Demographics of Kuwait

Demographics Of Kuwait

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Kuwait, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Approximately 96% of Kuwait's population is urbanized while 4% are nomadic or semi-nomadic. The State of Kuwait's current population is estimated at roughly 3-3.5 million people; counting both locals and foreigners. Roughly 1 million (or nearly one third) of Kuwait's population is local, with 2-2.5 million residents registered as foreigners/non-locals. It is estimated that one in every 3–4 people in Kuwait are of Kuwaiti citizenship.

In 2009, more than 580,000 Indian nationals lived in Kuwait making them the single largest expatriate community there. The rest of the foreign population mainly consists of Egyptians, Palestinians, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Filipino and Sri Lankan residents. Other foreigners consist of European, North American and Northeast Asian communities – but these are negligible.

Non-Arabs (Africans, Persians, East Asians, Europeans, other black or white populations) are generally socially-classed as "Ajam". "Ajam" is a term to describe a non-Arab.

Racially speaking, Kuwaitis are described usually as white or tan/black. (Beedh, Sumur, respectively)... However the government does not include this in its database. Kuwaitis identify themselves as Arabs because Kuwait is an Arab country by constitution. Having said that, not all Kuwaitis are originally Arab. Some Kuwaitis are originally from Persia and other non-Arab countries, however, they assimilated with the Arabs of Kuwait after acquiring Kuwaiti citizenship and are therefore Arabized Arabs. Therefore, while some Kuwaitis originally trace themselves back to Arab origin (specifically the Najd area or Iraq), other Kuwaitis can trace themselves back to Iran and a few other non-Arab origins.

Kuwaitis are predominantly Muslim, though there are a few Christians or atheists. 85% of Kuwait's population is Muslim (Sunni 70%, Shi'a 30%) and the rest belong to other religions (includes Christian, Hindu, Parsi). Some other minor Muslim sects do exist in Kuwait's society, but in very small or rare numbers. There are small numbers of Kuwaiti Christians and Jews. The 93% 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, but access is restricted for foreign residents. The government sends qualified students abroad for degrees not offered at Kuwait University.

Kuwait's official language is Arabic, though only roughly half the country speaks the language primarily. Most foreigners speak Hindi, Urdu, Filipino or Bengali. Most Kuwaitis are also bilingual in that they speak more than one language. E.g. English, Persian, etc.

Other population difficulties encountered in Kuwait involves stateless people who claim residency for Kuwait. Critics argue that these people migrated from Iraq and Saudi Arabia after the economic boom of Kuwait. Since Kuwait's standard of living increased, many have flocked to the country. Most stateless people are Arabs, and count up to 100,000 people. Some are slowly naturalized through different legislative processes, which is ultimately increasing the Arab population of Kuwaiti people. Most obtain nationality by marrying Kuwaiti women. 30–35% of stateless men in adulthood (capable of marital status) have married Kuwait women, and this number is rising.

Some encourage the assimilation of stateless and illegal people.