Shuʿaybah, Al-

Al-Shuʿaybah, also spelled Shuaiba, town and port in southern Kuwait. Located on the Persian Gulf, it is the country’s second most important port. Its industries include an oil refinery, a seafood-packing plant, and a petrochemical plant producing fertilizers. Al-Shuʿaybah has one of Kuwait’s largest electric-power stations, as well as one of the world’s largest seawater desalinization plants. The town was damaged during Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait in 1990–91 during the Persian Gulf War. Pop. (1995 prelim.) 1,610.