About Qatar

Middle East, peninsula bordering the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia

Arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers

Mostly flat and barren desert covered with loose sand and gravel

lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m
highest point: Tuwayyir al Hamir 103 m

Strategic location in central Persian Gulf near major petroleum deposits

conventional long form: State of Qatar
conventional short form: Qatar
local long form: Dawlat Qatar
local short form: Qatar
note: closest approximation of the native pronunciation falls between cutter and gutter, but not like guitar

name: Doha
geographic coordinates: 25 17 N, 51 32 E
time difference: UTC+3

10 municipalities (baladiyat, singular - baladiyah); Ad Dawhah, Al Ghuwayriyah, Al Jumayliyah, Al Khawr, Al Wakrah, Ar Rayyan, Jarayan al Batinah, Madinat ash Shamal, Umm Sa'id, Umm Salal

Haze, dust storms, sandstorms common

Limited natural fresh water resources are increasing dependence on large-scale desalination facilities

total population: 75.51 years
male: 73.78 years
female: 77.33 years (2010 est.)

at birth: 1.056 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 2.44 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.36 male(s)/female
total population: 1.99 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

Based on Islamic and civil law codes; discretionary system of law controlled by the Amir, although civil codes are being implemented; Islamic law dominates family and personal matters; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

general assessment: modern system centered in Doha
domestic: combined fixed and mobile-cellular telephone subscribership exceeds 300 telephones per 100 persons
international: country code - 974; landing point for the Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) submarine cable network that provides links to Asia, Middle East, Europe, and the US; tropospheric scatter to Bahrain; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia and the UAE; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat (2009)

Television and radio broadcast media are state controlled; home of the satellite TV channel Al-Jazeera, which was originally owned and financed by the Qatari Government; Al-Jazeera claims editorial independence in broadcasting; transmissions of several international broadcasters are accessible on FM in Doha (2007)

total: 11,586 sq km
land: 11,586 sq km
water: 0 sq km

840,926 (July 2010 est.)

noun: Qatari(s)
adjective: Qatari

Arab 40%, Indian 18%, Pakistani 18%, Iranian 10%, other 14%

Arabic (official), English commonly used as a second language

Muslim 77.5%, Christian 8.5%, other 14% (2004 census)

0.1% (2001 est.)

3 September 1971 (from the UK)

Independence Day, 3 September (1971); also observed is National Day, 18 December (anniversary of Al Thani family accession to the throne)

Emirate

18 years of age; universal

436,000 (2008)

822 (2010)

.qa

Ruled by the Al Thani family since the mid-1800s, Qatar transformed itself from a poor British protectorate noted mainly for pearling into an independent state with significant oil and natural gas revenues. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Qatari economy was crippled by a continuous siphoning off of petroleum revenues by the Amir, who had ruled the country since 1972. His son, the current Amir HAMAD bin Khalifa Al Thani, overthrew him in a bloodless coup in 1995. In 2001, Qatar resolved its longstanding border disputes with both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. As of 2007, oil and natural gas revenues had enabled Qatar to attain the second-highest per capita income in the world.

Despite the global financial crisis, Qatar has maintained its economic growth of the last several years. Qatari authorities throughout the crisis sought to protect the local banking sector with direct investments into domestic banks. The drop in oil prices in late 2008 and the global financial crisis reduced Qatar's budget surplus and slowed the pace of investment and development projects in 2009, but GDP growth still registered more than 9% for the year and will likely rebound in 2010. Economic policy is focused on developing Qatar's nonassociated natural gas reserves and increasing private and foreign investment in non-energy sectors, but oil and gas still account for more than 50% of GDP, roughly 85% of export earnings, and 70% of government revenues. Oil and gas have made Qatar the second highest per-capita income country - following Liechtenstein - and the world's second fastest growing - following Macau. Proved oil reserves of 15 billion barrels should enable continued output at current levels for 37 years. Qatar's proved reserves of natural gas exceed 25 trillion cubic meters, about 14% of the world total and third largest in the world.

current situation: Qatar is a destination country for men and women from South and Southeast Asia who migrate willingly, but are subsequently trafficked into involuntary servitude as domestic workers and laborers, and, to a lesser extent, commercial sexual exploitation; the most common offense was forcing workers to accept worse contract terms than those under which they were recruited; other conditions include bonded labor, withholding of pay, restrictions on movement, arbitrary detention, and physical, mental, and sexual abuse
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - the Government of Qatar does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; in February 2009, Qatar enacted a new migrant worker sponsorship law that criminalizes some practices commonly used by trafficking offenders, and it announced plans to use that law effectively to prevent human trafficking; punishment for offenses related to trafficking in persons remains lower than that for crimes such as rape and kidnapping, and the Qatari government has yet to take significant action to investigate, prosecute, and punish trafficking offenses; the government continues to lack formal victim identification procedures and, as a result, victims of trafficking are likely punished for acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked (2009)

name: "Al-Salam Al-Amiri" (The Peace for the Anthem)
lyrics/music: Sheikh MUBARAK bin Saif al-Thani/Abdul Aziz Nasser OBAIDAN
note: adopted 1996; the anthem was first performed that year at a meeting of the Gulf Cooperative Council hosted by Qatar