Kuwait–Saudi Arabia border

The Kuwait–Saudi Arabia border is 221 km (137 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Iraq in the west to the Persian Gulf coast in the east.

[1] The border starts in the west at the tripoint with Iraq on the Wadi al-Batin; a straight line of 90 km (55 mi), angled slightly to the south-east, then proceeds eastwards.

Historically there was no clearly defined boundary in this part of the Arabian peninsula; at the start of the 20th century the Ottoman Empire controlled what is now Iraq and Britain controlled Kuwait as a protectorate, with the interior consisting of loosely organised Arab groupings, occasionally forming emirates, most prominent of which was the Emirate of Nejd and Hasa ruled by the al-Saud family.

[4][5][6] During the First World War an Arab Revolt, supported by Britain, succeeded in removing the Ottomans from most of the Middle East; in the period following this Ibn Saud managed to expand his domains considerably, eventually proclaiming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932.

[3] When oil was later discovered in this zone it was agreed to partition it in 1965, this division being ratified in 1969–70, at which point the Kuwait-Saudi border was finalised at its current position.