Like other Gulf states, the State of Kuwait was, for a time, a British protectorate (1899-1961). After independence in 1961, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah became emir of Kuwait, and for the following two decades the nation experienced an economic boom as oil prices soared. Economic tension between Iraq and Kuwait, however (due in part to Iraq’s huge debt to Kuwait for aid during the Iran-Iraq War), ultimately led to the invasion and annexation of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990 (i.e., the Gulf War, as the United States of America came to call it). Kuwait continues to lead the Arab world in a number of ways, not least of all in the Global Gender Gap Report.
Stamp details: Stamp on top: Issued on: February 1, 1958 From: Kuwait City, Kuwait MC #130
Middle stamp: Issued on: June 19, 1963 From: Kuwait City, Kuwait MC #190
Stamps on bottom: Issued in: 2018 From: Kuwait City, Kuwait Colnect #2018-01B
Recognized as a sovereign state by the UN: Yes (since May 14, 1963) Official name: State of Kuwait; دولة الكويت Member of the Universal Postal Union: Yes (since February 16, 1960)
