Qatar Country Page: State of Qatar, Doha City: Links to Information, Tourism, Work, Culture, People, Government, History & More

State of Qatar
City of Doha

Qatar (Arabic: قطر ), officially the State of Qatar (Arabic: دولة قطر transliterated as Dawlat Qatar), is an emirate in the Middle East and Western Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south; otherwise the Persian Gulf surrounds the state.

Qatar is divided into ten municipalities (Arabic: baladiyah), also occasionally translated as governorates or provinces: Ad Dawhah, Al Ghuwariyah, Al Jumaliyah, Al Khawr, Al Wakrah, Ar Rayyan, Jariyan al Batnah, Ash Shamal, Umm Salal, Mesaieed

The Qatari peninsula juts 100 miles (160 km) into the Persian Gulf from Saudi Arabia and is slightly smaller than Connecticut. Much of the country consists of a low, barren plain, covered with sand. To the southeast lies the spectacular Khor al Adaid ("Inland Sea"), an area of rolling sand dunes surrounding an inlet of the Gulf.

Nearly all Qataris profess Islam. Besides ethnic Arabs, much of the population migrated from various nations to work in the country's oil industry. Arabic serves as the official language. However English as well as many other languages are spoken in Qatar.

Expatriates form the majority of Qatar's residents. The petrochemical industry has attracted people from all around the world. Most of the expatriates come from South Asia and from non-oil-rich Arab nations. Because a large percentage of the expatriates are male, Qatar has the most heavily skewed sex ratio in the world, with 1.88 males per female

Before the discovery of oil the economy of the Qatari region focused on fishing and pearling. After the introduction of the Japanese cultured pearl onto the world market in the 1920s and 1930s, Qatar's pearling industry faltered. However, the discovery of oil reserves, beginning in the 1940s, completely transformed the nation's economy. Now the country has a high standard of living, with many social services offered to its citizens and all the amenities of any modern nation.

The cities and towns in Qatar include Doha, the capital, Al Wakrah, second city, Al Khor, Al Khuwayr, Ar Rayyan, Ar Ru'ays, Dukhan, Ras Laffan, Umm Bab, Umm Sa'id, Umm Salal 'Ali, Umm Salal Muhammad. Over 90 percent of Qatari citizens live in Doha, the capital.

What News is making headlines in the State of Qatar and Doha City?

About iXpats.com: The iXpats network provides free, easy-to-use communities for expats living, working in and planning to move to various countries. Offered are networking bases, forums, discussion boards, shoutboxes, photo galleries, blogs, article bases, private messaging and more.