Difference Between Kuwait and United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Kuwait vs United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Kuwait and UAE are two different Arab countries in the Middle East. The reason why some are confused with the two is probably because of their close proximity in the Arab Peninsula. These two nations actually differ in many aspects: location, land area, economic situation, and currency among many other distinct characteristics.

Kuwait lies in the northeastern portion of the Arab Peninsula. To its south lies the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to its north is Iraq. The term “Kuwait” is actually taken from the Arabic word “akwat” which means a fortress constructed near a body of water. It has an area of 17,820 km2 and has a booming population of 3.6 million. The capital of Kuwait is Kuwait City.

UAE, completely known as the United Arab Emirates, is more of a federation than a single state entity. To this description, UAE has been known by its alternative name of The Emirates. With regard to the Arab Peninsula, it is located somewhere in the southeastern portion. To its west lies Saudi Arabia and to its south is the country of Oman. Situated in the Arab Peninsula, it shares the same sea borders as Iran, Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain and Kuwait. Its total land area is much bigger than that of Kuwait 82,880 km2.

The UAE federation is named as such because it is being governed by different emirs (or prince) namely: Umm al-Quwain, Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, Ajman, and Dubai. They all govern their respective emirates that were once named the Trucial States. Like most countries of the Middle East, the UAE is not so blessed with rainfall and so as Kuwait. Believe it or not, Kuwait only has about 1 per cent of its total land area as cultivated land.

There are many other differing characteristics between the two. The UAE currency is the dirham while the Kuwait dinar is the monetary denomination for Kuwait. As mentioned, the government structure used in the UAE is a federation type of governance that intricately connects its seven emirates while the sovereign nation of Kuwait practices a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. UAE even has a president which is in charge of the internal relations between each emirate. The presence of such doesn’t really suggest a constitutional type of government.

Economically, Kuwait has more crude oil reserves (ranked 5th) than the UAE even if the latter is already ranked as the 6th biggest oil reserve in the world. It (Kuwait) is abundant in petroleum that constitutes to 80 per cent of their government’s annual income. Kuwait is even regarded as the 11th richest nation on the planet. By contrast, the UAE expands its economic prowess other than reliance in oil by tuning into tourism as evidenced by the fast and unprecedented growth of tourism across the seven emirate states particularly in Dubai.

Summary:

1.Kuwait is situated in the northeast side of the Arab Peninsula while the UAE is in the southeast sector.
2.The capital of Kuwait is Kuwait City whereas the capital of UAE is Abu Dhabi.
3.UAE has a bigger land area than Kuwait.
4.UAE is a federation composed of seven distinct emirates ruled by their emirs. Kuwait is a constitutional monarchy.
5.Kuwait is richer and has more oil reserves than the UAE.

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