then. Armenians during the Iraqi invasion In August 1990, Iraq declared war on Kuwait and invaded its tiny neighbour. During this time, many Kuwaiti-Armenians left for neighbouring Arab countries such as Syria, Lebanon and the Persian Gulf. Other Armenians fled to Baghdad by car, from where they fled to Syria. The remaining Armenians were mostly workers with no way of escaping. During the invasion, the Armenian school and church were shut down and guarded in order to stop looters from attacking the institutions. The Armenian institutions remained unscathed during the war. After the Iraqis were driven out of Kuwait by the coalition forces, the Armenian community had largely diminished to about 500 Armenians. The war also paved the way for a mass exodus of Kuwaiti-Armenians to North American countries such as Canada and the United States. Re-establishment of the Kuwaiti-Armenian community The Armenian population of Kuwait has slowly grown since the end of the First Gulf War. Their population number now is around 2,500. Today, the Armenian school in Kuwait enrolls children from kindergarten to the 12th grade. The school, the only foreign institution which is allowed to incorporate religion into its curriculum, now has nearly 300 students, and a staff of 25 full-time teachers, including 17 Armenians. This is certainly lower than pre-war levels which had enrollment numbers up to 700 students. The Armenian community is slowly rebuilding to try to bring back its better days of the mid-1980s. Religion Most of the Armenian population belongs to the Armenian Apostolic Church and is under the jurisdiction of the Holy See of Cilicia. Kuwait is part of the Prelacy of Kuwait and the Persian Gulf established by the See of Cilicia (also known as the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia), with its head office in Kuwait itself. See also Expatriates in Kuwait References External links Aztarar, online news of the Armenians in Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Ethnic groups in Kuwait Armenia–Kuwait relations