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Kuwait

Early settlers

The origin of the city of Kuwait—and of the State of Kuwait—is usually placed at about the beginning of the 18th century, when the BanÅ« (BanÄ«) Ê¿UtÅ«b, a group of families of the Ê¿Anizah tribe in the interior of the Arabian Peninsula, migrated to the area that is now Kuwait. The foundation of the autonomous sheikhdom of Kuwait dates from 1756, when the settlers decided to appoint a sheikh from the á¹¢abÄḥ family (Ä€l á¹¢abÄḥ). During the 19th century, Kuwait developed as a thriving independent trading community. Toward the end of the century, one ruler, Ê¿Abd AllÄh II (reigned 1866–92), began to move Kuwait closer to the Ottoman Empire, although he never placed his country under Ottoman rule. That trend was reversed with the accession of MubÄrak the Great, who came to power by assassinating his brother Ê¿Abd AllÄh—an act of uncustomary political violence in Kuwait. Ottoman threats to annex Kuwait prompted MubÄrak to cultivate a close relationship with Britain. An 1899 treaty basically granted Britain control of Kuwait’s foreign affairs. Following the outbreak of World War I (1914–18), Kuwait became a British protectorate.

At the 1922 Conference of Al-Ê¿Uqayr, Britain negotiated the Kuwait-Saudi border, with substantial territorial loss to Kuwait. A memorandum in 1923 set out the border with Iraq on the basis of an unratified 1913 convention.

The first Iraqi claim to Kuwait surfaced in 1938—the year oil was discovered in the emirate. Although neither Iraq nor the Ottoman Empire had ever actually ruled Kuwait, Iraq asserted a vague historical title. That year it also offered some rhetorical support to a merchant uprising against the emir. Following the failure of the uprising, called the Majlis Movement, Iraq continued to put forth a claim to at least part of Kuwait, notably the strategic islands of BÅ«biyÄn and Al-Warbah.

On June 19, 1961, Britain recognized Kuwait’s independence. Six days later, however, Iraq renewed its claim, which was now rebuffed first by British and then by Arab League forces. It was not until October 1963 that a new Iraqi regime formally recognized both Kuwait’s independence and, subsequently, its borders, while continuing to press for access to the islands.

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