Persian Blues

by Iryna Goodall

Title

Persian Blues

Artist

Iryna Goodall

Medium

Photograph

Description

Panoramic view of Kuwait City, capital and largest city of the State of Kuwait, situated on the Persian, or Arabian, Gulf.

A small oil-rich family-run emirate nestled between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Kuwait is situated in a section of one of the driest, least-hospitable deserts on Earth. Its shore, however, includes Kuwait Bay, a deep harbor on the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the Arabic diminutive of the Hindustani “fort”.

Kuwait is believed to have been part of an early civilization in the 3rd millennium B.C. and to have traded with Mesopotamian cities.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the Anizah tribe of central Arabia founded Kuwait City, which became an autonomous sheikdom by 1756. Abd Rahim of the Al-Sabah became the first sheik, and his descendants continue to rule Kuwait today. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the sheikdom belonged to the fringes of the Ottoman Empire. Kuwait obtained British protection in 1897 when the sheik feared that the Turks would expand their hold over the area. In 1961, Britain ended the protectorate, giving Kuwait independence, but agreed to give military aid on request. Iraq immediately threatened to occupy the area, and the British sent troops to defend Kuwait. Soon afterward, the Arab League sent in troops, replacing the British. Iraq's claim was dropped when the Arab League recognized Kuwait's independence on July 20, 1961. Historically, Kuwait followed a neutral and mediatory policy among Arab states.

Oil was discovered in Kuwait in the 1930s, and proved to have 20% of the world's known oil resources. Since 1946 it has been the world's second-largest oil exporter. The sheik, who receives half of the profits, devotes most of them to the education, welfare, and modernization of his kingdom.

The wealthy petroleum-based economy makes Kuwait one of the richest countries in the world, and the Kuwaiti dinar - the highest-valued unit of currency in the world.

Uploaded

November 29th, 2021

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