KUWAIT, an Arabian port at the N.W. angle of the Persian Gulf, 29° 20' N. and 40° oo' E., lying on S. side of a bay 20 rri. long and 5 m. wide, the mouth of which is protected by two islands forming a fine natural harbour with good anchorage in 4 to 9 fathoms of water. It is 8o m. due S. of Basra and 6o m. S.W. of mouth of Shatt al Arab. Its name is a diminutive form of Kut, i.e., fort, and it has an alternative name in Qurain (the Grane or Grain of some maps). The country round it being un relieved desert for 200 miles, its population of 50,000 souls de pends entirely on the sea and trade and its sailors and boat-builders have a high reputation. Its situation in relation to central and upper Nejd makes it ideally suited to be the leading entrepot of central Arabian trade and formerly it did in fact play this role. Horses for the Bombay market, sheep, wool, saman and other Arab products came hither from the interior to be exchanged for piece-goods, rice, sugar, tea, etc. Latterly however political rea sons have given an impetus to the development of the Hasa ports and the decline of the horse-trade has further prejudiced Kuwait, which is relatively less important than before the war and to some extent more effectively subject to British political influ ence, which has on several occasions in the last ten years inter vened to prevent it passing into the possession of the Wahhabi state. In 1850 Kuwait was recommended by General F. R.
Chesney as the terminus of his proposed Euphrates valley rail way ; and so years later it attracted much attention as a desirable site for the terminus of the Berlin-Baghdad railway. In fact Turkey made an attempt to occupy Kuwait in 1898 only to be met with a British protest against any infringement of the status quo, and in 1899 Shaikh Mubarak ibn Sabah, who died in 1915 after a reign of 20 years which stamped him as one of the out standing Arab personalities of his age, placed his interests under British protection. The Great War put an end to the Berlin rail way scheme and British military units were stationed there in connection with the blockade of the Turks, with whom the sym pathies of Salim, son of Mubarak, were engaged. During Salim's reign relations with Nejd were very unsatisfactory and in 1919 a Wahhabi attack was only repulsed by British aeroplanes. An other Wahhabi attack took place during the frontier troubles of 1927-8 without success. The present ruler of Kuwait is Ahmad ibn Jabir, a grandson of Mubarak, who succeeded in 1921 on the death of Salim. The boundaries of Kuwait and Nejd were fixed by the treaty of Mohammerah in 1921.