Kuwait Country Overview
Where is Kuwait located? The state of Kuwait, or Kuweit, is located in the Near East and lies on the Arabian Peninsula. The time zone to which Kuwait belongs is called “Arabia Standard Time” (AST) and has a standard difference of 3 hours from Coordinated World Time. Kuwait is three hours ahead of universal time (UTC+3). There is no changeover to daylight saving time in summer.
Population Distribution
As of 2023, the latest population of Kuwait is 2,993,706, based on our calculation of the current data from UN (United Nations).
| Total population | 2,993,706 |
| Population growth rate | 1.27% |
| Birth rate | 19.20 births per 1,000 people |
| Life expectancy | |
| Overall | 77.46 years |
| Men | 76.24 years |
| Women | 78.75 years |
| Age structure | |
| 0-14 years | 24.81% |
| 15-64 years | 72.54% |
| 65 years and above | 2.66% |
| Median age | 29.00 years |
| Gender ratio (Male to Female) | 1.43 |
| Population density | 168.02 residents per km² |
| Urbanization | 96.30% |
| Ethnicities | |
| approx. 36% Kuwait (including 150,000-180,000 Bedouins); 64% foreigners | |
| Religions | |
| Muslims 85% (Sunnis 45%, Shiites 40%), Christians, Hindu, Parsi, and others 15% | |
| Human Development Index (HDI) | 0.808 |
| HDI ranking | 57th out of 194 |
People in Kuwait
Around 4.2 million people live in Kuwait. 96 out of 100 live in cities. Compared to other countries in the world, Kuwait has a very high number of people living in the city. And the city with the most residents is the capital Kuwait.
Locals and foreigners from all regions of the world
65 out of 100 Kuwait residents are foreigners. They often come from Arab countries, so a large proportion are Arabs. The rest often comes from Asia. Many of them are ordinary workers doing jobs that the Kuwaitis do not necessarily want to do. These often come from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or the Philippen.
What are the names of the people of Kuwait?
The residents of Kuwait are called Kuwaitans, but one also hears the term “Kuwaiti (e) s”. In Kuwait, for example, there are more than 120 different nationalities. In the meantime, however, attempts are being made to reduce the influx of workers from abroad. Only technicians and highly qualified workers from abroad should come and otherwise the positions should be filled by locals.
Many of the residents of Kuwait are Bedouins, who, like foreigners, often face disadvantages.
Languages in Kuwait
Arabic is the main language and Persian is the second language. English is used as the commercial language. We don’t know in which language the two men are talking in the photo below.
Religions in Kuwait
Most of the people in Kuwait are Muslims and most of them live the Sunni faith. A third of Muslims are Shiites. The Islam is the state religion in Kuwait. A small proportion of Catholics live in Kuwait, as well as Hindus and Parsi, a religious group that originally came from India and Pakistan.