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50 free Kuwait trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Kuwait is a city-state at the head of the Gulf with the world's most valuable currency, its oldest sovereign wealth fund, the first large-scale desalination plants, and a summer temperature record for all of Asia. It was a pearling and dhow-building port before oil, and its 1990 invasion by Iraq, its liberation and the burning of hundreds of oil wells put it at the centre of the world's attention. This Kuwait trivia quiz covers all of it. Forty-three questions run from geography (Kuwait City, Failaka, Bubiyan, Mutla Ridge, Mitribah) through history (Ikaros and the Greeks, the Bani Utbah and Sabah I, the 1899 agreement with Britain, the pearling collapse, Burgan in 1938, independence in 1961, the invasion, Desert Storm and the oil fires) to politics and culture (the Al Sabah, the National Assembly, women's vote in 2005, the flag, the dinar, machboos, the Kuwait Towers, the "Hollywood of the Gulf") and sport (the 1980 Asian Cup, the 1982 World Cup, Al-Deehani's Olympic gold). Roughly a third are easy, a third medium, and the rest are for people who really know the Gulf. Every answer has been checked against encyclopaedia and official pages, so the dates, numbers and names are ones you can rely on.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The name "Kuwait" comes from an Arabic diminutive of Kut, meaning what?
Fortress built near water
The country's official name has been the State of Kuwait since 1961.
Q 02Kuwait borders Saudi Arabia to the south and which country to the north?
Iraq
Only a sliver of Iraqi coastline separates it from Iran across the Gulf.
Q 03Roughly what share of Kuwait's 4.8 million residents are Kuwaiti citizens?
Under 30%
Some 3.3 million residents are foreign nationals from over 100 countries, with Indians and Egyptians the largest groups.
Q 04Which Kuwaiti island, settled by Mesopotamians around 2000 BC, was named Ikaros by the Greeks?
Failaka
Traders from the Sumerian city of Ur ran businesses there, and later Hellenistic forts and temples were built.
Q 05In 1752 which tribe elected Sabah I bin Jaber to rule Kuwait, founding the dynasty that still reigns?
The Bani Utbah
The election declared independence from the Bani Khalid emirate; the Al Sabah have dominated politics ever since.
Q 06In 1899 Sheikh Mubarak Al Sabah signed an agreement making Kuwait a protectorate of which power?
Britain
The deal gave Britain exclusive trade access and denied the Ottomans and Germans a Gulf port; it lasted until 1961.
Q 07Before oil, which luxury industry made Kuwait a world leader with 750-800 ships a year?
Pearling
The Great Depression and Japan's invention of cultured pearls destroyed it, and Freya Stark wrote of the resulting poverty.
Q 08Kuwait was famous in the pre-oil era as the Persian Gulf's centre for building what?
Boats
Its ships were renowned across the Indian Ocean; Al-Hashemi-II later entered the Guinness records as the largest wooden dhow ever built.
Q 09Oil was first discovered in Kuwait on 22 February 1938 in which field?
Burgan
Greater Burgan is the world's largest sandstone oil field and second-largest overall after Saudi Arabia's Ghawar.
Q 10Kuwait first exported crude oil in which year?
1946
By 1952 it was the largest oil exporter in the Gulf, launching a "golden era" of prosperity that lasted until 1980.
Q 11Kuwait holds the world's sixth-largest reserves of what?
Oil
The high-income economy is a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council and belongs to OPEC.
Q 12In which year did Kuwait become independent with the end of the British protectorate?
1961
Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah became emir; Iraq at first refused to recognise the new state and Britain sent forces.
Q 13Why does Kuwait celebrate its national day on 25 February, not the June independence date?
The summer heat
The February date marks the coronation of Sheikh Abdullah; 19 June was simply too hot for celebrations.
Q 21In which year did Kuwaiti women win the right to vote and stand for election?
2005
The first parliamentary elections under the constitution had been held in 1963.
Q 22Kuwait was the springboard for the US-led invasion of which country in March 2003?
Iraq
Two decades earlier it had backed Baghdad in the Iran–Iraq War and suffered pro-Iranian bombings as a result.
Q 23Who became the 17th Emir of Kuwait in December 2023?
Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
He succeeded Sheikh Nawaf, who had reigned since 2020; the National Assembly was suspended in May 2024.
Q 14The Kuwait Investment Authority holds what distinction among sovereign wealth funds?
The world's oldest
It is also the third-largest in the world and made Kuwait the Middle East pioneer in diversifying away from oil.
Q 15In 2026, which country's currency was the most valuable in the world per base unit?
Kuwait
In 2026 one dinar was worth about US$3.23, ahead of the Bahraini dinar; it was introduced in 1961 to replace the Gulf rupee.
Q 16The Kuwaiti dinar is subdivided into how many fils?
1,000
It replaced the Gulf rupee, which had been equal to the Indian rupee, at independence.
Q 17In August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait after accusing it of slant-drilling into which oil field?
Rumaila
Iraq also wanted its US$65 billion war debt forgiven and resented Kuwait raising oil output by 40 percent.
Q 18On what date did the coalition drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait, ending the occupation?
26 February 1991
The liberation came during Operation Desert Storm; nearly 1,000 Kuwaiti civilians had been killed during the occupation.
Q 19Retreating Iraqi forces set fire to roughly how many Kuwaiti oil wells in 1991?
605 to 732
The first fires were put out in April and the last well was capped on 6 November 1991.
Q 20After the Gulf War, Kuwait deported nearly 400,000 people of which nationality?
Palestinians
Thousands of Iraqis and Yemenis and hundreds of thousands of stateless Bedoon were also expelled in the early 1990s.
Q 24Kuwait's official state religion is which school of Sunni Islam?
Maliki
An estimated 60–70% of citizens are Sunni and 30–40% Shia, and Kuwait even has a few hundred native Christian citizens.
Q 25Kuwait's flag is the only national flag to feature what shape?
An acute trapezium
The black trapezoid at the hoist joins green, white and red bands; the flag was adopted in September 1961.
Q 26Before 1961, Kuwait's flag was which two colours, like other Gulf Arab states?
Red and white
In 1903 Sheikh Mubarak greeted Lord Curzon under a red flag with the white words "We trust in God".
Q 27The Kuwait Towers, symbol of the modern country, were designed by which Danish architect?
Malene Bjørn
They form the last of six groups of water towers built by the Swedish firm VBB and were inaugurated in March 1979.
Q 28How tall is the main Kuwait Tower, which carries two spheres?
187 m
The lower sphere holds a water tank and a restaurant, and the upper one turns full circle every 30 minutes.
Q 29Kuwait was the first country in the world to do what on a large scale for domestic water?
Use desalination
The first distillation plant was commissioned in 1951; today more than six plants supply most demand.
Q 30Kuwait's record 54 °C at Mitribah in July 2016 was the highest ever recorded on which continent?
Asia
The reading was 54.0 °C; the country relies on desalination for almost all its fresh water.