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. One of the earliest evidence of human presence dates back to the
Mesolithic era (c. 8000 BC). Historically, most of present-day Kuwait was part of ancient
Mesopotamia. During the
Ubaid period (c. 5500–3700 BC), Kuwait was the central borderland between Mesopotamia and Eastern Arabia, including
Bahra 1 and
site H3 in
Subiya. One of the world's earliest
reed boats was discovered at
site H3 dating back to the Ubaid period. Other Neolithic sites are located in Khiran and
Sulaibikhat.
Mesopotamians first settled in the Kuwaiti island of
Failaka in 2000 BC. and
Failaka. Following the
Fall of Babylon, the bay of Kuwait came under the control of the
Achaemenid Empire (c. 550‒330 BC) as the bay was repopulated after seven centuries of abandonment. Failaka was under the control of the Achaemenid Empire as evidenced by the archaeological discovery of Achaemenid strata. There are
Aramaic inscriptions that testify Achaemenid presence. The bay of Kuwait was named
Hieros Kolpos. According to
Strabo and
Arrian, Alexander the Great named Failaka
Ikaros because it resembled the
Aegean Island of that name in size and shape. Elements of
Greek mythology were mixed with the local cults. "Ikaros" was also the name of a prominent city situated in Failaka. Large
Hellenistic forts and
Greek temples were uncovered. Archaeological remains of Greek colonization were also discovered in Akkaz, Umm an Namil, and Subiya. Failaka was located 15 kilometers from the mouth of the Euphrates river. Characene was centered in the region encompassing southern Mesopotamia, Characene coins were discovered in Akkaz, Umm an Namil, and Failaka. A busy Parthian commercial station was situated in Kuwait. In 224 AD, Kuwait became part of the
Sassanid Empire. At the time of the Sassanid Empire, Kuwait was known as
Meshan, which was an alternative name of the kingdom of Characene. Akkaz was a
Partho-
Sassanian site; Late Sassanian settlements were discovered in Failaka. In
Bubiyan, there is archaeological evidence of Sassanian to early Islamic periods of human presence as evidenced by the recent discovery of torpedo-jar pottery shards on several prominent beach ridges. in 1669 AD, Kuwait became under Bani Khalid Emirate (Arabic: إِمَارَةُ بَنِي خَالِدٍ) or the Emirate of Al Humaid from the Bani Khalid tribe was a state that arose in the eastern region of the Arabian Peninsula in 1669 after Emir Barrak ibn Ghurayr made his capital in
Al-Mubarraz in
Alahsa, then managed to defeat the
Ottoman Empire represented by
Lahsa Eyalet and drove them out of the region. in 1752 after the death of Sulayman bin Muhammad Al Khalidi , the Utub Tribe Elected
Sabah Bin Jaber The First to rule Kuwait and declare independence from the Emirate of Bani Khalid. ar
1752–1945: Pre-oil in Kuwait City. Demonstrates the founding of Kuwait as a sea port for merchants. In the early to mid 1700s,
Kuwait City was a small
fishing village. Administratively, it was a sheikhdom, ruled by
sheikhs from the local
Bani Khalid clan. Sometime in the mid-1700s, the
Bani Utbah settled in Kuwait City. Sometime after the death of the Bani Khalid's leader Barak bin Abdul Mohsen and the fall of the
Bani Khalid Emirate, the Utub were able to wrest control of Kuwait as a result of successive
matrimonial alliances. By the late-1700s, Kuwait had established itself as a trading route from the Persian Gulf to
Aleppo. As a result, Kuwait's maritime commerce boomed, The
East India Company was diverted to Kuwait in 1792. The East India Company secured the sea routes between Kuwait, India and the east coasts of Africa. The flight of many of Basra's leading merchants to Kuwait continued to play a significant role in Basra's commercial stagnation well into the 1850s. In the late 18th century, Kuwait was a haven for Basra merchants fleeing
Ottoman persecution. Kuwait was the center of
boat building in the Persian Gulf, its ships renowned throughout the
Indian Ocean. Its sailors developed a positive reputation in the Persian Gulf. In the 19th century, Kuwait became significant in the
horse trade, with regular shipments in sailing vessels. of the
Ottoman Empire in 1897. After the
Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, Kuwait was established as an autonomous
kaza, or district, of the Ottoman Empire and a
de facto protectorate of
Great Britain. After the
Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, Kuwait was established as an autonomous
kaza, or district, of the Ottoman Empire and a
de facto protectorate of Great Britain. During
World War I, the
British Empire imposed a trade blockade against Kuwait because its ruler at the time,
Salim Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, supported the
Ottoman Empire. The British economic blockade heavily damaged Kuwait's economy. The Ikhwan attack repulsed for the while, negotiations began between Salim and Al-Dawish; the latter threatened another attack if the Kuwaiti forces did not surrender. The local merchant class convinced Salim to call in help from British troops, who showed up with airplanes and three warships, ending the attacks. After the Battle of Jahra, Ibn Saud's warriors, the
Ikhwan, demanded that Kuwait follows five rules. They demanded that all the
Shias be evicted, that all should adopt the
Ikhwan doctrine, that the Turks be labelled "
heretics", that smoking,
munkar, and prostitution be abolished, and that American missionary hospital be destroyed. in
Al Jahra The
Kuwait–Najd War of 1919–20 erupted in the
aftermath of World War I. The war occurred because
Ibn Saud of Najd wanted to annex Kuwait. The sharpened conflict between Kuwait and Najd led to the death of hundreds of Kuwaitis. The war resulted in sporadic border clashes throughout 1919–1920. When
Percy Cox was informed of the border clashes in Kuwait, he sent a letter to the
Ruler of Arabistan Sheikh
Khazʽal Ibn Jabir offering the Kuwaiti throne to either him or one of his heirs. Khaz'al refused. He then asked: Following the Kuwait–Najd War in 1919–20, Ibn Saud imposed a trade blockade against Kuwait from the years 1923 until 1937. The goal of the Saudi economic and military attacks on Kuwait was to annex as much of Kuwait's territory as possible. At the
Uqair conference in 1922, the boundaries of Kuwait and Najd were set; as a result of British interference, Kuwait had no representative at the Uqair conference. After the Uqair conference, Kuwait was still subjected to a Saudi economic blockade and intermittent Saudi
raiding. Kuwait immensely declined in regional economic importance, Kuwait's
pearl industry also collapsed as a result of the worldwide economic depression. In 1946, crude oil was exported for the first time. In 1950, a major public-work programme began to enable Kuwaiti citizens to enjoy a luxurious standard of living. By 1952, the country became the largest oil exporter in the Persian Gulf region. This massive growth attracted many foreign workers, especially from Palestine, Iran, India, and Egypt – with the latter being particularly political within the context of the
Arab Cold War. It was also in 1952 that the first masterplan of Kuwait was designed by the British planning firm of
Minoprio,
Spenceley, and Macfarlane. In 1958,
Al-Arabi magazine was first published. Many foreign writers moved to Kuwait because they enjoyed greater
freedom of expression than elsewhere in the Middle East. Kuwait's press was described as one of the
freest in the world. Kuwait was the pioneer of the post-
Nahda literary renaissance in the Middle East. At the time, Kuwait was considered the most developed country in the region. Kuwait was the pioneer in the Middle East in diversifying its earnings away from oil exports. The
Kuwait Investment Authority is the world's first sovereign wealth fund. Kuwaiti society embraced liberal and non-traditional attitudes throughout the 1960s and 1970s. For example, most Kuwaiti women did not wear the
hijab in the 1960s and 70s. At Kuwait University,
mini skirts were more common than the hijab among female Kuwaiti students. The short-lived
Operation Vantage crisis evolved in July 1961, as the Iraqi government threatened to invade Kuwait and the invasion was finally averted following plans by the Arab League to form an international Arab force against the potential Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. As a result of Operation Vantage, the Arab League took over the border security of Kuwait and the British had withdrawn their forces by 19 October. Under the terms of the newly drafted
Constitution, Kuwait held its first
parliamentary elections in 1963. with Egyptian President
Gamal Abdel Nasser during the Al-Sabah's visit to
Cairo in 1962
Kuwait University was established in 1966. The
Kuwait-Iraq 1973 Samita border skirmish evolved on 20 March 1973, when Iraqi army units occupied El-Samitah near the Kuwaiti border, which evoked an international crisis. On 6 February 1974,
Palestinian militants occupied the Japanese embassy in Kuwait, taking the ambassador and ten others hostage. The militants' motive was to support the
Japanese Red Army members and Palestinian militants who were holding hostages on a Singaporean ferry in what is known as the
Laju incident. Ultimately, the hostages were released, and the guerrillas allowed to fly to
Aden. This was the first time Palestinian guerrillas struck in Kuwait as the Al Sabah ruling family, headed by Sheikh Sabah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, funded the Palestinian resistance movement. Kuwait had been a regular endpoint for Palestinian
plane hijacking in the past and had considered itself safe.
Kuwait International Airport was opened in 1979 by the Al Hani Construction with a joint venture of
Ballast Nedam.
1981–1991: Wars and terrorism The Al Sabah strongly advocated
Islamism throughout the 1980s. At that time, the most serious threat to the continuity of Al Sabah came from home-grown democrats, Simultaneously, Kuwait experienced a major
economic crisis after the
Souk Al-Manakh stock market crash and
decrease in oil price. tanks in
Kuwait City of Iraqi-occupied Kuwait on 2 August 1990 during the
Iraqi invasion of Kuwait that began the Gulf War. After the Iran–Iraq War ended, Kuwait declined an Iraqi request to forgive its US$65 billion debt. An economic rivalry between the two countries ensued after Kuwait increased its oil production by 40 percent. Tensions between the two countries increased further in July 1990, after Iraq complained to
OPEC claiming that Kuwait was stealing its oil from a field near the border by
slant drilling of the
Rumaila field. During the Iraqi occupation, nearly 1,000 civilians were killed in Kuwait. In addition, 600 people went missing during Iraq's occupation; remains of approximately 375 were found in mass graves in Iraq. Kuwait celebrates 26 February as
Liberation Day.
1992–2023: Post-war period In the early 1990s, Kuwait
deported nearly 400,000 Palestinians. Kuwait's policy was a form of
collective punishment, in response to the alignment of the
PLO with Saddam Hussein. Kuwait also deported thousands of Iraqis and Yemenis after the Gulf War. Hundreds of thousands of
stateless Bedoon were also expelled from Kuwait in the early-to-mid 1990s. Many of the stateless Bedoon fled to Iraq where they remain stateless people even today. In March 2003, Kuwait became the springboard for the US-led
invasion of Iraq. In 2005, women won the right to vote and run in elections. Upon the death of the Emir Jaber in January 2006, Sheikh
Saad Al-Sabah succeeded him but was removed nine days later due to his failing health. As a result, Sheikh
Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was sworn in as Emir. From that point onwards, Kuwait suffered from chronic political deadlock between the government and parliament which resulted in multiple cabinet reshuffles and dissolutions. China awarded Kuwait Investment Authority an additional $700 million quota on top of $300 million awarded in March 2012. visible (illuminated white building in center) In March 2014,
David S. Cohen, who was then the United States
Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, and many others accused
Kuwait of funding terrorism, particularly for
ISIS and
Al-Qaeda. On 26 June 2015, a
suicide bombing took place at a Shia Muslim mosque in Kuwait. The
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the attack. Twenty-seven people were killed and 227 people were wounded. It was the largest terror attack in Kuwait's history. In the aftermath, a lawsuit was filed accusing the Kuwaiti government of negligence and direct responsibility for the terror attack. Due to
declining oil prices in the mid-to-late 2010s, Kuwait faced one of the worst economic crunches in its history.
Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City was inaugurated in mid-2016. Simultaneously, Kuwait invested significantly in its economic relations with
China. At the time, China was Kuwait's largest trade partner. Under the
Belt and Road Initiative, Kuwait and China have various cooperation projects including
Al-Mutlaa which is currently under construction in northern Kuwait. The
Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway is part of the first phase of the
Silk City project. it connects Kuwait City to northern Kuwait. Kuwait's economy faced a budget deficit of $46 billion in 2020. In September 2020, Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh
Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah became the 16th Emir of Kuwait and the successor to Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who died at the age of 91. In October 2020, Sheikh
Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was appointed as the Crown Prince. In December 2023, Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah died and was replaced by Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
. 2024–present: Citizenship revocations and 2026 Iran war In early 2024, the Emir of Kuwait began
revoking the citizenship of many citizens (by decree). The National Assembly has been suspended since 10 May 2024. In March 2025, it was reported that the citizenship of 42,000 people was revoked in just six months. By December 2025, it was estimated that as many as 200,000 people have lost their Kuwaiti citizenship. According to
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Kuwait has weaponized citizenship revocation. In January 2026, the United States government suspended immigrant visas for citizens of Kuwait and 74 other countries due to the high dependency of Kuwaiti immigrants on American welfare benefits. Kuwait is the only GCC country on the visa suspension list. ==Geography==