People & Society
The population of Kuwait is ethnically mixed, due to large expatriate communities. There are two groups of natives in Kuwait. Arabs whose ancestors belonged to the larger settlements and living off the land, and who have the highest rank in the society. The other native group are the people whose ancestors lived in smaller communities, and who had their income from fishing. This last group has never received full citizenship, even if they are the true natives of Kuwait - more than the first group which are Arab immigrants from the early 18th century.

There are essentially five levels of Kuwaiti society: the ruling family, the old Kuwaiti merchant families, former Bedouins who settled in Kuwait, Arabs from other countries and foreigners. Arabic is the official language and 90% of the population is Muslim.

Before the Iraqi invasion in August 1990, less than 40% of the population were Kuwaiti and of the work force, less than 20% were Kuwaiti. Non-Kuwaitis enjoyed most of the welfare benefits of Kuwaiti citizens. The vote, on the other hand, was restricted to about 65,000 Kuwaiti males descended from men living in the country before 1920.

Most Kuwaitis live in the capital city of Kuwait or its suburbs, such as Hawalli. Even most of Kuwait’s Bedouins—Arabs who are traditionally nomadic—have settled into permanent residences in the districts outside the capital. Thus, virtually the entire population is urban. Kuwaitis often refer to 'inner' Kuwait with its more liberal and cosmopolitan atmosphere and 'outer' Kuwait, farther from the central city, where conservative Bedouin and tribal influences are stronger.

In 2005 Kuwait had an estimated population of 2,335,648. The average population density was 131 persons per sq km. Population growth rate is very high—3.44 percent (2005)—probably owing to Kuwait’s prosperity and high level of health care and social services. Only about 43 percent of the population of Kuwait are native Kuwaiti citizens. Almost all Kuwaiti citizens are Arabs. Most of the remainder of the country’s population are foreign workers. The majority of immigrants are from other Arab countries as well as Iran, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. Kuwaiti governments is now concerned with keeping the number of foreigners below 50%, motivated by security concerns.

Kuwait also has a significant population classified as bidun (Arabic for 'without'), who are not citizens of any country. Many bidun claim to have lived in Kuwait for generations without receiving citizenship, while Kuwait claims they are recent immigrants who should not be granted full citizenship.

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