Ahmadi Governorate
Ahmadi (Arabic: الاحمدي) is one of the six governorates of Kuwait. It is located in the southern part of the country and is famous in Kuwait for its greenery and British architecture. Ahmadi forms an important part of Kuwaiti economy as several of Kuwait's oil refineries are located here. Main residential areas include Abu Halifa, Riqqah and Mangaf. Ahmadi is the home of several sporting clubs and complexes in Kuwait. The headquarters of Kuwait National Petroleum Company is located in Ahmadi.
Ahmadi, as it is popularly known, was the home of the then Kuwait Oil Company (KOC).
It was also home to several thousand mostly British Ex-pats and their families from 1947 through to 1970, and possibly beyond. The original town layout was in a grid pattern with streets laid out at right angles to each other and given numeric names (e.g 1st Street, 2nd Street and so on). At right angles were the avenues. The town was built on a slope facing the sea, which was about 7 miles (11 km) away. The street that ran across the top of the hill was called "main street". It housed the upper eschelons of the KOC. It ran down the hill in order of KOC rank. Within the town was the Hubara Club - a complex of buildings with a swimming pool, meeting rooms, restaurants, squash courts, tennis courts etc. Employees of the KOC would use this club every day to meet and chat. Their children spent most of their time here. Towards the bottom of the 'hill' was the 'souk' or shopping area; banks a cinema, which is now been closed down and a few shops.
