Every Day Is Special: February 26 – Liberation Day in Kuwait

February 26 – Liberation Day in Kuwait

Posted on February 26, 2015

This is Day 2 of celebrations in Kuwait. Yesterday was Kuwait's National Day, and today is the anniversary of the nation's 1991 liberation from Iraq.

Apparently, Kuwaitis dress in the national colors, and streets are decorated with flags and banners in the national colors, and people dance around and spay each other with foam colored with the national colors...

So, yeah, a whole lot of white, green, and red!

In addition to flags and foam, there are fireworks!

Kuwait is located at the tip of the Persian Gulf. Iraq lies to the north, and Saudi Arabia lies to the west. Iraq is almost landlocked (without direct access to an ocean or a sea that has access to an ocean) because of Kuwait; Iraq's coastline on the Persian Gulf is only about 18 miles (30 km) long.

Kuwait has a king and a constitution and an elected parliament. It ranks high on civil liberties and freedom of the press – compared to other Arab countries, that is. Its economy is based on petroleum. I would've thought that Iraq might have attacked Kuwait in order to acquire all of that yummy coastline, but most historians believe that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was angry at Kuwait for the latter nation's reluctance to forgive Iraq's debt and was doubly angry at Kuwait for “over-producing” petroleum, therefore keeping oil prices down.

Some things I found interesting as I researched Kuwait:

There are about 3 expatriates to every 1 Kuwaiti living in Kuwait! (Expatriates are people who live outside of their native country.)

One thing you can find in Kuwait City—well, actually, in the Persian Gulf—is an artificial island called Green Island, a place where people stroll through gardens, swim in a lagoon, listen to concerts, and otherwise enjoy recreational activities. The “island” joins to the mainland by a pedestrian causeway.

Another island is Kobar or Kubbar Island. Kuwaitis travel there by boat and enjoy swimming and diving. There are no trees or buildings or anything on this island (although there are a few oil derricks). Man! In the U.S., I bet the island would have a McDonald's restaurant!