Qatar at a Glance

State of Qatar: An Overview

Also see: Qatari

A brief over view of the State of Qatar with links to more detailed articles.

Qatar: For thousands of years the land of the Qataris was a poverty stricken and sometimes uninhabited backwater, almost universally ignored in favour of the more bountiful Bahrain next door. Yet in the last sixty years the Qatari nation have been propelled from pearl divers and nomads struggling to survive to the richest nation on Earth.

Where is Qatar?

Qatar is located in the Middle East, jutting out from the North East coast of Saudi Arabia. To the East of Qatar lies Dubai, and to the West, Bahrain. See Qatar Map for more details.

Doha's Museum of Islamic Arts

Facts and Figures

Language: Arabic. English is also widely spoken.

Population: 1,560,000 (Qatar Statistics authority 2008).This is double the number reported in the 2004 census. The vast majority of these are expat workers, with the native Qatari population estimated at around 200,000.

GDP: $67.76 billion (2007 est.) In 2007 Qatar had the highest per capita income in the world.

Capital: Doha.

Currency: Riyal (1 riyal = 100 dirhams)

Climate

Qatar has hot summers with average day time temperatures peaking at around 41 degrees Celsius in June and July. In the winter temperatures can drop to around 7 degrees Celsius. Rainfall averages around 70mm a year.

Government

The current Emir, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, took over from his father in 1995. Although the government is monarchist, the Emir has introduced a number of reforms promoting openess and participation. Women now enjoy greater rights, the Ministry of Information has been abolished and both men and women have participated in elections for Municipal Councils.

Economy

Although there are attempts to diversify the economy, it remains driven by oil and gas.

Oil

Reserves: Qatar has proven recoverable oil reserves of 15.2 billion barrels. Dukhan, with its 2.2 billion barrels of oil, is the largest field.

Qatar Petroleum: State owned QP controls all oil and gas activity in Qatar. QP is also the majority shareholder in Qatar Gas: other partners include Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Total.

Gas

Gas: Qatar has the third largest reserves in the world. Its North Field, which was discovered in 1971, is the largest non-associated gas field in the world and contains 900 trillion cubic feet of gas. Gas is exported in the form of LNG (Liquified Natural Gas).

Also see: Qatar Business

Islamic Faith

Qatar is a Muslim country with a majority Sunni population adhering to the strict Wahabbi branch of Islam and enforcing Sharia law for Muslims citizens and residents. Nevertheless, Islam practised in Qatar is currently very much more liberal than that of its close neighbour Saudi Arabia.

Also see: Religion and Islam in Qatar