Cultural Legacy and Diversity
The first settlers in Kuwait were from the Uteiba subgroup of the Anaiza tribe that migrated from the central Arabian Peninsula and established Kuwait City in 1710. Their descendants, together with those from other tribes of central Arabia, Iraq and Persia, represent today's Kuwaiti nationals. The result is that less than half the people residing in the state of Kuwait are from the Arabian Peninsula, although the population is primarily Arab in origin.
Many Arabs from nearby nations, such as Iran, and Southeast Asia took up residence in Kuwait because of the prosperity brought by oil production after the 1940s. However, following the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991, the Kuwaiti government undertook a serious effort to reduce the expatriate population. The major division within Kuwait's population is between Kuwaiti nationals and immigrants.
Today, the population of Kuwait is approximately 3.2 million. Eighty-five percent of Kuwaitis are Muslims (Sunni 70 percent, Shi'a 30 percent). There are very few Kuwaiti Christians.
The 93.3 percent literacy rate, one of the Arab world's highest, is due to extensive government support for the education system. Public school education, including Kuwait University, is free and compulsory, but access is restricted for foreign residents. The government sends qualified students abroad for degrees not offered at Kuwait University.
Social Benefits and Welfare
The government has sponsored many social welfare, public works, and development plans financed with oil and investment revenues. Among the benefits for Kuwaiti citizens are retirement income, marriage bonuses, housing loans, virtually guaranteed employment, free medical services, and education at all levels.
By Emiri decree, the government occasionally disburses a portion of its budget surplus as a grant to all Kuwaiti citizens. In 2006, an Emiri grant of 200 Kuwaiti dinars (approximately $700) was paid to every citizen who applied. In 2007, the government implemented a debt forgiveness scheme for Kuwaiti citizens amounting to just over $1 billion. In February 2011, the government announced an Emiri grant of estimated 1.5 billion Kuwaiti dinars (approximately $5.3 billion), including 1,000 Kuwaiti dinars (approximately $3,500) to be paid to every citizen along with free monthly food baskets to each Kuwaiti family for 14 months.
Foreign nationals residing in Kuwait do not have access to these welfare services. The right to own stock in publicly traded companies, real estate, and banks or a majority interest in a business is limited to Kuwaiti citizens and citizens of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries under limited circumstances.
Human Development
In terms of health and welfare, Kuwait's infant mortality rate of 9.22 deaths per 1,000 live births is one of the best in the Arab world. Indeed, life expectancy at birth for the total population is also one of the best at 77.53 years of age (males: 76.38 years; females: 78.73 years). Access to water and sanitation in this country is regarded to be very good.
One notable measure used to determine a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index ( HDI), which has been compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a recent ranking of 169 countries, the HDI placed Kuwait in the high human development category, at 47th place. Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.