Archeological evidence indicates that human activity in Kuwait dates as far back as 8,000 BCE. The area is thought to have been part of the Bronze Age Dilium civilization, which was probably centered in what is now Bahrain from 2,200 to about 1,800 BCE. This civilization was advanced for its time, on a par with the contemporary civilizations in Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley with which it traded. The Greeks settled on the island of Faylaka about the 4th century BCE.

Islam was brought to Kuwait in the 7th century CE. One of the early battles between the Muslims and the Sasanian (Persian) Empire was fought in Kuwait in 632, from which the Muslims emerged victorious. For the next thousand years, however, it remained isolated from world events, the largely desert landscape only sparsely inhabited by nomadic tribes. The area came under the nominal suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520–66), but in actual fact, the Ottomans exerted virtually no power or influence there.

Instead, control rested with the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula. By the 17th century, the Bani Khalid tribe controlled the northeastern area of the Arabian Peninsula, and their leader built his kut—a small fortress-shaped house—on the Kuwaiti coast in about 1672. The Bani Khalid were joined some years later by the Utub, a federation of tribes who had been driven out of the interior by drought. Initially, the Utub accepted the sovereignty of the Bani Khalid, but when the latter became preoccupied with internal disputes and external threats, the Utub became essentially independent. In 1756, they elected one of their members, Sheikh Sabah bin Jaber, as their leader, establishing the Sabah family as rulers of Kuwait.

The small village of Kuwait prospered under the Sabah rule. Fishing and pearling were the primary economic activities initially, and over time, Kuwait’s rise as an important port led to the development of shipbuilding as a significant industry. The strategic location of Kuwait eventually drew the attention of the Ottoman authorities. The Sabahs managed to balance Turkish interests with their own, and a generally friendly coexistence continued until 1899. That was when the Ottoman and German powers announced their plans to build a railroad from Constantinople all the way to the port of Kuwait. This would have resulted in full Ottoman control over Kuwait. Lacking his own means of resisting this move, Sheikh Mubarak al-Sabah—who was ruler at the time—turned to the British for help. The resulting treaty ensured British military protection of Kuwait in return for British control over Kuwait’s foreign affairs. This relationship continued until Kuwait’s independence in 1961.

Over the next several decades, Kuwait’s prosperity declined. A worldwide recession led to decreased trade, which in turn resulted in a decline in Kuwait’s importance as an international port. The introduction of cultured pearls in the early 1900s almost destroyed the pearling industry in Kuwait and nearby countries, and local economies suffered.

The discovery of oil in the Persian Gulf region quickly changed things. The British-American-owned Kuwait Oil Company was granted a concession for oil exploration in 1934, and oil was discovered four years later on the eve of World War II. The development of Kuwait’s oil fields did not begin in earnest until after the war, and when export finally began in 1946, the resulting economic boom transformed Kuwait almost overnight. In additional to the infrastructure necessary to support the oil industry, modern health facilities, schools, markets, offices, houses, and mosques were built with the assistance of large numbers of foreign workers. Services such as health and education improved dramatically. With only limited freshwater resources, desalination plants were built to provide water for domestic as well as industrial purposes. By 1960, per capita income in Kuwait was among the highest in the world.

In 1961, Kuwait signed a new Treaty of Friendship with Britain, which ended the protectorate and accorded Kuwait international recognition as a sovereign and independent state. Iraq initially refused to recognize Kuwaiti independence and threatened to annex it, asserting an historical claim to the country. When Britain and other Arab countries demonstrated their readiness to defend Kuwait militarily, Iraq relinquished its claim and in 1963 signed a border treaty with Kuwait. This was followed three years later by a treaty with Saudi Arabia and an agreement to share oil production in the border area.

An economic boom in the 1970s, fueled by an increase in oil prices and the nationalization of the Kuwait Oil Company, was followed by a decade of uneasiness. Kuwait joined other members of the Arab League in supporting Iraq in the Iraq-Iran war, rhetorically as well as financially. Iran reacted by bombing Kuwaiti oil installations and tankers, and Shi`a groups within Kuwait attempted to destabilize the country. In 1985, Kuwait expelled 27,000 foreign workers, most of whom were Shi`a.

Relations with Iraq worsened in 1990, when Iraq accused Kuwait of taking more than its share of oil from a contested reserve that straddles the border between the two countries. Efforts to resolve the question peacefully failed, and Iraq invaded Kuwait in early August and announced its annexation several days later. A U.S.-led international force eventually evicted Iraq from Kuwait in early 1991. The years that followed were devoted to putting out oil-well fires, decontaminating the Gulf waters into which oil had flowed, and rebuilding the country’s infrastructure. In 1994, Iraq officially recognized Kuwaiti sovereignty and its borders as defined by the United Nations. Some effects of the war have continued for more than a decade, including Kuwaiti prisoners of war still held by Iraq and the ongoing international embargo against Iraq.

Kuwait’s constitution, which became official in early 1963, defines the country as a hereditary emirate with succession limited to descendants of Sheikh Mubarak al-Sabah. The emir presides over a 16-member cabinet, the members of which he appoints. A National Assembly (Parliament) is composed of 50 members elected to four-year terms. The balance of power among the cabinet, the emir, and the assembly has been uneasy at times. The emir has suspended the constitution and dissolved the assembly for an extended period twice: once from 1976–1981, and a second time from 1986–1990. Suffrage in Kuwait is limited to Kuwaiti males, and to naturalized Kuwaitis and their descendants who have resided in Kuwait for at least 30 years. Opposition groups in Kuwait continue to push for greater political participation, including the right of women to vote. In 1999, the emir decreed that women would be able to vote and run for office, but the newly elected National Assembly, dominated by conservatives, rejected the decree by a narrow margin, just three votes short of a majority.