Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is an Arab country in Western Asia. Situated in the northeastern edge of the Arabian peninsula at the tip of the Persian Gulf, it shares borders with Iraq to the north and Saudi Arabia to the south. The country covers an area of 17,820 square kilometers (6,880 square miles) and has a population of 2.6 million as of 2012.
Kuwait is a small, relatively open economy with proven crude oil reserves of about 96 billion barrels (15.3 km3), i.e., about 10% of world reserves. Petroleum accounts for 43% of GDP, 87% of export revenues, and 75% of government income. Kuwait also export plant fertilizers.[9] Kuwait has little arable land, thus preventing reliance on the agriculture sector. Higher oil prices reduced the budget deficit from $5.5 billion to $3 billion in 1999, and prices are expected to remain relatively strong throughout the 2000s. It inaugurated Kuwait's first free-trade zone in 1999 and will continue discussions with foreign oil companies to develop fields in the northern part of the country. Kuwait has the second-most free economy in the Middle East.
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