kuwait since the eighteenth century, the port flourishing on pearling and Gulf trade before oil was discovered in the twentieth century. A British protectorate until independence in 1961, Kuwait was invaded and occupied by Iraq in 1990, triggering the US-led Gulf War that restored its sovereignty the following year. The capital, Kuwait City, lines a sweeping bay and concentrates the nation's population, commerce, and government.