Understand
Kuwait City is a bustling metropolis of high-rise office buildings, luxury hotels, wide boulevards and well-tended parks and gardens. Its seaport is used by oil tankers, cargo ships and many pleasure craft.
Its most dominant landmark is Kuwait Towers, and its oldest is Seif Palace, built in 1896, the interior of which features original Islamic mosaic tilework, though these suffered badly during the Iraqi occupation. The Kuwait National Museum was also stripped of many artefacts – part of it has been renovated and is now open to the public for display.
The Sadu House, near the museum, is made of coral and gypsum and is used as a cultural museum to protect the arts and crafts of Bedouin society. It is an ideal place to purchase Bedouin goods. The huge Grand Mosque in the centre is also worth visiting.
Liberation Tower, the symbol of Kuwaiti liberation, is one of the tallest telecommunications towers in the world. Visitors can travel 150m (492ft) up to the revolving obervation tower and restaurant.
• A port with many old dhows, Failakai Island can be reached by regular ferry services. There are also some Bronze Age and Greek archaeological sites well worth viewing, including the island's Greek temple. Traditional-style boums and sambuks (boats) are still built in Al Jahrah, although, nowadays, vessels are destined to work as pleasure boats rather than pearl fishing or trading vessels. Mina Al Ahmadi, lying 19km (12 miles) south of Kuwait City, is an oil port with immense jetties for supertanker traffic. The Oil Display Centre pays homage to the work of the Kuwait Oil Company.
The scientific center offers many types of sea species to view
• Many of Kuwait's sea clubs ofer a wide variety of facilities and activities such as indoor and outdoor swimming pools, beaches, tennis courts, gymnasiums, bowling and even karate.
• Sailing and scuba diving are available. Powerboating is a Kuwaiti passion. Horse riding clubs flourish in the winter.
Tourist Information
Touristic Enterprises Company of Kuwait
PO Box 23310, Safat 13094, Kuwait City, Kuwait
Tel: 565 3771 or 2775.
Website: www.kuwaittourism.com
History
The Kuwaitis trace their roots to the Al-Anisa and the Al-Utub tribe from the Najd province, in modern Saudi Arabia. They moved to Qatar and then to Al-Qurain (derived from Koot, the Arabic word for fortress), which is in modern day Kuwait bay around 1710. By 1752, the long term residents of Al-Qurain decided that the instability of the region, caused by warring tribes, called for the establishment of a stable government. The Al-Sabah tribe was chosen to rule, and the first Sheikh was Sabah ibn Jaber, who ruled as Sabah I, from 1752 to 1756. The Sabah's were skillful diplomats, and weathered out religious and tribal strifes successfully. They dealt with the Ottomans, the Egyptians and the Europeans. Mubarak I signed an agreement with the British making Kuwait a British Protectorate in 1899. The British were in Kuwait for quite a while by then, and as early as the 1770's Abdullah I had a contract with...
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