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| 1. The Gulf States |
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(See 1944)| |
| 1946 |
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| Beginning of oil exports from Kuwait. Qatar followed in 1949, Abu Dhabi in 1962, and Dubayy in 1969. | 1 |
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| 1950 |
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| Death of Sheik Ahmad, ruler of Kuwait. His cousin, Sheik Abdallah, succeeded him as emir. | 2 |
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| 1955 |
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| Establishment of the Muscat and Oman Field Force, an expanded version (approximately 400 men) of the existing military unit in Oman. | 3 |
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| 1959 |
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| The sultan of Oman suppressed a tribal uprising in Jabal al-Akhdar and for the first time enjoyed direct rule over the district. | 4 |
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| 1960 |
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| Ahmad ibn Ali became ruler of Qatar. His government began a broad program of modernization under the direction of Prime Minister Khalifa ibn Ahmad. | 5 |
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| 1961–85 |
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| Growth in the Kuwaiti population from 250,000 to about 1.7 million. In 1985, native Kuwaitis made up approximately 43 percent of the population (but only one-seventh of them qualified for full political rights as male descendants of Kuwaitis who resided in the country prior to 1920). The next largest group was the Palestinians, at about 25 percent of the total. | 6 |
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| 1961, June 19 |
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| INDEPENDENCE OF KUWAIT. The government published a constitution in 1962 providing for a national legislature and a council of ministers, but the effective functioning of this system soon broke down due to persistent conflicts between the legislature and the council. | 7 |
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| June 25 |
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| Iraq asserted that Kuwait was historically part of the Ottoman province of Basra and that it therefore ought to be ceded to Iraq. In accordance with a Kuwaiti-British defense pact, British troops arrived in Kuwait to deter a possible Iraqi attack. The Iraqi government finally relinquished its claims and recognized Kuwaiti independence on Oct. 4, 1963. | 8 |
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