Qatar
Qatar,[b] officially the State of Qatar,[c] is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares its sole land border with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf. The Gulf of Bahrain, an inlet of the Persian Gulf, separates Qatar from nearby Bahrain. The capital is Doha, home to over 80% of the country's inhabitants, and the land area is mostly made up of flat, low-lying desert.
This article is about the country. For other places, see Qatar (disambiguation).
State of Qatar
- 40% Arab
- 43% South Asian[2]
- 21.8% Indian
- 12.5% Bangladeshi
- 4.7% Pakistani
- 4.35% Sri Lankan
- 43% South Asian[2]
- 9% Egyptian
- 7% other
Unitary authoritarian[5][6] parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy
18 December 1878
1 September 1971
3 September 1971
11,581 km2 (4,471 sq mi) (158th)
0.8
1,699,435[8]
176/km2 (455.8/sq mi) (76th)
2023 estimate
2023 estimate
41.1[10]
medium
right[12]
+974
Qatar has been ruled as a hereditary monarchy by the House of Thani since Mohammed bin Thani signed "an agreement, not a formal treaty"[18] with Britain in 1868 that recognised its separate status. Following Ottoman rule, Qatar became a British protectorate in 1916 and gained independence in 1971. The current emir is Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who holds nearly all executive, legislative, and judicial authority in autocratic manner under the Constitution of Qatar.[19] He appoints the prime minister and cabinet. The partially-elected Consultative Assembly can block legislation and has a limited ability to dismiss ministers.
In early 2017, the population of Qatar was 2.6 million, although only 313,000 of them are Qatari citizens and 2.3 million being expatriates and migrant workers.[20] Its official religion is Islam.[21] The country has the fourth-highest GDP (PPP) per capita in the world[22] and the eleventh-highest GNI per capita (Atlas method).[23] It ranks 42nd in the Human Development Index, the third-highest HDI in the Arab world.[24] It is a high-income economy, backed by the world's third-largest natural gas reserves and oil reserves.[25] Qatar is one of the world's largest exporters of liquefied natural gas[26] and the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide per capita.[27]
In the 21st century, Qatar emerged as both a major non-NATO ally of the United States and a middle power in the Arab world. Its economy has risen rapidly through its resource-wealth,[28][29] and its geopolitical power has risen through its media group, Al Jazeera Media Network, and reported support for rebel groups financially during the Arab Spring.[30][31][32] Qatar also forms part of the Gulf Cooperation Council.[3]
Etymology
Pliny the Elder, a Roman writer, documented the earliest account pertaining to the inhabitants of the peninsula around the mid-first century AD, referring to them as the Catharrei, a designation that may have derived from the name of a prominent local settlement.[33][34] A century later, Ptolemy produced the first known map to depict the peninsula, referring to it as Catara.[34][35] The map also referenced a town named "Cadara" to the east of the peninsula.[36] The term "Catara" (inhabitants, Cataraei)[37] was exclusively used until the 18th century, after which "Katara" emerged as the most commonly recognised spelling.[36] Eventually, after several variations — "Katr", "Kattar" and "Guttur" — the modern derivative Qatar was adopted as the country's name.[38]In Standard Arabic, the name is pronounced [ˈqɑtˤɑr], while in the local dialect it is [ˈɡɪtˤɑr].[17] English speakers use different approximate pronunciations of the name as the Arabic pronunciations use sounds not often used in English.[39]
