+974 is the dialing code for Qatar.
Oil and gas, the TV channel al-Jazira and the hosting of the 2022 Soccer World Cup. Qatar is a peninsula that stands out in the Persian Gulf from Saudi Arabia. Here are the world’s largest natural gas fields, which are expected to generate revenues for 300 years ahead, and oil for 50 more years. Although a new constitution in 2005 gives some power sharing, it is in practice the emir that decides everything. However, a certain softening of the authoritarian rule has occurred in recent years.
- Abbreviationfinder: Brief profiles of Qatar, including geography, history, politics, economics as well as common acronyms about this country.
Geography and climate
As one of countries that start with Q, the Emirate of Qatar is an approximately 16-mile-long and between five and nine-mile-wide peninsula projecting into the Persian Gulf off the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. In the southwest, Qatar borders Saudi Arabia, in the southeast to the United Arab Emirates. In the northwest, in the Persian Gulf, lies Bahrain; Iran is located on the eastern side of the bay.
With the exception of some hills along the west coast, the country is completely flat and consists of desert. At the far south is salt marsh. In the north, where a little rain falls in winter, you can find vegetation. There are very few oases.
- BagLib: General information about Qatar, covering geography, climate, travel tips and popular sights.
The climate in Qatar is hot and humid in the summer months of July – September, while the winters are mild. In summers, the temperature can reach up to 50 degrees in the shade and in winter it can drop to 10 degrees. There is very little rain.
In recent years, when Qatar has built arenas and prepared to host the Soccer World Cup, they have even begun to air-conditioned gathering places outdoors. According to the World Bank, Qatar is the country with the largest greenhouse gas emissions per person.
Country Facts
Geography
Cultivated land | 5.6 % |
Land area | 11586 km 2 |
Population and health
Population development | 3.07 ‰ |
Urban population (Urbanization) | 99.2 % |
Death rate | 1.53 per 1000 residents |
Life expectancy: Women | 80.65 years |
Life expectancy: Men | 76.58 years |
Birth rate | 9.84 births per 1000 residents |
HDI index | 0.850 |
Population | 2194817 |
Infant mortality | 6.32 deaths / 1000 births |
Population Graph Source: Countryaah.com
Energy
Electricity, production | 32700 million kWh |
Energy consumption per resident | 18813.5 kg. oil per resident |
Natural gas, production | 158500 million cubic meters |
Crude oil, production | 79 million tons |
Infrastructure
Internet users | 96.7 per 100 residents |
Mobile subscriptions | 156 per 100 residents |
Passenger cars | 532 per 1000 residents |
Business and economics
Unemployment | 0.4% of the workforce |
GDP | 132100 per resident |
Primary occupations | % |
Secondary profession | % |
Tertiary professions | % |
Surface
11 437 km2 (2018)
Time
Swedish +2 hours
Adjacent country (s)
Saudi Arabia
Capital with number of residents
Doha 1.3 million residents with suburbs
Other major cities
Rayyan 388,500 (Estimated 2010)
2014
December
Qatar supports Egypt’s president
Qatar joins the other countries of the GCC regional cooperation organization and expresses its full support for Egypt’s President Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi. Earlier, Qatar condemned Sisi for dismissing Mohammed Mursi from the presidential post in July 2013. Mursi, who belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood, had Qatar’s support in the conflict. Qatar also states that the TV channel al-Jazira will stop its special broadcasts to Egypt. al-Jazira’s program has been criticized by Egypt for being biased in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood. The thawing weather between Qatar and Egypt also raises hopes that the three journalists from al-Jazira imprisoned in Egypt will have their sentences reviewed. The three were arrested at the end of 2013 and sentenced to seven and in one case ten years in prison.
November
New vice emir
Emir Tamim appoints his half-brother, Sheikh Abdullah, as vice-emir.
GCC ambassadors return
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are sending their ambassadors back to Doha after the countries have resolved their dispute (see March 2014).
September
Qatar participates in air strikes against IS
September 23
As the United States launches air strikes against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, Qatar, like other states in the region, pledges military support in the fight against the jihadist movement. The countries have also promised to try to prevent recruits trying to get to IS via their territory, and to stop making money payments to IS.
Qatar mediation for UN soldiers in Syria
Qatar is said to have helped to release the release of 45 UN troops from Fiji who were captured in August by Syrian rebels at the Golan Heights. The UN soldiers had the task of overseeing the dividing line between the Israeli and Syrian parts of the Golan Heights occupied by Israel in the so-called Six Day War of 1967.
August
Conflict with neighboring countries resolved
The dispute between Qatar and some of the other Member States of the GCC regional cooperation organization is over (see March 2014). Qatar is reported to have agreed to quell the Muslim Brotherhood’s operations in the country. After the news, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Qatar announces that he and other leaders intend to leave the country so as not to “embarrass Qatar”. They are welcomed to Turkey by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo ğ an.
Mediation attempts in the Palestinian conflict
Qatar is trying to mediate in the war between Israel and radical Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip. Qatar, among other things, hosts meetings between various Palestinian factions.
July
Emirates is accused of spying
Tensions between Qatar and the United Arab Emirates increase when two Qatarians plaster in the neighboring country and are accused of espionage.
May
Qatar receives Taliban
Qatar is gaining prominence around the world as the country negotiates a prisoner exchange between the United States and the Afghan Taliban movement. In early June, the Taliban release a captured American. In exchange, five Taliban are flown to Qatar from the US prison in Guantánamo naval base in Cuba. There is no official statement about what will happen to the Taliban, only that Qatar has guaranteed that they will not pose a threat to the United States. According to sources the news agency AFP spoke to, they will stay for one year in Qatar.
March
Neighboring countries recall ambassadors
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain call home their ambassadors after accusations that Qatar has interfered with the countries’ domestic policies. Relations between Qatar and the other countries in the region have deteriorated since the Arab Spring because of Qatars and al-Jazira’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood, which is considered a threat to the security of the countries. Qatar said in a statement two days later that the action concerns events unrelated to the Persian Gulf countries and that the country will not withdraw its ambassadors from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Egypt welcomes the decision of the three countries to withdraw their ambassadors from Qatar. Egypt will also not return its already previously called ambassador to Doha.
February
Egyptians are requested to be extradited
Egypt requires Qatar to extradite the members of the Muslim Brotherhood who have fled to Qatar since the military took power in Egypt in July 2013.