10 Strange and Fascinating Truths About Kuwaiti Society

10 Strange and Fascinating Truths About Kuwaiti Society

Kuwait is a country that defies easy categorization. To the outside world, it is a small oil-rich Gulf state, a financial hub, and a key regional ally. But beneath the surface of modern skyscrapers and political discourse lies a society with deeply rooted, intricate customs and jarring modern paradoxes. Kuwaiti culture uniquely fuses ancient Bedouin codes, a maritime trading heritage, and the sudden, immense wealth of the 20th century. This blend has created social norms and phenomena that, to outsiders, can seem bizarre yet are perfectly logical in the Kuwaiti context. Here are ten aspects of Kuwaiti society that offer a glimpse into its true, complex character.

#### 1. The "Diwaniya": A Parliament in Every Parlor

In this age of digital communication, Kuwait retains an ancient, powerful institution in the form of the *Diwaniya*. More than just a social get-together, it is a nightly, all-male gathering which takes place in a special room attached to a house or in a separate building. The Diwaniya is the bedrock of Kuwaiti social and political life. Everything gets discussed here-from family matters and business deals to high-level politics. It is a place where a young man can voice his opinion to a senior minister, where electoral campaigns are launched, and where national consensus is often forged outside of official channels. For a society with a formal parliament, the existence of this parallel, informal political network is fascinating. It’s a living relic of the Bedouin tradition of the *majlis*, where the tribal leader was accessible to all, transformed into the engine of a modern nation-state.

#### 2. The Summer Exodus: When a Capital City Empties Out

To most of the world, summer is a time for vacations, but in Kuwait, it sets off a mass migration so complete it feels like a national ritual. During the months of June to September, in which temperatures consistently exceed 50°C (122°F), a large part of the Kuwaiti population flees the country. Government operations grind down a notch, businesses run on a skeleton staff, and the streets of Kuwait City, normally jammed with traffic, become eerily quiet. The rich go to summer homes in London, Geneva, or Egypt, while the middle class could be taking trips to cooler climes. This annual emptying is an immediate reaction to an environment so extreme life can hardly be tenable but financed by a national wealth that makes that sort of lifestyle possible. It’s a weird sight-a-thriving capital city temporarily surrendering to the climate.

#### 3. The "Bidun" Crisis: The Stateless Ghosts

One of the most complex and troubling social issues in Kuwait is that of the so-called *Bidun Jinsiya*, or "without nationality." The community, estimated to be tens of thousands strong, consists of descendants of Bedouin tribes who either failed to register for citizenship in 1948 or at independence in 1961, or who had their claims disputed. The strangeness lies in the legal limbo they face: they were born in Kuwait, speak the dialect, and are culturally Kuwaiti, but they are officially stateless. They live without the rights of citizens: no passports, limited access to state education and healthcare, and no legal right to work. They are the "ghosts" of Kuwaiti society, a permanent underclass whose existence underlines the complex relationship between tribal identity, national privilege, and the value placed on the Kuwaiti passport.

#### 4. The "Number" and the Pre-Phone Social Network

Before the arrival of mobile phones, Kuwaitis had a very distinctive, yet hugely effective, personal identification system: the *Number* (الرقم). This was not a phone number, but a civil ID number that became integral to your identity. Its strangeness to outsiders lay in its social application. In order to find someone, you didn't need their address; you could go to any large government ministry or public service center, quote their *Number*, and be shown to their file, which often contained contact details. It created a society where privacy was conceptualized differently, and where the state acted as a central node in the social network. The everyday use of this has diminished with the digital age, but the cultural reference to knowing someone's "Number" remains a marker of close acquaintance.

#### 5. The Bedouin Lineage Obsession (Al-Ansab)

In this hyper-modern, globalized society, Kuwaitis retain an incredibly deep, almost primal connection to their tribal roots. Knowledge of one's *Ansab* (lineage or genealogy) is a matter of great pride and social significance; it would not be out of the ordinary for a Kuwaiti to recall their ancestry several generations back, attaching themselves to a specific Bedouin tribe that originated in the Arabian Peninsula. It is not mere nostalgia; it functions as a sociological reality, one that determines marriage prospects, social standing, and even political alliances. In a country where citizenship is the key to the treasury, the "purity" and prestige one receives from a finely sourced tribal lineage may act subtly but potently as one means of social stratification along with the modern class system.

6. The Friday "Breakfast" Caravan Friday is a day of rest and worship in Kuwait, but it is also defined by a specific culinary-social ritual: the *Friday Breakfast*. It is not a modest family meal. Rather, it is a sprawling, often multi-family affair that can last hours. What is strange is the logistics involved. Often, groups of related or befriended families will drive, convoy-style, to an agreed location (sometimes a public beach, sometimes a desert camp, sometimes a garden), carrying huge amounts of food. On Fridays, highways can be filled with these "breakfast caravans". The meal itself is a feast of traditional dishes like *balaleet* —that is, sweet saffron noodles mixed with eggs—and *machboos*, or spiced rice mixed with meat. It’s a weekly reaffirmation of family and social bonds, a movable feast that temporarily reclaims the desert and coastline. 7. The "Indian Tea" as a National Staple Considering that Kuwait has an Arab identity, its default drink should be Arabic coffee or mint tea. While those are very important, the most omnipresent, everyday drink available in each house and office is "Kuwaiti Chai" or "Indian Tea." This is a strong, sweet, milky tea, brewed with cardamom and often saffron, directly influenced by the Indian subcontinent. The prevalence is a living testament to Kuwait's long history as a trading hub with India, long before the discovery of oil. The tea is the cultural import that has been wholly Kuwaiti-fied, served in small glasses and symbolizing hospitality. It’s a strange but delightful example of how foreign influences have been seamlessly woven into the fabric of national identity. #### 8. The "Mister" (Al-Mister) Culture of Nicknames In a country that prizes privacy and family honor, resorting to a person's formal first name can sometimes be too direct or even too personal. This has given rise to a unique culture of nicknames, known as *Al-Mister*. Almost every Kuwaiti male has a *Mister*, a nickname that is used more often than his real name by friends and within social circles. These can be based on their physical traits, a childhood incident, or playful distortion of their real name. The strangeness lies in its formalized informality: you might do business with a man for years only knowing him as "Mister Bamboo." It’s a social lubricant that keeps the level of friendly distance and reinforces in-group belonging. #### 9. The Friday Used-Goods Market (Friday Souq) In a country noted for its wealth and penchant for luxury, the sprawling, chaotic Friday Market (Souq Al Juma'a) is something of a paradox. Here, in the blistering heat, thousands of people—locals and expatriates alike—congregate to sift through piles of second-hand goods. You can find used car parts and antique furniture right next to discarded toys and electronics. For many wealthy Kuwaitis, it's not about the money; it's a social outing, a tradition, and a thrill of the hunt. It represents a pragmatic, almost nostalgic connection to a pre-oil past when reuse and bargaining were necessities, now transformed into a popular weekend pastime. #### 10. The "Yallah" Punctuality Paradox Kuwaitis have a very interesting relationship with time, summarized as the "Yallah" paradox. "Yallah" means "let's go" and is used constantly to express urgency. However, this often does not find any correlation with punctuality in social settings. Social invitations that read 8 PM are understood to mean 9 PM or later. This "fluid time" is derived from a more relaxed relational view of the day, as opposed to a rigid clock-based one. The paradox is that this flexibility coexists with extreme punctuality in the business and government world. This dual approach to time, one for the formal sphere of work and another for the informal sphere of social life, explains the rhythm of Kuwaiti society. These ten points together indicate that Kuwaiti society is a living laboratory of contrasts: from the desert's tribal codes dictating social standing in the age of the internet to immense wealth creating unique rituals of leisure and escape, down to a small national population navigating its identity amidst a large expatriate majority. What may seem strange is often a logical, deeply rooted adaptation to a unique set of historical, environmental, and economic circumstances.