Kuwait Environment - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

limited natural freshwater resources; some of world's largest and most sophisticated desalination facilities provide much of the water; air and water pollution; desertification; loss of biodiversity

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping-London Convention

Climate

dry desert; intensely hot summers; short, cool winters

Land use

agricultural land: 8.5% (2018 est.)

arable land: 0.6% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.3% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 7.6% (2018 est.)

forest: 0.4% (2018 est.)

other: 91.1% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 100% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 1.35% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Revenue from forest resources

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 57.17 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 98.73 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 6.21 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 1.75 million tons (2010 est.)

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Indian Ocean drainage: (Persian Gulf) Tigris and Euphrates (918,044 sq km)

Major aquifers

Arabian Aquifer System

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 450 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 20 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 780 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

20 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Kuwait on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Kuwait 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Kuwait 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.