The name Kuwait City is derived from Arabic meaning fortress city built near water.
Research website numbeo ranks Kuwait City in the bottom 20% compared to the 250 cities evaluated on its overall quality of life index at June 2020. Kuwait City scored poorly on index factors such as climate (bottom 3%), property price to income ratio (highest 17%), pollution (worst 24%) and cost of living (highest 57%).
Kuwait City is one of the world’s hottest cities thanks to summer temperatures as high as 125.6 degrees Fahrenheit (52 degrees Celsius).
The Liberation Tower located in Kuwait City stands 1,220.5 feet (372 meters) making it the fifth-highest telecommunications tower on Earth and over 10% taller than France’s Eiffel Tower.
Kuwait City was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the site where the fastest-ever prescribed 160-character text message was completed on March 1, 2012 via mobile phone.
On November 30, 2018 Kuwait City became the location where another fun Guinness World Record was set. That marks the date when a gigantic banner measuring 4,690 square feet 118 square inches (435.79 square meters) was flown behind a vehicle as part of a celebration marking 100 years since the first launch of Chevrolet trucks.
From an international trade perspective, Kuwait exported an estimated US$58.4 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2019. Its most valuable exports are crude oil (74.6% of Kuwait’s global total), refined petroleum oils (10.3%), powered aircraft and spacecraft (4.1%), petroleum gas (4%) and cyclic hydrocarbons (2%) according to the International Trade Centre.
Capital Facts for Kuwait City, Kuwait: Quick Reference
Famous People
Below, you will find 10 of the most famous people born in Kuwait City, Kuwait.
- Queen Rania, Jordan’s queen consort (born Aug. 31, 1970)
- Sanjeeda Sheikh, soap opera actress (born Dec. 20, 1984)
- Bader Al-Mutawa, soccer player/footballer (born Jan. 10, 1985)
- Diana Karazon, pop singer (born Oct. 30, 1983)
- Arwa, singer-songwriter & TV host (born Feb. 21, 1979)
- Jack ALMazeedi, director & producer (born Sep. 25, 1995 )
- Eloise Mignon, actress (born Sep. 18, 1986)
- Patrick Tashadian, cinematographer & producer (born Feb. 7, 1981)
- Bader Eidan, social media personality (born Jun. 26, 1992)
- Mishary Rashid Alafasy, YouTube star (born Sep. 5, 1976)
Note: Data for our Famous People tab was sourced from Google searches mostly targeting published Wikipedia articles specific to each person’s name.
Population
Demonym for a Kuwait resident: Kuwaiti
Population: 3,114,553 (Kuwait City metropolitan area) at July 23, 2020
Density: 38,932 people per square mile (15,573 per square kilometer)
Population: 4,274,678 (Kuwait) at July 23, 2020
Density: 621 people per square mile (240 per square kilometer)
Median age for all Kuwait: 36.8 years old
Financial
GDP: US$312 billion for 2019 (Kuwait)
GDP per person: $66,387
Note: The above GDP metrics are on a Purchasing Power Parity basis and are in U.S. dollars.
Official currency used in Kuwait City: Kuwaiti dinar
Geography
Capital landmarks: Kuwait Towers, Seif Palace, Grand Mosque and Dickson House Cultural Centre
Research
Research Sources:
Brookings Institution, Global Metro Monitor Report (includes GDP data).
Central Intelligence Agency, World Factbook, Field Listing: Major Urban Areas.
Central Intelligence Agency, World Factbook, Middle East: Kuwait.
CityMetric, Where are largest cities in the world? 2015 edition.
Demographia, World Urban Area, 12th Annual Edition.
Guinness World Records, Fastest time to type a text message (SMS) on a mobile phone.
Guinness World Records, Largest banner flown by a vehicle.
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases.
International Trade Centre, Trade Map.
Numbeo, Quality of Life Index by City.
Official Government Website, Kuwait Government Online.
Wikimedia Commons, City Flags.
Note: Some city flags were unavailable. If so, attribution belongs to Wikimedia Commons for pertinent country flags.
Wikipedia, Kuwait.
Wikipedia, Kuwait City.
Wikipedia, List of cities by GDP.
WorldOMeter, Venezuela Population.
Kuwaitis celebrate National Day as a public holiday each February 25.
Kuwait City’s metropolitan area covers 80 square miles (200 square kilometers), home to about 3.1 million residents.
At the country level, Kuwait’s land area extends over 6,880 square miles (17,820 square kilometers). The nation’s population count was 4.3 million inhabitants as of July 2020.
Population density is more concentrated within the metropolitan area for Kuwait’s capital city, averaging 38,932 people per square mile (15,573 per square kilometer).
Zooming out to Kuwait’s overall land boundaries, population density dilutes to an average 621 inhabitants per square mile (240 per square kilometer).
