Kuwait

Official name: 
State of Kuwait
Name in local language: 
دولة الكويت
Form of government: 
Monarchy
Political system: 
Parliamentary
  • Founding date/ Date of independence:  1961, from the United Kingdom
  • Date of constitution/reform: 1962
  • Form of state: Unitary
  • Administrative divisions: 6 governorates
  • Official language(s): Arabic
  • Other spoken languages:  English and Asian Languaes
  • Official religion:  Islam (non denominational)
  • Minorities: there is an impotant shia minority within the national population. Expatriates are divided into Arabs (mainly Egiptians), Asian (Indian, Filippines, Bangladeshi, etc.) and Western workers. There are Hindu and Christian religious communities among the expatriates.
  • Dominant actor(s):  royal family (as-Sabah)
  • Elected institutions of government:  Parliament
  • Non-elected  institutions of government:  government
  • Party system:  no parties allowed, but political associations

Current authorities

  • Head of state:  On September 29th  2020, sheikh Sabah who had ruled since 2006 died and his half-brother Nawaf al-Sabah succeeded him as Emir of Kuwait. 
  • Head of government: Jaber al-Hamad al-Sabah, since 2011
  • Minister of Foreign Affairs: Sabah al-Jaled al-Sabah
  • Minister of Interior: Mohamed Jaled al-Jaber al-Sabah
  • Head(s) of Legislative Branch: Marzuq al-Ghanim
  • Composition legislative branch: Link to PDF
  • Head of the Judiciary: Yusuf al-Mutawa
  • Schematic representation of the political system: Link to PDF

Links