Qatar Country Facts
Bureau of Near Eastern
Affairs
July
2007
Background Note: Qatar Country
Facts
A potter demonstrates his
craft
during cultural festival,
Doha,
Qatar, March 23, 2005. [? AP
Images]
Flag of Qatar is maroon with a broad white serrated band - nine white
points - on the hoist
side.
PROFILE
OFFICIAL
NAME:
State of
Qatar
Geography
Area: 11,437 sq. km. (4,427 sq. mi.); about the size of Connecticut
and Rhode Island
combined.
Cities: Capital--Doha 431,525 (2005 est.). Other cities--Messaieed,
Al-Khor, Dukhan,
Ruwais.
Terrain: Mostly desert, flat,
barren.
Climate: Hot and humid, with a mild
winter.
People
Nationality: Noun and
adjective--Qatari(s).
Population (July 2007 est.):
907,229.
Population growth (July 2007 est.):
2.386%.
Ethnic groups: Qatari (Arab) 20%; other Arab 20%; Indian 20%;
Filipino 10%; Nepali 10%; Pakistani 7%; Sri Lankan
5%.
Religion: Islam (state religion, claimed by virtually all of the
indigenous
population).
Languages: Arabic (official); English (widely
spoken).
Education: Compulsory--ages 6-16. Attendance--98%. Literacy (2004
est.)--89% total population, 89.1% male, 88.6%
female.
Health (2007 est.): Infant mortality rate--17.46/1,000 live births.
Life expectancy--74.14
years.
Work force (2006): 508,000. Private sector--61.2%; mixed
sector--28.5%;
government--5.6%.
Government
Type: Constitutional
monarchy.
Independence: September 3,
1971.
Constitution: Approved by popular vote 2003; came into force June
2005. Branches: Executive--Council of
Ministers. Legislative--Advisory Council
(currently appointed pending elections in 2008; has assumed only
limited responsibility to date).
Judicial--independent.
Subdivisions: Fully centralized government; nine
municipalities.
Political parties:
None.
Suffrage: Universal over age 18, since
1999.
Economy
GDP (2006): $52.7
billion.
Real growth rate (2006)
24%.
Per capita income (2006):
$61,540.
Natural resources: Petroleum, natural gas,
fish.
Agriculture: Accounts for less than 2% of GDP. Products--fruits
and vegetables
(most food is
imported).
Industry: Types--oil production and refining and natural gas
development (60% of GDP), mining, manufacturing, construction, and
power.
Trade (2006 est.): Exports--$33.25 billion, principally oil 47% and
gas 36%. Partners (2005)--Japan 36.3%, South Korea 19.1%, Singapore
8.1%, India 5.1%, U.A.E. 2.9%, U.S. 1.2%. Imports--$6.7 billion,
principally consumer goods, machinery, food. Partners
(2005)--France 11.8%, Japan 10.7% U.S. 10.6%,
Germany 8.5%, Saudi Arabia 7.4%, U.K. 7.1%, Italy 6.6%, South Korea
5.6%, U.A.E.
4.9%.
PEOPLE
Natives of the Arabian Peninsula, many Qataris are descended from a
number of migratory tribes that came to Qatar in the 18th century from
the neighboring areas of Nejd and Al-Hasa. Some came from neighboring
Gulf emirates and others are descended
from Persian merchants. Most of Qatar's
907,229 inhabitants
live in Doha, the capital. Foreigners with temporary residence
status make up about three-fourths of the population. Foreign
workers comprise 52% of the
total population and make up about 89% of the total labor force. Most
are South and Southeast Asians, Egyptians,
Palestinians,
Jordanians, and Iranians. About 8,000 U.S. citizens reside in
Qatar.
For centuries, the main sources of wealth were pearling, fishing, and
trade. At one time, Qataris owned nearly one-third of the Persian
Gulf fishing fleet. With the Great
Depression and the introduction of
Japan's
cultured-pearl industry, pearling in Qatar declined
drastically.
The Qataris are mainly Sunni Muslims. Islam is the official religion,
and Islamic jurisprudence is the basis of Qatar's
legal system, although civil courts have jurisdiction
over commercial law. Arabic is the
official language,
and English is widely spoken. Education is compulsory and free for
all Arab residents 6-16 years old. Qatar has an increasingly high
literacy
rate.
HISTORY
Qatar has been inhabited for millennia. The Al Khalifa family of
Bahrain dominated the area until 1868 when,
at the request of Qatari nobles, the British
negotiated the termination of the Bahraini claim, except for
the payment of tribute. The tribute ended
when the Ottoman Empire occupied Qatar in
1872.
When the Ottomans left at the beginning of World War I, the
British
recognized Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani as ruler. The Al Thani family
had lived in Qatar for 200 years. The 1916 treaty between the United
Kingdom and Sheikh Abdullah was similar to those entered into by the
British with other Gulf principalities. Under it,
the ruler agreed not to dispose of any of his territory except
to the U.K. and not to enter into relationships with any other
foreign government without British consent. In return, the British
promised to protect Qatar from all aggression by sea and to lend their
good offices in case of a land attack. A 1934 treaty granted
more extensive British
protection.
In 1935, a 75-year oil concession was granted to the Qatar Petroleum
Company, a subsidiary of the Iraq Petroleum Company, which was owned
by Anglo-Dutch, French, and U.S. interests. High-quality oil
was discovered in 1940 at Dukhan,
on the western side of the Qatari peninsula. However, the start of
WWII delayed exploitation of Qatar's oil resources, and oil exports
did not begin until
1949.
During the 1950s and 1960s gradually increasing oil revenues
brought prosperity,
rapid immigration, substantial social progress, and
the beginnings
of Qatar's modern history. When the U.K. announced a policy in
1968 (reaffirmed in March 1971) of ending the treaty relationships
with the Gulf sheikdoms, Qatar joined the other eight states
then under British protection
(the seven trucial sheikdoms--the present United
Arab
Emirates--and Bahrain) in a plan to form a union of Arab emirates.
By mid-1971, as the
termination date of the British treaty relationship (end of 1971)
approached, the nine still had not agreed on terms of
union.
Accordingly, Qatar declared independence as a separate entity and became the
fully independent State of Qatar on September 3,
1971.
In February 1972, the Heir Apparent, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad,
deposed his cousin, Amir Ahmad, and assumed power. Key
members of the Al Thani family supported this move,
which took place without violence or signs of political
unrest.
On June 27, 1995, the Deputy Amir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, deposed
his father Amir Khalifa in a bloodless coup.
An unsuccessful counter-coup was staged in 1996.
The Amir and his father are now reconciled, though
some supporters of the counter-coup
remain in prison. The Amir announced his
intention for Qatar to move toward democracy and has permitted a
freer and more open press and municipal elections as a
precursor to
expected
parliamentary elections. Qatari citizens approved a new constitution
via public referendum in April 2003, which
came into force in June 2005.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL
CONDITIONS
The ruling Al Thani family continued to hold power following the
declaration of independence in 1971. The head of state is the Amir,
and the right to rule Qatar is passed on within the Al Thani family.
Politically, Qatar is evolving from a traditional society to one based
on more formal and democratic
institutions to meet the requirements of social and economic
progress. The country's constitution formalizes the
hereditary rule of the Al Thani family, but it also establishes an
elected legislative body and makes government
ministers accountable to the legislature. In current practice, the
Amir's role is influenced by continuing traditions
of consultation, rule by
consensus, and the citizen's right to appeal personally to the Amir.
The Amir, while directly accountable to no
one, cannot violate the Shari'a
(Islamic law) and, in practice, must consider the opinions of
leading families and the
religious
establishment.
The opinions of the people are institutionalized in the Advisory
Council, an appointed body that assists the Amir in formulating
policy. However, it is possible that the first elections
for this body will occur in 2008. Elections in 1999, in which both men
and women participated, resulted in the formation of a municipal
council. One woman candidate was elected to the
municipal council in 2003. Municipal
elections were held for the third time in April
2007.
There has been no serious challenge to Al Thani rule. As the most
visible sign of the move toward openness, the Al
Jazeera satellite television station based in Qatar is considered the
most free and unfettered broadcast source in the Arab world. In
practice, however, Al Jazeera rarely criticizes the ruling Al Thani
family.
Principal Government
Officials
Amir, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, and Minister of
Defense--HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al
Thani
Heir Apparent, Deputy Chief of the Armed Forces--HH Sheikh Tamim bin
Hamad bin Khalifa Al
Thani
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs--HE Sheikh Hamad bin
Jassim bin Jabir Al
Thani
Minister of Energy and Industry and Deputy Prime
Minister--Abdullah
al-Attiyah
Ambassador to the
U.S.--vacant
Qatar maintains an embassy in the United States at 2555 M Street,
NW, Washington, DC 20037
(tel. 202-274-1600) and a consulate in Houston at 4265 San
Felipe Street, Suite 1100, Houston, Texas 77207 (tel.
713-968-9840). Qatar's Permanent Mission to
the United Nations is at 747 Third Ave., 22nd floor, New
York, NY 10017 (tel.
212-486-9335).
DEFENSE
Qatar's defense expenditures are estimated to be in the range of 10%
of GDP. Qatar maintains a modest military force of about 12,000 men,
including an army, navy, and air force. The country
has a public security force of about 8,000 men, including a
coast guard, national firefighting force, air wing,
marine police, and an internal security force. Qatar also has signed defense
pacts with the U.S., U.K., and France. Qatar plays an active role in
the collective defense efforts of the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC--the regional organization of the Arab states
in the Gulf; the other five members are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain,
the U.A.E., and Oman). Qatari forces played an
important role in the first Gulf War, and Qatar has supported U.S.
military operations critical to the success of Operation
Enduring Freedom and
Operation Iraqi Freedom. Qatar hosts CENTCOM Forward
Headquarters.
ECONOMY
Oil formed the cornerstone of Qatar's economy well into the 1990s and
still accounts for about 62% of total government revenue. In
1973, oil production and revenues increased sizably, moving
Qatar out of the rank of the world's poorest countries and
providing it with one of the highest per
capita incomes. In 2006,
Qatar's per capita income of nearly $62,000 was
the fifth-highest in the
world.
Qatar's economy suffered a downturn from in the mid-1990s. Lower
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil production
quotas, a fall in oil prices, and the generally unpromising outlook
on international markets reduced
oil earnings. In turn, the Qatari Government cut spending plans to
match lower income. The resulting recessionary local business climate
caused many firms to lay off expatriate staff. With the economy
recovering in the late 1990s, expatriate populations have
grown
again.
Oil production is currently around 835,000 barrels a day (bpd), and
is expected to reach 1.1 million
bpd by 2009. At the current production pace, oil reserves
are expected to last more than 40 years. Moreover,
Qatar's proven reserves of gas are the
third-largest in the world, exceeding 900
trillion cubic feet (14% of the world's total proven gas reserves).
Qatar shares with Iran the largest single
non-associated gas field in the world, the North Field.
Qatar is now the world's largest producer of
liquefied natural gas (LNG), with a
capacity of more than 31 million metric tons per annum
(mmta), and it expects to reach 77.5 mmta of LNG exports by 2010. By
2010, Qatar will account for one-third of the world's LNG
supply.
The 1991 completion of the $1.5-billion Phase I of the North Field
gas development project strongly
boosted the economy. In 1996, Qatar began
exporting liquefied natural gas to Japan. Further phases of North
Field gas development costing billions of dollars are in
various stages of planning and development, and Qatar has concluded
agreements with the U.A.E. to export gas via pipelines and to Spain,
Turkey, Italy, the U.S., France, South Korea,
India, China, Taiwan, and the U.K. via ship. However, the government
has halted any further expansion of gas
production until 2010, as it assesses its plans for future
exploitation of the
field.
Qatar's natural gas liquefaction facilities and related industries
are located in Ras Laffan
Industrial City, site of the world's largest
LNG exports of more than 31
million metric tons per year. Qatar's
heavy
industrial base, located in Messaieed, includes a refinery with a 140,000
bpd capacity, a fertilizer plant for urea and ammonia, a steel plant,
and a petrochemical plant, and several
new petrochemical plants will be built in the coming
years. All these industries use gas for fuel. Most are
joint ventures between U.S., European,
and Japanese firms and the state-owned Qatar Petroleum (QP). The U.S.
is the major equipment supplier for Qatar's oil and gas industry, and
U.S. companies are playing a major role in the development of the oil
and gas sector and
petrochemicals.
The country's economic growth has been stunning. Qatar's nominal
GDP, currently around $52.7
billion, has grown an average of 15% over the past
five years. GDP is expected to grow approximately 8.3% in 2007. Qatar's
per capita GDP is more than $60,000, and projected to soon be
the highest in the world. The Qatari Government's strategy is to
utilize its wealth to generate more wealth by diversifying the
economic base of the country
beyond
hydrocarbons.
Qatar pursues a vigorous program of "Qatarization," under which all
joint venture industries and government departments
strive to move Qatari nationals into positions of greater authority.
Growing numbers of foreign-educated Qataris,
including many educated in the U.S., are returning home to assume
key positions formerly occupied by expatriates. In order to control
the influx of expatriate workers, Qatar
has tightened the administration of its foreign manpower
programs over the past several years. Security is
the principal basis for Qatar's
strict entry and immigration rules
and
regulations.
FOREIGN
RELATIONS
Qatar achieved full independence in an atmosphere of cooperation with
the U.K. and friendship with neighboring states.
Most Arab states, the U.K., and the U.S. were among the first
countries to recognize Qatar, and the state
promptly gained admittance to the United Nations and the Arab League.
Qatar established diplomatic relations with the U.S.S.R. and
China in 1988. It was an early member of OPEC and a founding member
of the
GCC.
In September 1992, tensions arose with Saudi Arabia when Saudi
forces allegedly attacked a
Qatari border post, resulting in two deaths. Relations have
since improved, and a joint commission has been set up to demarcate the
border as agreed between the two governments. Most, but not all, of
the border issues have been
resolved.
For years, both Qatar and Bahrain claimed ownership of the Hawar
Islands. The case was eventually referred to the International Court
of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. The ICJ issued a ruling in June
2001, which both sides accepted. In the agreement Bahrain kept
the main Hawar Island but dropped claims to parts
of mainland Qatar, while Qatar retained significant maritime areas and
their
resources.
U.S.-QATARI
RELATIONS
Bilateral relations are strong and expanding. The U.S. embassy was
opened in March 1973. The first resident U.S. ambassador arrived in
July 1974. Ties between the U.S. and Qatar are
excellent. Amir Hamad last visited Washington in 2004, and President
Bush visited Qatar in 2003. Qatar and the United
States coordinate closely on regional diplomatic initiatives,
cooperate to increase security in the Gulf, and enjoy
extensive economic links, especially in the hydrocarbons sector. Qatar
sees the development of a world-class
educational system as key to its continued success. As a result, hundreds of
Qataris study in the United States. Cornell University has
established a degree-granting branch medical
school campus in Doha, and other universities including Texas
A&M, Carnegie Mellon University, the Virginia Commonwealth
University School of Design, and the Georgetown School of Foreign
Service also have branch campuses in Qatar's
"Education City"
complex.
Principal U.S.
Officials
Ambassador--Chase
Untermeyer
Deputy Chief of Mission--Michael
Ratney
Political/Economic Counselor--Stephen
Rice
Senior Commercial Officer--Robert
Peaslee
Consular Officer--Timothy
Ponce
Public Affairs Officer--Joey
Hood
Defense Attach?--CDR Coby Loessberg,
USN
The U.S. Embassy in Qatar is located in Doha at 22 February Road, Al
Luqta District, Doha, Qatar. Mailing address: P.O. Box
23, Doha.
Tel.:
974-488-4161; fax 4884150. The embassy is open Sunday through
Thursday (Qatar's workweek),
closed for U.S. and Qatari
holidays.
TRAVEL AND BUSINESS
INFORMATION
The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program advises
Americans traveling and residing abroad through Consular Information
Sheets, Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings.
Consular Information Sheets exist for all countries and include
information on entry and exit requirements, currency
regulations, health conditions, safety and security, crime,
political disturbances, and
the addresses of the U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. Public
Announcements are issued to disseminate information quickly
about terrorist threats and other relatively
short-term conditions overseas that pose significant
risks to the security of American travelers. Travel Warnings are
issued when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel
to a certain country because the situation is dangerous or
unstable.
For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling
abroad should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau
of Consular Affairs Internet web site at http://www.travel.state.gov, where the
current Worldwide Caution, Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings
can be found. Consular Affairs Publications,
which contain information on obtaining passports and planning a safe
trip abroad, are also available at http://www.travel.state.gov.
For additional information on international
travel, see http://www.usa.gov/
Citizen/Topics/Travel/International.shtml.
The Department of State encourages all U.S citizenstraveling or
residing abroad to register via the State
Department's travel registration website or at the nearest U.S.
embassy or consulate abroad. Registration will make your presence and
whereabouts known in case it is necessary to contact you in an
emergency and will enable you to receive up-to-date information on
security
conditions.
Emergency information concerning Americans traveling abroad may be
obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and
Canada or the regular toll line 1-202-501-4444 for
callers outside the U.S. and
Canada.
The National Passport Information Center (NPIC) is the U.S.
Department of State's single, centralized public
contact center for U.S.
passport
information. Telephone: 1-877-4USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778). Customer
service representatives and operators for TDD/TTY
are available Monday-Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight,
Eastern Time, excluding federal
holidays.
Travelers can check the latest health information with the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP (877-394-8747) and a web site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm
give the most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations
or requirements, and advice on food and drinking water safety for
regions and countries. A booklet entitled "Health
Information for International Travel"
(HHS
publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S.
Government Printing Office,
Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202)
512-1800.
Further Electronic
Information
Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at
http:// www.state.gov, the Department of State web
site provides timely, global access to
official U.S. foreign policy information, including
Background Notes and daily press briefings
along with the directory of key officers of Foreign Service
posts and more. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) provides
security information and regional news that impact U.S. companies
working abroad through its website http://www.osac.gov
Export.gov provides a portal to all export-related assistance and
market information offered by the federal
government and provides trade leads, free export counseling, help
with the export process, and
more.
STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department of Commerce,
provides authoritative economic, business, and
international trade information from the Federal
government. The site includes current and
historical
trade-related releases, international market research, trade
opportunities, and country analysis and provides access to the
National Trade Data Bank.
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Qatar Country Facts
