The
Saudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone, also known as the
Divided Zone, was an area of 5,770 km² between the borders of
Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south...
and
KuwaitThe State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab emirate bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and west. The greatest distance from north to south is 200 km and from east to west 170 km . The name is a diminutive of an Arabic word meaning "fortress built near water." It has a...
that was left undefined when the border was established by the
Uqair ConventionThe Uqair Protocol was issued on December 2, 1922, in response to the Bedouin raiders, operating from Nejd, under Abdul Aziz ibn Abdul Rahman ibn Saud...
of December 2, 1922.
In the area which was later to be called the "Neutral Zone" or "Divided Zone", the Uqair Convention stated that "the Government of Najd and Kuwait will share equal rights until through the good offices of the Government of
Great BritainThe Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1801...
a further agreement is made between Najd and Kuwait concerning it".
However, there was little interest in a more definitive settlement in the so-called "Neutral Zone" until the discovery, in 1938, of oil in the
BurganThe onshore Burgan Field in the desert of southeastern Kuwait is one of the world's largest and richest oil fields.- Discovery :After its discovery in February, 1938, the USA & UK owned Gulf Oil Corporation began commercial oil production at Burgan in 1946. Kabeer Burgan is so rich that it is one...
(Burqan) of
KuwaitThe State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab emirate bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and west. The greatest distance from north to south is 200 km and from east to west 170 km . The name is a diminutive of an Arabic word meaning "fortress built near water." It has a...
.
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The
Saudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone, also known as the
Divided Zone, was an area of 5,770 km² between the borders of
Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south...
and
KuwaitThe State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab emirate bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and west. The greatest distance from north to south is 200 km and from east to west 170 km . The name is a diminutive of an Arabic word meaning "fortress built near water." It has a...
that was left undefined when the border was established by the
Uqair ConventionThe Uqair Protocol was issued on December 2, 1922, in response to the Bedouin raiders, operating from Nejd, under Abdul Aziz ibn Abdul Rahman ibn Saud...
of December 2, 1922.
In the area which was later to be called the "Neutral Zone" or "Divided Zone", the Uqair Convention stated that "the Government of Najd and Kuwait will share equal rights until through the good offices of the Government of
Great BritainThe Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1801...
a further agreement is made between Najd and Kuwait concerning it".
However, there was little interest in a more definitive settlement in the so-called "Neutral Zone" until the discovery, in 1938, of oil in the
BurganThe onshore Burgan Field in the desert of southeastern Kuwait is one of the world's largest and richest oil fields.- Discovery :After its discovery in February, 1938, the USA & UK owned Gulf Oil Corporation began commercial oil production at Burgan in 1946. Kabeer Burgan is so rich that it is one...
(Burqan) of
KuwaitThe State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab emirate bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and west. The greatest distance from north to south is 200 km and from east to west 170 km . The name is a diminutive of an Arabic word meaning "fortress built near water." It has a...
. With the probability of the discovery of oil within the "Neutral Zone" itself, concessions were granted in 1948–1949 by each government to private companies. Later the two countries exploited the oil under a joint operating agreement.
The partitioning negotiations commenced shortly after the rulers of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia met and decided, in October 1960, that the Neutral Zone should be divided. On July 7, 1965, the two governments signed an agreement (which took effect on July 25, 1966) to partition the Neutral Zone adjoining their respective territories. A demarcation agreement dividing the Neutral Zone was signed on December 17, 1967 but did not formally take effect until the exchange of instruments and signing which took place in Kuwait on 9 Shawwal 1389 AH (December 18, 1969)
http://www.meij.or.jp/text/border/KSA-Kuwait/ksakwt1969.htm. Ratification followed on January 18, 1970, and the agreement was published in the Kuwaiti Official Gazette on January 25, 1970.
The zone was never assigned an
ISO 3166ISO 3166 is a three-part standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , and defines codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest, and their principal subdivisions . The official name is Codes for the representation...
code since it was partitioned before the adoption of ISO 3166 in 1974.