This study arises from the Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS) performed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) in 1980-81 with the participation of some twenty countries. The study begins by giving an account of a people and a country with details of the past and present situation of mathematics and plans for the future. The study presents a picture of the kind of mathematics that is taught in Kuwait, gives evidence of students' mathematical attainment and compares the difference in attainment between different groups of students e.g. Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti, boys and girls. The study also considers the effects of repeating a certain test and the implication these have for interpreting SIMS data.