Qualla: Kuwait https://qualla.com/kuwait en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:31 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/1/v/kuwait-wk/hero-small.webp Qualla: Kuwait https://qualla.com/kuwait Kuwait: Introduction https://qualla.com/kuwait/ Photo credit SamyrTotto, CC BY-SA 4.0. The pearl divers used to descend on a single breath, weighted stones pulling them to the Gulf floor where they pried oysters from the seabed with bleeding fingers. For centuries, this was Kuwait's economy: men risking their lives in warm, shallow water from June to September, surfacing with treasures that connected this small peninsula to markets across India, Persia, and Mesopotamia. Then came oil. The Burgan field, one of the largest reserves ever discovered, made pearl diving obsolete and Kuwait fabulously rich. What the pearl divers could never have imagined was that the same wealth would nearly destroy the country.

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Image: SamyrTotto | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/1/v/kuwait-wk/tj1v-kuwait-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Kuwait: A Trading Post Between Empires https://qualla.com/kuwait/ Photo credit Kuwaitsoccer, CC BY-SA 3.0. Kuwait sits at the northwestern corner of the Persian Gulf, wedged between Iraq to the north and Saudi Arabia to the south. The country is small, roughly the size of New Jersey, and almost entirely flat desert. Summers push past 50 degrees Celsius. Rain is rare. Yet this inhospit...

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Image: Kuwaitsoccer | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/1/v/kuwait-wk/tj1v-kuwait-a-trading-post-between-empires.mp3 0:06 2 full Kuwait: Black Gold and the End of Pearls https://qualla.com/kuwait/ Photo credit Alitea1000, CC BY-SA 4.0. Oil exports began in earnest after World War II, and the transformation was swift. Kuwait became one of the wealthiest countries per capita on Earth. The Kuwaiti dinar remains the highest-valued currency unit in the world. The government provides citizens with free healthcare, fr...

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Image: Alitea1000 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/1/v/kuwait-wk/tj1v-kuwait-black-gold-and-the-end-of-pearls.mp3 0:06 3 full Kuwait: Seven Months of Darkness https://qualla.com/kuwait/ Photo credit Zymogen92, Public domain. On August 2, 1990, Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait, citing disputes over oil production quotas and a debt of approximately 37 billion dollars from the Iran-Iraq War. The country fell in two days. What followed was seven months of occupation: looting, destruction, and the deliberate s...

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Image: Zymogen92 | Public domain

]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/1/v/kuwait-wk/tj1v-kuwait-seven-months-of-darkness.mp3 0:06 4 full Kuwait: Life in the Desert Monarchy https://qualla.com/kuwait/ Photo credit CIA, Public domain. Modern Kuwait operates under a constitutional monarchy with an elected National Assembly, one of the more open political systems in the Gulf region. Women gained the right to vote in 2005. Alcohol is completely illegal, and possession carries harsh penalties. The country is overw...

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Image: CIA | Public domain

]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/1/v/kuwait-wk/tj1v-kuwait-life-in-the-desert-monarchy.mp3 0:06 5 full Kuwait: Small Country, Long Shadow https://qualla.com/kuwait/ Photo credit Bo hessin, CC BY-SA 3.0. From altitude, Kuwait appears as a thin crescent of development clinging to the coast, with unbroken desert stretching south and west. Failaka Island sits in Kuwait Bay, home to archaeological sites dating to the Bronze Age that connect this coast to the ancient Dilmun civilizati...

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Image: Bo hessin | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/j/1/v/kuwait-wk/tj1v-kuwait-small-country-long-shadow.mp3 0:06 6 full