Overview

Since the seventeenth century, Kuwait has been a sovereign entity, and its development was significantly shaped by the migration of the Banū ʿUtūbʿUtūb, a coalition of tribes from Central Arabia. These tribes, including Āl Sabāh, Āl Khalīfa, and Āl Jalāhima, settled on the northeastern shores of the Arabian Peninsula, in the area now recognized as Kuwait. By the second half of the eighteenth century, Kuwait became a crucial commercial hub, facilitating trade with regions ranging from Persia in the East to European countries such as Portugal, Great Britain, and the Netherlands in the West.