Animals and Plants
Animals and plants in Kuwait
The flora of Kuwait is very sparse, only plants can survive that adapt to the harsh and hostile conditions of the desert and steppe landscape. For example, camel thorn trees or date palms grow here on the oases. If it rains once, the desert can bloom for a short time and different types of flowers grow.
Mammals
As with the plants, Kuwait’s fauna is quite poor in species. That means there aren’t many different species of animals. In the animal world, too, it is true that only species can survive that have adapted well to the conditions of the country. That would be mainly small mammals like gerbils and jerboa. Also desert rabbits hopping around. Foxes and jackals are their natural enemies, but their populations continue to decline.
Reptiles
Reptiles can also survive well in the desert landscapes of Kuwait. There are many geckos and both poisonous and non-poisonous species of snakes.
Birds
The group of animals represented with the greatest number are birds. Here you can find many species such as swallows, larks and wrens, but also birds of prey such as eagles. Commonly encountered are the chiffchaff, which derives its name from their song.
Kuwait has major environmental problems. The country’s ecological footprint is huge as more and more of the country’s resources are being wasted. This also applies to many other Arab countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia, but the USA and European countries are not inferior either. Still, Kuwait is a leader in environmental degradation. A sad record for such a rich country that could actually do a lot more to preserve nature.
Economy
One of the richest countries on earth: Kuwait
Kuwait is one of the richest countries on earth. Kuwait is rich because oil was found there. On the one hand, money flows from oil production and, at the same time, products made from petroleum are manufactured and exported. Oil has been produced in Kuwait since 1946.
Since the country consists largely of desert, there is hardly any possibility of growing agricultural products. A few dates and melons are only grown at the oases. There is also a little rearing of cattle, goats and sheep. These are usually taken care of by the Bedouins, who roam the barren land with their herds of cattle. The Bedouins are also the only ones in the country who can still largely support themselves.
In addition to petroleum products, Kuwait’s industry produces other chemical products that are also exported to other countries.
Kuwait’s economy depends on the importation of goods. A lot of food comes from abroad.
Eating in Kuwait
Is there a typical Kuwaiti cuisine?
Kuwait’s cuisine is very diverse. The traditional kitchens of the Bedouins, Persians and Indians mix with the way of cooking in the eastern Mediterranean. In addition there were the various recipes of all workers who live in Kuwait and who also “brought” their traditional cuisine. There are also influences from Korean, Thai and Filipino cuisine.
Spices serve as the basis of many dishes
In any case, spices are part of the Kuwaiti cuisine. As in many other countries, special spice mixtures have developed in the families over time, the composition of which is passed on from generation to generation and which likes to remain a secret. Cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, ginger and nutmeg are often mixed with black pepper and paprika.
Classic Arabic specialties such as falafel (a kind of meatball made from chickpeas) and hummus (sauce made from chickpeas) are typical dishes, as are eggplant porridge. Pork is like in other IslamicCountries forbidden, lamb and chicken like to be on the table. Meat is often processed in stews or fried on a skewer.
Taboulé is also one of the standard dishes. It’s a semolina salad like bulgur. A very popular food in Kuwait that originally came from India is called marag. Again, it is a kind of stew, made from fish or meat. But the ingredients are first fried individually and mixed together later.
Fish as a specialty
As a country located in Middle East according to cancermatters, Kuwait is located on the coast, so fish dishes are often on the menu or on the menu. Marags are also cooked from fish. Hamour is a dish made with turbot and rice. At Zubaidi, the popular sea bream, also a sea fish, is processed. A stew made from shrimp is just as popular. Unfortunately, the waters off the coast of Kuwait are badly affected by environmental pollution and destruction. Above all, the leaking oil destroys the flora and fauna of the oceans.
Water or oil?
What if the water runs out?
Kuwait’s wealth comes from the extraction of crude oil that has been discovered there. Only through this income can the state finance many free services for its citizens. For example, schools and hospitals do not cost Kuwait residents anything. That’s a great thing, you might say. But what happens when the oil runs out? How can the state budget be financed? This is also being thought about in the rich oil country.
But another problem is no less serious: what happens if the water runs out? And that can happen quickly. There is already too little water today. Children at a British school in Kuwait have examined how quickly this can happen and “rehearsed” the emergency.
Shopping and leisure
Shop, shop and shop…
In Kuwait, too, shopping is a popular pastime for the locals. On the one hand, there are the very traditional markets, where you can buy all sorts of things, and the large shopping malls, the huge shopping centers, where Western designers also like to shake hands. Only those who really have the necessary “change” can shop here. For many an oil millionaire this is not a problem. The foreign workers tend to shop in the city’s small markets, as shopping is a lot cheaper here.
In a shopping mall in Kuwait it can look like the following photo. As you can see, the fast food restaurants that exist in Kuwait are the same as ours.
To the water park in a land without water
A lot is done in Kuwait to keep not only the tourists but also the locals happy. Maybe you like to go to the swimming pool? But what do you do in a country where there is almost no water?
Sure, you go to the swimming pool there too, even to an aqua park, one of the largest in the region. We just raise the question of whether something like this really has to be? Well, maybe that’s not quite as bad as a ski hall in the desert, there is that too, but not in Kuwait, but in Dubai.
Typical Kuwait
It was not that long ago that the people of Kuwait roamed the country with their herds of animals and lived under the barren conditions that a desert landscape offers. A few thousand residents shared the country, which is roughly half the size of Switzerland. But now Kuwait is fighting with Qatar for the highest per capita income in the world. Who is richer, the people of Kuwait or the people of Qatar? A question that is not that easy to answer. Camel races, for example, are also very popular in Kuwait and many Kuwait residents enjoy one or more racing camels. This is also a popular pastime that the Kuwaitis indulge in.
Everything is very orderly in Kuwait
What is striking in Kuwait: Everything is cleanly arranged. The streets and buildings shine, the parks with their diverse plants are watered and everything looks like it was designed on the drawing board. At the same time, a lot is being built. One looks almost in vain for old cars in Kuwait City. One bigger, more expensive and faster car drives next to the other.