Country
Seychelles Kuwait
Leader
Population
90,846 2,695,316
Life Expectancy
74.010 years 77.460 years
Capital City
Victoria Kuwait
Largest city
Victoria (population: 22,881) As Salimiyah (population: 147,649)
Human Development Index
0.836 0.912 GDP per capita $26,200 US $43,800 US
Literacy Rate
91.8% 93.3%
Corruption Perception Index
4.8 4.3
Percentage of Women in Parliament
23.5% 3.1% Wealthiest Citizens NA Nasser Al-Kharafi & family ($8.1bn US) Unemployment Rate 2.000% 2.200%
Death Penalty
Abolished Legal
Political System
republic constitutional emirate
Independence date
29 June 1976 (from UK) 19 June 1961 (from UK) Religions Roman Catholic 82.3%, Anglican 6.4%, Seventh Day Adventist 1.1%, other Christian 3.4%, Hindu 2.1%, Muslim 1.1%, other non-Christian 1.5%, unspecified 1.5%, none 0.6% (2002 census) Muslim 85% (Sunni 70%, Shia 30%), other (includes Christian, Hindu, Parsi) 15% Languages Creole 91.8%, English 4.9% (official), other 3.1%, unspecified 0.2% (2002 census) Arabic (official), English widely spoken Exports canned tuna, frozen fish, cinnamon bark, copra, petroleum products (reexports) oil and refined products, fertilizers External Debt $1,453,000,000 $ $28,210,000,000 US Exchange Rate Seychelles rupees (SCR) per US dollar - 8 (2008 est.), 6.5 (2007), 5.5 (2006), 5.5 (2005), 5.5 (2004) Kuwaiti dinars (KD) per US dollar - 0.2679 (2008 est.), 0.2844 (2007), 0.29 (2006), 0.292 (2005), 0.2947 (2004) Military Budget as percentage of GDP 0.800% 3.700% Beijing Olympics Medal Count Location archipelago in the Indian Ocean, northeast of Madagascar Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iraq and Saudi Arabia Area 455 km sq 17,818 km sq Coastline 491 km 499 km Climate tropical marine; humid; cooler season during southeast monsoon (late May to September); warmer season during northwest monsoon (March to May) dry desert; intensely hot summers; short, cool winters
