Wikipedia

Iraq–Kuwait border

The Iraq–Kuwait border is 254 km (158 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Saudi Arabia in the west to the Persian Gulf coast in the east.[1]

Map of Kuwait, with Iraq to the north

Description

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The border starts in the west at the Saudi tripoint on the Wadi al-Batin, and then follows this wadi as it flows north-eastwards. The border then turns east, following a straight line for 32 km (20 mi), before another straight line veers to the south-east for 26 km (16 mi), terminating at the coast by the junction of the Khawr Abd Allah and Khor as Subiyah opposite Hajjam Island.

History

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Historically there was no clearly defined boundary in this part of the Middle East; Kuwait de jure fell under Basra Vilayet administration from 1875 until the end of World War I. At the start of the 20th century the Ottoman Empire controlled what is now Iraq and Britain de facto controlled Kuwait as a protectorate.[2] Britain and the Ottoman Empire theoretically divided their realms of influence via the so-called "Blue" and "Violet lines" in the Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, by which the Ottomans recognised British claims on Kuwait, divided from Ottoman Mesopotamia along the Wadi al-Batin (the so-called 'green line', see map right). The convention was never ratified therefore remained not binding. Finally, the Ottomans and British emerged as enemies within months of the convention, as the outbreak of World War I diminished any hope left for ratification.[3][4][5][6][7]

 
Map with red circle and green circle boundaries according to the Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913

During the First World War an Arab Revolt, supported by Britain, succeeded in removing the Ottomans from most of the Middle East. As a result of the secret 1916 Anglo-French Sykes-Picot Agreement Britain gained control of the Ottoman Vilayets of Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. After a revolt broke out in Iraq that demanded independence, the three Vilayets became mandatory Iraq in 1921, following a previous policy of centralization by Mamluks and Ottomans.[8][9][10][11] In 1932, the year that Iraq gained independence, Britain confirmed that the border between Iraq and Kuwait would run along the Wadi al-Batin, as well as confirming that Bubiyan and Warbah islands were Kuwaiti territoriality, though the precise positioning of the northern straight line segments near Safwan remained imprecise.[5]

Kuwait gained independence in 1961, though Iraq refused to recognise the country claiming it as part of Iraq, which resulted in a show of force by Britain and the Arab League in support of Kuwait.[12][13][14] Following an Iraqi coup in 1963, a treaty of friendship was signed the same year by which Iraq recognised the 1932 border.[5] Despite this, the treaty was never ratified thus remaind unbinding, and was later rejected by the revolutionary command.[15] Over the ensuing decade Iraq often raised the issue of sea access and the traditional claim to Kuwait, most notably in 1973 with the 1973 Samita border skirmish.

In 1990 Iraq invaded and annexed Kuwait, precipitating the Gulf War by which Kuwait's sovereignty was restored.[16][17] In July 1992 the matter of border demarcation was referred to the United Nations, which accurately mapped the boundary and then demarcated it on the ground, following the 1932 line with some small adjustments.[18][5] The border initially was accepted by Kuwait but not Iraq.[5] Iraq accepted the border in November 1994.[19][20] The United Nations Iraq–Kuwait Observation Mission monitored the border during the period 1991–2003. Relations between the two states have improved since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

In February 2023, Kuwait's foreign minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah said Iraq and Kuwait would hold talks aimed at resolving the maritime border dispute between the two countries.[21]

Barrier

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The Iraq–Kuwait barrier (Arabic: حدود العراق-الكويت Hudud al-'Irāq-al-Kuwayt) is a 120-mile (190 km) border fence extending six miles (9.7 km) into Iraq, three miles (4.8 km) into Kuwait, and across the full length of their mutual border from Saudi Arabia to the Persian Gulf. Constructed by authorisation of the United Nations Security Council resolution 689, its stated purpose was to stop a re-invasion of Kuwait by Iraq.

The border barrier, made of electrified fencing and concertina wire, is braced by a 15-foot-wide (4.6 m) and 15-foot-deep (4.6 m) trench, complete with a 10-foot-high (3.0 m) dirt berm and guarded by hundreds of soldiers, several patrol boats, and helicopters. Construction of the barrier began in 1991.[citation needed]

In January 2004, Kuwait decided to install a new 135-mile (217 km) iron barrier along the border. The barrier was estimated to have cost $28 million and the entire length of the border; asphalted roads were also constructed to facilitate border security movement.[22]

Settlements near the border

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Iraq

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Kuwait

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  • Abdali

See also

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References

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  1. ^ CIA World Factbook – Iraq, retrieved 1 April 2020
  2. ^ International Boundary Study No. 103 – Kuwait-Saudi Arabia Boundary (PDF), 15 September 1970, archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2019, retrieved 1 April 2020
  3. ^ Briton Cooper Busch, Britain and the Persian Gulf, 1894-1914 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967), 308, and 319.
  4. ^ Richard Schofield (31 March 1999). "Negotiating the Saudi-Yemeni international boundary". Al-Bab. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e Harry Brown (October 1994). "The Iraq-Kuwait boundary dispute: historical background and the UN decisions of 1992 and 1993". IBRU Boundary and Security Bulletin. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  6. ^ Wilkinson, 61, 66, and 96.
  7. ^ Khadduri, Majid (2001). War in the Gulf, 1990-91. Oxford University Press. p. 16. ISBN 9780199923861.
  8. ^ Kadhim, Abbas (2012). Reclaiming Iraq: The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State. University of Texas Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN 9780292739246.
  9. ^ The new Cambridge modern history. Volume xii. p.293.
  10. ^ Visser, Reidar (2009). "Proto-political conceptions of Iraq in late Ottoman times". International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies.
  11. ^ Gökhan Çetinsaya (2006). The Ottoman Administration of Iraq, 1890-1908. Routledge. pp. 4–5. ISBN 1134294956.
  12. ^ James Paul & Martin Spirit; Robinson, Peter (2008). "Kuwait: The first crisis 1961". Riots, Rebellions, Gunboats and Peacekeepers. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 17 Jan 2010.
  13. ^ Mobley, Richard A. (2007–2008). "Gauging the Iraqi Threat to Kuwait in the 1960s - UK Indications and Warning". Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved 17 Jan 2010.
  14. ^ Helene von Bismarck, "The Kuwait Crisis of 1961 and its Consequences for Great Britain's Persian Gulf Policy", in British Scholar, vol. II, no. 1 (September 2009) pp. 75-96
  15. ^ Khadduri, Majid (2001). War in the Gulf, 1990-91. Oxford University Press. pp. 71–72. ISBN 9780199923861.
  16. ^ "Frontline Chronology" (PDF). Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 20 March 2007.
  17. ^ "Tenth anniversary of the Gulf War: A look back". CNN. 17 January 2001. Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  18. ^ "FINAL REPORT ON THE DEMARCATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ AND THE STATE OF KUWAIT BY THE UNITED NATIONS IRAQ-KUWAIT BOUNDARY DEMARCATION COMMISSION" (PDF). Legal Office of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. 1993. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-01-23. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  19. ^ "Iraq". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 2000. Archived from the original on December 11, 2000. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  20. ^ Crossette, Barbara (November 11, 1994). "Iraqis to accept Kuwait's borders". The New York Times. p. A1.
  21. ^ Irish, John (2023-02-18). "Kuwait foreign minister sees progress on maritime border with Iraq". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
  22. ^ "Kuwait installs iron barrier on its borders with Iraq". Arabic News. 14 January 2004. Archived from the original on 2012-07-16. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
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