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As Qatar is a highly arid country, the traditional ways of life were confined either to nomadic pastoralism practiced by the Bedouins of the interior and to fishing and pearling, which was engaged in by the relatively settled coastal dwellers, who are called hadar and who formed the majority of the population.
This is a list of cities and towns in Qatar. [1] [2] Over 60 percent of residents of Qatar live in Doha , the capital. Alphabetical list of cities and towns [ edit ]
City/district NamePopulation (2010)Area (km)Description1616Located in the municipality of Al Shamal .77Located in the municipality of Al Rayyan .1,065824.9Located in the municipality of Al Rayyan .77Located in the municipality of Al Rayyan .- Overview
- Land
- Relief and drainage
- Soils
- Climate
- Plant and animal life
- Ethnic groups and languages
- Religion
- Settlement patterns
Qatar, independent emirate on the west coast of the Persian Gulf. The small country has tremendous influence as a trusted mediator between rivals in the region and as one of the world’s largest exporters of natural gas. It has also garnered international attention through its popular television network, Al Jazeera, and its controversial hosting of the 2022 World Cup in its desert climate. In 2024 it hosted the Asian Cup.
Occupying a small desert peninsula that extends northward from the larger Arabian Peninsula, it has been continuously but sparsely inhabited since prehistoric times. Following the rise of Islam, the region became subject to the Islamic caliphate; it later was ruled by a number of local and foreign dynasties before falling under the control of the Thani dynasty (Āl Thānī) in the 19th century. The Thani dynasty sought British patronage against competing tribal groups and against the Ottoman Empire—which occupied the country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries—and in exchange the United Kingdom controlled Qatar’s foreign policy until the latter’s independence in 1971. Thereafter the monarchy continued to nurture close ties with Western powers as a central pillar of its national security. Qatar has one of the world’s largest reserves of petroleum and natural gas and employs large numbers of foreign workers in its production process. Because of its oil wealth, the country’s residents enjoy a high standard of living and a well-established system of social services.
Slightly smaller in area than the U.S. state of Connecticut, the Qatar peninsula is about 100 miles (160 km) from north to south, 50 miles (80 km) from east to west, and is generally rectangular in shape. It shares a border with eastern Saudi Arabia where the peninsula connects to the mainland and is north and west of the United Arab Emirates. The island country of Bahrain lies some 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Qatar. A territorial dispute with Bahrain was resolved in 2001, when the International Court of Justice awarded the Ḥawār Islands (just off the coast of Qatar) to Bahrain and gave Qatar sovereignty over Janān Island and the ruined fortress-town of Al-Zubārah (on the Qatari mainland). That year Qatar also signed a final border demarcation agreement with Saudi Arabia.
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Most of Qatar’s area is flat, low-lying desert, which rises from the east to a central limestone plateau. Hills rise to about 130 feet (40 metres) along the western and northern coasts, and Abū al-Bawl Hill (335 feet [103 metres]) is the country’s highest point. Sand dunes and salt flats, or sabkhahs, are the chief topographical features of the sou...
Soils in Qatar are marked by a small degree of organic material and are generally calcareous and agriculturally unproductive. Windblown sand dunes are common, and soil distribution over bedrock is light and uneven. Soil salinity is high in coastal regions and in agricultural regions where poor regulation of irrigation has led to increased salinity.
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The climate is hot and humid from June to September, with daytime temperatures as high as 122 °F (50 °C). The spring and fall months—April, May, October, and November—are temperate, averaging about 63 °F (17 °C), and the winters are slightly cooler. Precipitation is scarce, with less than 3 inches (75 mm) falling annually (generally in winter).
Vegetation is found only in the north, where the country’s irrigated farming areas are located and where desert plants blossom briefly during the spring rains. Fauna is limited, and the government has implemented a program to protect the Arabian oryx, Qatar’s national animal.
Qatar was originally settled by Bedouin nomads from the central part of the Arabian Peninsula. Qatari citizens, however, constitute only a small portion—roughly one-ninth—of the total population today. Economic growth beginning in the 1970s created an economy dependent on foreign workers—mostly from Pakistan, India, and Iran—who now far outnumber nationals. Few Qataris retain a nomadic lifestyle.
Arabic is the official language, and most Qataris speak a dialect of Gulf Arabic similar to that spoken in surrounding states. Modern Standard Arabic is taught in schools, and English is commonly used. Among the large expatriate population, Persian and Urdu are often spoken.
Islam is the official religion, and Qataris are largely Sunni Muslims. There is a small Shiʿi minority. The ruling Thani family (Āl Thānī) adheres to the same Wahhābī interpretation of Islam as the rulers of Saudi Arabia, though not as strictly. Women, for example, have greater freedom in Qatar than in Saudi Arabia. The non-Qatari population has a ...
Qataris are largely urban dwellers; less than 1 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Doha, on the east coast, is Qatar’s largest city and commercial centre and contains about half of the emirate’s population. It has a deepwater port and an international airport. The main oil port and industrial centre is Umm Saʿīd, to the south of Doha o...
Qatar's capital is located on Doha Bay in the central east of the peninsula. Destination Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, a Nations Online country profile of the emirate in the Persian Gulf. Qatar is situated on a peninsula that extends from the Arabian Peninsula approximately 190 km (120 mi) north into the Persian (or Arab) Gulf.
In 2010 a Saudi news portal, Elaph, even ran a story criticizing the government of Qatar’s efforts to elevate the tribe’s heritage in a 32-episode Ramadan series it ran that year. 22 Close Government publications and heritage sites feature the predominantly tribal images of the bedouins’ life of nomadic pastoralism. Even though Qatar’s ...
The history of Qatar spans from its first duration of human occupation to its formation as a modern state. Human occupation of Qatar dates back to 50,000 years ago, and Stone Age encampments and tools have been unearthed in the Arabian Peninsula. [1] Mesopotamia was the first civilization to have a presence in the area during the Neolithic ...
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Jun 3, 2019 · The country became independent in 1971. Since Qatar has few exploitable natural resources and less than 1% of its land is suitable for agriculture, the country before oil was discovered in 1939 was one of the world’s poorest countries. Traditional business was based mainly on fishing, pearl fishing and some nomadic livestock management.
