Qatar
Ruled by the Al Thani family since the mid-1800s, Qatar within the last 60 years transformed itself from a poor British protectorate noted mainly for pearling into an independent state with significant oil and natural gas revenues. Former Amir HAMAD bin Khalifa Al Thani, who overthrew his father in a bloodless coup in 1995, ushered in wide-sweeping political and media reforms, unprecedented economic investment, and a growing Qatari regional leadership role, in part through the creation of the pan-Arab satellite news network Al-Jazeera and Qatar's mediation of some regional conflicts. In the 2000s, Qatar resolved its longstanding border disputes with both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and by 2007 had attained the highest per capita income in the world. Qatar did not experience domestic unrest or violence like that seen in other Near Eastern and North African countries in 2011, due in part to its immense wealth and patronage network. In mid-2013, HAMAD peacefully abdicated, transferring power to his son, the current Amir TAMIM bin Hamad. TAMIM is popular with the Qatari public, for his role in shepherding the country through an economic embargo by some other regional countries, for his efforts to improve the country's healthcare and education systems, and for his expansion of the country's infrastructure in anticipation of Doha's hosting of the 2022 World Cup.

geography

location

25.30° N, 51. 15° E
Middle East, peninsula bordering the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia

area

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

land boundaries

87 km

coastline

563 km

climate

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

terrain

mostly flat and barren desert

elevation

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

natural resources

  • petroleum
  • fish
  • natural gas

land use

arable land
1.1 %
permanent crops
0.2 %
permanent pasture
4.3 %
forest
0 %
other
94.4 %

population distribution

most of the population is clustered in or around the capital of Doha on the eastern side of the peninsula

people

population

  • 2,444,174
  • 143
    global rank

nationality

  • Qatari(s)
    noun
  • Qatari
    adjective

ethnic groups

non-Qatari
88.4 %
Qatari
11.6 %

languages

  • Arabic
    official
  • English

religions

Muslim
67.7 %
Christian
13.8 %
Hindu
13.8 %
Buddhist
3.1 %
folk religion <.1%
%
Jewish <.1%
%
other
0.7 %
unaffiliated
0.9 %

birth rate

  • 9.3
    per 1,000 population
  • 201
    global rank

death rate

  • 1.6
    per 1,000 population
  • 229
    global rank

urban population

99.2 %

major urban areas

  • Doha
    pop. 641,000

life expectancy

  • 79.4
    total population
  • 54
    global rank
77.2
male
81.6
female

adult obesity rate

  • 35.1%
    percent of adults
  • 15
    global rank

government

country name

    conventional

  • State of Qatar
    long form
  • Qatar
    short form

    local

  • Dawlat Qatar
    long form
  • Qatar
    short form

government type

absolute monarchy

capital

Doha
25.17 N, 51.32 E

independence

national holidays

  • National Day
    18 December
  • Independence Day
    3 September

legal system

mixed legal system of civil law and Islamic (sharia) law (in family and personal matters)

age of suffrage

18

flag description

maroon with a broad white serrated band (nine white points) on the hoist side; maroon represents the blood shed in Qatari wars, white stands for peace; the nine-pointed serrated edge signifies Qatar as the ninth member of the "reconciled emirates" in the wake of the Qatari-British treaty of 1916

national colors

  • maroon
  • white

national anthem

"Al-Salam Al-Amiri" (The Amiri Salute)

economy

overview

Qatar’s oil and natural gas resources are the country’s main economic engine and government revenue source, driving Qatar’s high economic growth and per capita income levels, robust state spending on public entitlements, and booming construction spending, particularly as Qatar prepares to host the World Cup in 2022. Although the government has maintained high capital spending levels for ongoing infrastructure projects, low oil and natural gas prices in recent years have led the Qatari Government to tighten some spending to help stem its budget deficit. Qatar’s reliance on oil and natural gas is likely to persist for the foreseeable future. Proved natural gas reserves exceed 25 trillion cubic meters - 13% of the world total and, among countries, third largest in the world. Proved oil reserves exceed 25 billion barrels, allowing production to continue at current levels for about 56 years. Despite the dominance of oil and natural gas, Qatar has made significant gains in strengthening non-oil sectors, such as manufacturing, construction, and financial services, leading non-oil GDP to steadily rise in recent years to just over half the total. Following trade restriction imposed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt in 2017, Qatar established new trade routes with other countries to maintain access to imports.

GDP

339,500,000,000 USD
2017

agriculture products

  • fruits
  • vegetables
  • poultry
  • dairy products
  • beef
  • fish

budget

  • 44,100,000,000
    revenue (USD)
  • 53,820,000,000
    expenditures (USD)

communications

telephones

    fixed lines

  • 452,088
    total subscriptions
  • 100
    global rank

    mobile cellular

  • 3,945,978
    total subscriptions
  • 130
    global rank

broadcast media

TV and radio broadcast licensing and access to local media markets are state controlled; home of the satellite TV channel Al-Jazeera, which was originally owned and financed by the Qatari government but has evolved to independent corporate status; Al-Jazeera claims editorial independence in broadcasting; local radio transmissions include state, private, and international broadcasters on FM frequencies in Doha; in August 2013, Qatar's satellite company Es'hailSat launched its first communications satellite Es'hail 1 (manufactured in the US), which entered commercial service in December 2013 to provide improved television broadcasting capability and expand availability of voice and Internet; Es'hailSat launched its second commercial satellite in 2018 with aid of SpaceX (2019)

internet

.qa
country code

    users

  • 2,355,297
    total
  • 99.65
    % of population
  • 112
    global rank

energy

electricity access

100%
2016

transportation

air transport

    national system

  • 2
    registered air carriers
  • 25,263,224
    annual passenger traffic

    airports

  • 6
    total
  • 4
    paved

roadways

7,039 km
total length

military

This entry doesn't have any available military data.