Kuwait: a land of extreme climate and wealth

Italian photographer spent months documenting “the psychological impact of an extreme environment on people.”

Kuwait is a major hub for breeding prized purebred Arabian horses. In Wafra, this stud farm is adjacent to a replica of Rome's Colosseum. 

The tiny state of Kuwait, an emirate located at the northern end of the Persian Gulf, is a land of extremes. Summer temperatures are among the hottest in the world—only Death Valley has exceeded the local record—annual rainfall ranks near the bottom, and freshwater is scarce. Less than one percent of the desert landscape is arable, but the sands hold the seventh largest national oil reserves, the source of Kuwait’s immense wealth. As with the other oil-rich nations in the gulf region, petrodollars have given rise to a culture of conspicuous consumption.

Kuwait’s modern prosperity had humble beginnings. Before its oil fields were discovered in the 1930s, pearls were a major

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