Qatar

National name: Dawlat Qatar

Government
Constitutional monarchy.

Geography
Qatar (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.

Historical Background
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. In 2001, Qatar resolved its longstanding border disputes with both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Oil and natural gas revenues enable Qatar to have one of the highest per capita incomes in the world.

Facts & Figures

Name

QATAR

Capital

Doha

Government

Absolute monarchy

Language

Arabic

Religion

Islam is the predominant religion. While Muslims constitute 80% of the population only 6% of these Muslims are Shia.

Area

11,437 km2

Population

2010 census 1,696,563

Currency

Riyal (QAR)

GDP(PPP)

2010 estimate Total $102.147 billion[

GDP(nominal)

2010 estimate Total $110.844 billion

Time Zone

AST (UTC+3) Summer (DST) (not observed) (UTC+3)