Failaka Island lies twenty kilometres east of Kuwait city, opposite the bay of that name.

It is one of the most important islands of Kuwait. Its area is approximately 24 square kilometres. It is triangular with its base in the west and head

in the southeast. It is 14 kilometres in length, and its width varies between eight kilometres in the west, five in the middle and two in the east.

Several islands are situated near it, the most important being Miskan to the northwest and Auhah to the southeast. Its land is fertile and favourable for cultivation; it has fresh underground water and until recently it

was economically self-sufficient. After the discovery of oil, patterns of life changed and its inhabitants neglected fishing, pearl diving, cultivation and pasturage. They turned their attention to trade and to work in government agencies. Its excavations from the Bronze Age, which date back to 3000 BC, assert that the island played an important role in the history of the region.

In 1990, the Iraqi invaders mined the island and forced its inhabitants, who scattered in different Kuwaiti areas to quit the island.

Since that time, Failaka has been uninhabited.