Egyptian colony. It rose to rule over
Egypt and much of the Nile River valley.
Kush combined Egyptian and other
African cultures.
The people of Kush, called Kushites,
were black Africans. Most Kushites were
farmers, but there were also craftsmen
and traders. The Kushites sometimes
captured other people.
Kush was a rich kingdom. It had gold
mines. It also had rich farmland. In
addition, Kush was in a good location to
trade with other peoples. The Kushites
could ship goods on the Nile River.
They could also transport goods on
roads to the Red Sea.
Nubia was originally part of ancient
Egypt. During the 1400s BC Egypt
divided Nubia into two parts. Kush was
the southern part. During the 700s BC
the Kushites took control of Egypt. In
the 600s BC, however, the Assyrians
from Asia drove them back to Nubia.
After that, Kush was a smaller kingdom
on the middle Nile for almost 1,000
years. The kingdom of Aksum finally
wiped out Kush in about AD 350.
#More to explore
Aksum • Egypt, Ancient • Nubia
• Sudan
Kutenai
#see Kootenai.
© 2006 Encycldoipa. Britannica, Inc.
The Kushites
sold gold,
incense, ivory,
ebony, oils,
ostrich feathers,
and leopard
skins to
other peoples.
90 Kush BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Kuwait
Despite its small size, the Middle Eastern
country of Kuwait has some of the
largest oil reserves in the world. The
capital is Kuwait city.
Kuwait borders Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
The Persian Gulf is to the east. Kuwait is
a hot, flat desert with no lakes or rivers.
Kuwait’s plants are mainly scrub and
low bushes. Saltwater plants grow along
the coast. The animals of the desert
include foxes, small mammals called
civets, gazelles, lizards, and snakes.
Most of Kuwait’s people are Arabs.
Many of them were born in neighboring
Arab countries or in South Asia and
came to Kuwait to work. Arabic is the
main language, but English is common.
Most Kuwaitis follow Islam. Almost all
the people live in or near Kuwait city.
The economy of Kuwait depends on the
sale of its oil. Kuwait also produces
natural gas, food products, clothing, and
metal products. Agriculture is limited to
growing small vegetable crops.
Nomads, or wandering peoples, lived in
what is now Kuwait for many centuries.
In 1756 a member of the Sabah family
became sheik, or ruler, of Kuwait. The
Sabah family ruled the country into the
21st century. In 1899, however, Great
Britain took over Kuwait’s foreign affairs.
In 1961 Kuwait gained independence.
In 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait. The invasion
led to the Persian GulfWar. United
Nations forces, led by the United States,
drove Iraqi troops out of Kuwait in
1991.
..More to explore
Kuwait • Middle East • Persian Gulf
War
Water towers dot the sky in
Kuwait’s capital.
Facts About
KUWAIT
Population
(2008 estimate)
3,530,000
Area
6,880 sq mi
(17,818 sq km)
Capital
Kuwait (city)
Form of
government
Constitutional
monarchy
Major cities
As-Salimiyah,
Qalib ash-
Shuyukh,
Hawalli, Kuwait
(city)
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Kuwait 91
Kuwait
Population
(2005
estimate), city,
32,403; urban
area,
1,810,000
The city of Kuwait is the capital of a
country that is also named Kuwait. The
city lies on a bay of the Persian Gulf, in
the Middle East. Its name comes from
the Arabic work kut, meaning “fort.”
Many government, business, and banking
offices are located in Kuwait city.
Kuwait University is also there. The city
and its suburbs have large oil and chemical
industries.
A group of Arab families founded
Kuwait city in the early 1700s. For more
than 200 years the city’s people made a
living mostly by fishing and gathering
pearls.
The country started producing oil in the
middle of the 1900s. As a result Kuwait
city grew much bigger and wealthier.
In 1990 troops from neighboring Iraq
captured Kuwait city. The Iraqis took
everything of value there, including food
supplies. Many people fled. The invasion
of Kuwait led to the Persian Gulf
War of 1991. Iraq lost the war. Kuwait’s
people then moved back and repaired
the damage to the city.
..More to explore
Kuwait • Persian GulfWar
Kwakiutl
The Kwakiutl are the people of several
related Native American groups. They
traditionally lived on or near Vancouver
Island in what is now British Columbia,
Canada.
The Kwakiutl built their villages along
the water. They lived in large rectangular
houses made from cedar wood. They
made dugout canoes from the trunks of
cedar trees. The Kwakiutl got most of
their food by fishing and hunting deer
and moose.
The Kwakiutl were famous for their
ceremonial feasts known as potlatches.
The family hosting a potlatch gave fine
gifts to their guests. Potlatches were held
to celebrate important occasions, such as
a marriage or the birth of a child, or to
make up for some offense against the
tribe.
Modern skyscrapers rise above the city of
Kuwait, Kuwait.
92 Kuwait BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
In the late 1700s British, American, and
Russian traders began to arrive in the
Kwakiutl’s land. They brought goods
such as steel tools. They traded these to
the Kwakiutl in exchange for furs. In the
mid-1800s settlers and missionaries
began to arrive. They brought diseases
that killed many Kwakiutl.
Both the missionaries and Canadian
