POPULATION: 1,575,983 (official estimate 1995).

POPULATION DENSITY: 88.4 per sq km (1995).

CAPITAL: Kuwait City. Population: 28,859 (1995).

GEOGRAPHY: Kuwait shares borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia. To the southeast lies the Persian Gulf, where Kuwait has sovereignty over nine small islands (the largest is Bubiyan and the most populous is Failaka). The landscape is predominantly desert plateau with a lower, more fertile coastal belt.

LANGUAGE: Arabic, but English is widely understood, especially in commerce and industry.

RELIGION: 95% Muslim (mostly of the Sunni sect), with Christian and Hindu minorities.

TIME: GMT + 3.

ELECTRICITY: 240 volts AC, 50Hz; single phase. UK-type flat 3-pin plugs are used.

COMMUNICATIONS: Telephone: Full IDD is available. Country code: 965. Outgoing international code: 00. Fax: Most hotels have facilities. Telegram: 24-hour telegram services are available at the Ministry of Post and Telegraph Offices, Abdullah Al Salem Square, Kuwait City, but must be handed to the post office (opening hours: 0700-1400 Saturday to Wednesday; 0700-1200 Thursday). Post: Airmail to Western Europe takes about five days. Press: The English-language newspapers are the Arab Times and the Kuwait Times. Although remaining loyal to the Royal family, the press enjoys a fair degree of freedom.

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