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Travel to Qatar — Unbiased reviews and great deals from
TripAdvisorQatar
| State of Qatar National name:
Dawlat Qatar Emir: Sheik Hamad bin
Khalifa al-Thani (1995) Prime
Minister: Sheik Hamad bin Jassem al Thani (2007)
Current government officials
Total area: 4,416 sq mi (11,437 sq
km) Population (2007 est.): 907,229
(growth rate: 2.4%); birth rate: 15.6/1000; infant mortality rate:
17.5/1000; life expectancy: 74.1; density per sq mi: 214
Capital (2003 est.):
Doha, 550,700 (metro. area), 318,500 (city
proper) Monetary unit: Qatari
riyal
Languages:
Arabic (official); English a common second
language
Ethnicity/race:
Arab 40%, Pakistani 18%, Indian 18%, Iranian
10%, other 14%
Religion:
Religion Muslim 77.5%, Christian 8.5%, other 14%
(2004 census) Literacy rate: 89%
(2004 census) Economic summary:
GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $57.69 billion; per capita $80,900.
Real growth rate: 14.2%. Inflation: 13.8%.
Unemployment: 0.7%. Arable land: 1.64%.
Agriculture: fruits, vegetables; poultry, dairy products, beef;
fish. Labor force: 638,000 (2007 est.). Industries:
crude oil production and refining, ammonia, fertilizers,
petrochemicals, steel reinforcing bars, cement, commercial ship
repair. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, fish.
Exports: $33.28 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): liquefied natural
gas (LNG), petroleum products, fertilizers, steel. Imports:
$15.32 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): machinery and transport
equipment, food, chemicals. Major trading partners: Japan,
South Korea, Singapore, India, France, U.S., Saudi Arabia, UAE,
Germany, UK (2004). Communications:
Telephones: main lines in use: 228,300 (2006); mobile cellular:
919,800 (2006). Radio broadcast stations: AM 6, FM 5, shortwave
1 (1998). Radios: 256,000 (1997). Television broadcast
stations: 1 (plus three repeaters) (2001). Televisions:
230,000 (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 19 (2007).
Internet users: 289,900 (2006). Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways:
total: 1,230 km; paved: 1,107 km; unpaved: 123 km (1999 est.).
Ports and harbors: Doha, Halul Island, Umm Sa'id (Musay'id).
Airports: 5 (2007). International
disputes: none.
Major sources and definitions
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Geography
Qatar (pronounced KAH-ter) occupies a small peninsula that extends into
the Persian Gulf from the east side of the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia
is to the west and the United Arab Emirates to the south. The country is
mainly barren.
Government
Constitutional monarchy.
History
Qatar was once controlled by the sheikhs of Bahrain, but in 1867, war
broke out between the people and their absentee rulers. To keep the peace
in the Persian Gulf, the British installed Muhammad ibn Thani al-Thani,
head of a leading Qatari family, as the region's ruler. In 1893, the
Ottoman Turks made incursions into Qatar, but the emir successfully
deflected them. In 1916, the emir agreed to allow Qatar to become a
British protectorate.
Oil was discovered in the 1940s, bringing wealth to the country in the
1950s and 1960s. About 85% of Qatar's income from exports comes from oil.
Its people have one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. In
1971, Qatar was to join the other emirates of the Trucial Coast to become
part of the United Arab Emirates. But both Qatar and Bahrain decided
against the merger and instead formed independent nations.
Qatar permitted the international forces to use Qatar as a base during
the 1991 Persian Gulf War. A border dispute erupted with Saudi Arabia that
was settled in Dec. 1992. A territorial dispute with Bahrain over the
Hawar Islands remains unresolved, however. In 1994, Qatar signed a defense
pact with the U.S., becoming the third Gulf state to do so.
In June 1995, Crown Prince Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani deposed his
father, primarily because the king was out of step with the country's
economic reforms. The emir was not stripped of his title, and much of the
power was already in his son's hands. The new emir lifted press censorship
and instituted other liberal reforms, including democratic elections and
women's suffrage (1999). In 2003 Crown Prince Jassim, who declared he had
never wanted to be king, abdicated in favor of his younger brother, Prince
Tamim.
Qatar is the home of Al Jazeera, the immensely popular and
controversial Arabic satellite television network.
Qatar introduced its first constitution on June 9, 2005. It guarantees
freedom of expression, assembly, and religion and calls for a 45-seat
parliament. Thirty of the seats will be filled in democratic elections;
the emir will appoint the remaining seats.
Sheik Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani resigned as prime minister in April
2007. The emir named former foreign minister Sheik Hamad bin Jassem al
Thani as his replacement.
See also Encyclopedia: Qatar.
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Qatar
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education,
Inc. All rights reserved.
More on Qatar from Infoplease:
- Qatar - Qatar Qatar or Katar, officially State of Qatar, independent emirate (2005 est. pop. 863,000), ...
- Qatar - Qatar Profile: People, History, Government and Political Conditions, Defense, Economy, Foreign Relations, U.S.-Qatari Relations
- Qatar: meaning and definitions - Qatar: Definition and Pronunciation
- Qatar - Map of Qatar & articles on flags, geography, history, statistics, disasters current events, and international relations.
- Qatar: Bibliography - Bibliography See R. S. Zahlan, The Creation of Qatar (1979); B. Reich, Qatar (1989).
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