Kuwait , [ a ] officially the State of Kuwait , [ b ] is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. 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. Before the discovery of oil reserves in , the country was a regional trade port; [ 20 ] [ 21 ] from to , the country underwent large-scale modernization, largely based on income from oil production.
In the s, Kuwait experienced a period of geopolitical instability and an economic crisis following the stock market crash. In , Kuwait was invaded and subsequently annexed by Iraq under the leadership of Saddam Hussein following disputes over oil production. Like most other Arab states of the Persian Gulf , Kuwait is an emirate ; the emir is the head of state and the ruling Al Sabah family dominates the country's political system.
Kuwait's official state religion is Islam, specifically the Maliki school of Sunni Islam. Kuwait is a high-income economy , backed by the world's sixth largest oil reserves. Kuwait is considered to be a pioneer in the region when it comes to the arts and popular culture, often called the "Hollywood of the Gulf"; the nation started the oldest modern arts movement in the Arabian Peninsula and is known to have created among the leading artists in the region.
Following the post-glacial flooding of the Persian Gulf basin , debris from the Tigris—Euphrates river formed a substantial delta, creating most of the land in present-day Kuwait and establishing the present coastlines.
During the Ubaid period c. Mesopotamians first settled in the Kuwaiti island of Failaka in BC. During the Dilmun era from ca. Elements of Greek mythology were mixed with the local cults. At the time of the Sassanid Empire, Kuwait was known as Meshan , [ 77 ] which was an alternative name of the kingdom of Characene.
