Rai (Kuwait)

Rai (Arabic: الرَّي‎) is an area in Farwaniya Governorate in Kuwait. It is the home of the Avenues Mall, the world's second largest shopping mall after Dubai Mall. It is also the home of Sooq al-Hamām pets market.

Coordinates: 29°18′32″N 47°56′42″E / 29.309°N 47.945°E / 29.309; 47.945

Kuwait

Coordinates: 29°30′N 45°45′E / 29.500°N 45.750°E / 29.500; 45.750

Kuwait ⁱ/kuːˈweɪt/ (Arabic: دولة الكويت‎  Dawlat al-Kuwait), officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in Western Asia. Situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, it shares borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia. As of 2014, Kuwait has a population of 4.2 million people; 1.3 million are Kuwaitis and 2.9 million are expatriates.

Oil reserves were discovered in 1938. From 1946 to 1982, the country underwent large-scale modernization. In the 1980s, Kuwait experienced a period of geopolitical instability and an economic crisis following the stock market crash. In 1990, Kuwait was invaded by Iraq. The Iraqi occupation came to an end in 1991 after military intervention by United States-led forces. At the end of the war, there were extensive efforts to revive the economy and rebuild national infrastructure.

Kuwait is a constitutional emirate with a high income economy backed by the world's sixth largest oil reserves. The Kuwaiti dinar is the highest valued currency in the world. According to the World Bank, the country has the fourth highest per capita income in the world. The constitution was promulgated in 1962, making Kuwait the most politically progressive country in the region. In recent years, political instability has hindered the country's economic development.

Kuwait City

Kuwait City (Arabic: مدينة الكويت‎) is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. It has a population of 2.1 million in the metropolitan area. Kuwait City is the political, cultural and economic center of Kuwait. Kuwait City is considered a global city. Kuwait City's trade and transportation needs are served by Kuwait International Airport, Mina Al-Shuwaik (Shuwaik Port) and Mina Al Ahmadi (Ahmadi Port).

History

Early history

In 1613, the town of Kuwait was founded in modern-day Kuwait City. In 1716, the Bani Utubs settled in Kuwait. At the time of the arrival of the Utubs, Kuwait was inhabited by a few fishermen and primarily functioned as a fishing village. In the eighteenth century, Kuwait prospered and rapidly became the principal commercial center for the transit of goods between India, Muscat, Baghdad and Arabia. By the mid 1700s, Kuwait had already established itself as the major trading route from the Persian Gulf to Aleppo.

During the Persian siege of Basra in 1775–1779, Iraqi merchants took refuge in Kuwait and were partly instrumental in the expansion of Kuwait's boat-building and trading activities. As a result, Kuwait's maritime commerce boomed. Between the years 1775 and 1779, the Indian trade routes with Baghdad, Aleppo, Smyrna and Constantinople were diverted to Kuwait. The East India Company was diverted to Kuwait in 1792. The East India Company secured the sea routes between Kuwait, India and the east coasts of Africa. After the Persians withdrew from Basra in 1779, Kuwait continued to attract trade away from Basra.

Rai (paradise)

The term rai in Slavic languages is a term for a heavenly or earthly paradise. In some of these languages the term is a synonym with the Greco-Persian term paradise.

Etymology

The etymology of Common Slavic rai is disputed. It is now generally regarded as a direct borrowing from Iranian ray, "heavenly radiance, beatitude". If so then two Persian words ray ("radiance") and pardeis ("park") both separately passed into some Slavic languages; for example Russian where "paradise" is generally rai (Рай) but paradiz (Парадиз) from English is also encountered. Alternative derivations have included:

The term passed from Slavic usage into Romanian.

Usage

Slavonic

Usage of rai in Slavic languages differs from that of "paradise" in Western languages due in part to the influence of Old Church Slavonic versions of the Bible, which were translated from the Greek Septuagint. This influence is felt even in Protestant Slavic traditions such as Czech:

Rai (unit)

A rai (Thai: ไร่  [râj]) is a unit of area, equal to 1 square sen (เส้น) or 1,600 square metres (40 m × 40 m), and is used in measuring land area for a cadastre or cadastral map. Its current size is precisely derived from the metre, but is neither part of nor recognized by the modern metric system, the International System (SI).

The rai equals 4 ngaan (Thai: งาน  [ŋāːn]) or 400 tarangwa (Thai: ตารางวา  [tāː.rāːŋ wāː]) aka square wa. The rai equals 0.3954 acres.

It is commonly used in Thailand and equals 16 ares, another unit that is based on the metre and commonly used in several countries. Although recognized by the SI, its use is not encouraged. The word also means plantation.

See also

References

Raï (film)

Raï is a 1995 French film directed by Thomas Glou. It won the Golden Leopard at the 1995 Locarno International Film Festival.

Reception

It won the Golden Leopard at the 1995 Locarno International Film Festival.

References

External links

Raï at the Internet Movie Database