:''The nose condition is spelled
catarrh.''
'Qatar' (;
[1]), 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.
Etymology
The name "Qatar" may derive its name from the same
Arabic root as ''qatura'' which means "to exude." The word ''Qatura'' traces to the Arabic ''qatran'' meaning "tar" or "resin", which relates to the country's rich resources in
petroleum and
natural gas.
[2]
Other sources say the name may derive from "Qatara", believed to refer to the
Qatari town of
Zubara, an important trading port and town in the region in ancient times. The word "Qatara" first appeared on
Ptolemy's map of the
Arab world. In the early 20th century English-speakers often used to pronounce Qatar as "Cutter", which closely resembles the local pronunciation used in Qatar. However, the traditional English pronunciation ("Kuh-tahr") has prevailed.
History
Main articles: History of Qatar
After domination by the
Ottoman and
British empires for centuries, Qatar became an independent
state on
September 3,
1971.
Although the
peninsular land mass that makes up Qatar has sustained humans for thousands of years, for the bulk of its history the
arid climate fostered only short-term settlements by
nomadic tribes.
Clans such as the
Al Khalifa and the
Al Saud (which would later ascend thrones of
Bahrain and
Saudi Arabia respectively) swept through the Arabian peninsula and camped on the coasts within small
fishing and
pearling villages.
Desert in Qatar
The British initially sought out Qatar and the Persian Gulf as an intermediary vantage point ''en route'' to their
colonial interests in
India, although the discovery of
oil and other
hydrocarbons in the early
twentieth century would re-invigorate their interest. During the
nineteenth century, the time of Britain’s formative ventures into the region, the
Al Khalifa clan reigned over the Northern Qatari peninsula from the nearby island of
Bahrain to the west.
Although Qatar had the legal status of a
dependency, resentment festered against the Bahraini Al Khalifas along the eastern seaboard of the Qatari peninsula. In 1867, the Al Khalifas launched a successful effort to quash the Qatari rebels sending a massive naval force to
Wakrah. However, the Bahraini aggression was in violation on the 1820 Anglo-Bahraini
Treaty. The diplomatic response of the British to this violation set into motion the political forces that would eventuate in the founding of the
state of Qatar. In addition to censuring Bahrain for its breach of agreement, the British
Protectorate (per Colonel
Lewis Pelly) asked to
negotiate with a representative from Qatar. The request carried with it a tacit recognition of Qatar’s status as distinct from Bahrain. The Qataris chose as their negotiator the respected
entrepreneur and long-time resident of
Doha,
Muhammed bin Thani. His clan, the
Al Thanis, had taken relatively little part in Persian Gulf politics, but the diplomatic foray ensured their participation in the movement towards
independence and their dominion as the future ruling family, a
dynasty that continues to this day. The results of the negotiations left Qatar with a new-found sense of political selfhood, although it did not gain official standing as a British
protectorate until 1916.
The Emiri Diwan.
The reach of the
British Empire diminished after the
Second World War, especially following
Indian independence in 1947. Pressure for a British withdrawal from the Arab emirates in the Persian Gulf increased during the
1950s, and the British welcomed
Kuwait's declaration of independence in 1961. When Britain officially announced in 1968 that it would disengage politically, though not economically, from the Persian Gulf in three years' time, Qatar joined Bahrain and seven other
Trucial States in a
federation. Regional disputes however, quickly compelled Qatar to resign and declare independence from the coalition that would evolve into the seven-
imarat United Arab Emirates. In 1971, Qatar became an independent
sovereign state.
Since 1995, Emir
Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani has ruled Qatar, seizing control of the country from his father
Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani while the latter vacationed in
Switzerland. Under Emir Hamad, Qatar has experienced a notable amount of sociopolitical
liberalization, including the
enfranchisement of women, a new constitution, and the launch of
Al Jazeera, the controversial Arabic language
satellite television news channel. Qatar ranks as the eleventh richest country in the world per capita
[2].
Qatar served as the headquarters and one of the main launching sites of the
US invasion of Iraq [3] in 2003.
In 2005, a
suicide-bombing killed a British teacher at the Doha Players Theatre, shocking a country that had not previously experienced acts of
terrorism. It is not clear if the bombing was committed by an organized terrorist group, and although the investigation is ongoing there are indications that the attack was the work of an individual, not a group.
Administrative divisions
Main articles: Municipalities of Qatar
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
Economy
Qatar's great wealth is most visible in its capital, Doha.
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.
Qatar's national income primarily derives from oil and
natural gas exports. The country has oil estimated at 15 billion barrels (2.4
km³), while gas reserves in the giant north field (South Pars for Iran) which straddles the border with Iran and are almost as large as the peninsula itself are estimated to be between 800–900tcf (Trillion Cubic Feet - 1tcf is equal to around 80 million barrels of oil equivalent). Qataris'
wealth and
standard of living compare well with those of
Western European nations; Qatar has one of the the highest
GDP per capita in the Middle East. With no
income tax, Qatar is also one of the two least-taxed sovereign states in the world.
While oil and gas will probably remain the backbone of Qatar's economy for some time to come, the country seeks to stimulate the private sector and develop a "
knowledge economy". In 2004, it established the
Qatar Science & Technology Park to attract and serve
technology-based companies and entrepreneurs, from overseas and within Qatar. Qatar also established
Education City, which consists of international colleges. For the 15th Asian Games in Doha, it established
Sports City, consisting of Khalifa stadium, the
Aspire Sports Academy, aquatic centres, exhibition centres and many other sports related buildings and centres. Qatar also plans to build an "entertainment city" in the future.
Qatar is aiming to become a
role model for economic and social transformation in the region. Large scale
investment in all social and economic sectors will also lead to the development of a strong financial market.
The
Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) provides financial institutions with a world class financial services platform situated in an economy founded on the development of its hydrocarbons resources. It has been created with a long term perspective to support the development of Qatar and the wider region, develop local and regional markets, and strengthen the links between the energy based economies and global financial markets.
Apart from Qatar itself, which needs to raise the capacity of its financial services to support more than $130 billion worth of projects, the QFC also provides a conduit for financial services providers to access nearly $1 trillion of investment across the GCC as a whole over the next decade.
The largest project ever in Qatar, the new town of
Lusail, is under construction.
Geography
Map of Qatar
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.
The highest point in Qatar occurs in the Jebel Dukhan to the west, a range of low
limestone outcrops running north-south from Zikrit through
Umm Bab to the southern border, and reaching about 295
feet (90 m)
ASL. This area also contains Qatar's main onshore
oil deposits, while the
natural gas fields lie offshore, to the northwest of the peninsula.
Population
Main articles: Demographics of Qatar
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
[4].
In 2004, the country had a total population of approximately 744,000, of whom approximately 200,000 were believed to be citizens.
[3] Of the citizen population,
Shi'a Muslims account for approximately 10 percent and
Sunni Muslims comprise the remaining 90 percent. The majority of the estimated 544,000 non-citizens are individuals from South and South East Asian and Arab countries working on temporary employment contracts in most cases without their accompanying family members. They are of the following faiths:
Sunni and
Shi'a Muslims,
Christians,
Hindus,
Buddhists, and
Baha'is. Most foreign workers and their families live near the major employment centers of Doha, Al Khor, Messaeed, and Dukhan.
The Christian community is a diverse mix of
Indians,
Filipinos,
Europeans,
Arabs, and
Americans. It includes
Catholic,
Orthodox,
Coptic,
Anglican, and other
Protestant denominations. The
Hindu community is almost exclusively Indian, while
Buddhists include South and East Asians. Most
Baha'is in Qatar may come from nearby Iran. Religion is not indicated on national identity cards and passports, nor is it a criterion for citizenship in Qatar according to the Nationality Law. However, Qatari citizens are either Sunni or Shi'a Muslims with the exception of a Baha'i and Syrian Christian and their respective families who were granted citizenship. Shi'a, both citizens and foreigners, may attend a small number of Shi'a mosques.
There is some limitation of the religious liberty of Christians.
No foreign missionary groups operate openly in the country.
Culture
Main articles: Culture of Qatar
Qatar explicitly uses
Sunni law as the basis of its government, and the vast majority of its citizens follow
Hanbali Madhhab. Hanbali (Arabic: حنبلى ) is one of the four schools (Madhhabs) of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam (The other three are Hanafi, Maliki and Shafii). Sunni Muslims believe that all four schools have "correct guidance", and the differences between them lie not in the fundamentals of faith, but in finer judgements and jurisprudence, which are a result of the independent reasoning of the imams and the scholars who followed them. Because their individual methodologies of interpretation and extraction from the primary sources (usul) were different, they came to different judgements on particular matters.
Shi'as comprise less than 10% of the Muslim population, the vast majority of them foreigners mainly from
Iran. Most of Qatar is Muslim.
Qatari law
When contrasted with other
Arab states such as
Saudi Arabia, for instance, Qatar has comparatively liberal laws, but is still not as liberal as some of its neighbors like
UAE or
Bahrain. Women can drive in Qatar, whereas they may not legally drive in Saudi Arabia.
The country has undergone a period of liberalization and modernization after the current Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, came to power after becoming Emir in place of his father. Under his rule, Qatar became the first Persian Gulf country where women gained the right to vote.
[4] Also, women can dress mostly as they please in public (although in practice local Qatari women generally don the black
abaya). Before the liberalization, it was taboo for men to wear
shorts in public. The laws of Qatar tolerate
alcohol to a certain extent. However, public bars and nightclubs in Qatar operate only in expensive hotels and clubs, much like in the emirates and
Bahrain, though the number of establishments has yet to equal that of
UAE. Qatar has further been liberalized due to the 15th Asian Games, but is cautious of becoming too liberal in their law making the country a viable weekend immigration from their western neighbor. Overall Qatar has yet to reach the more western laws of UAE or Bahrain, and though plans are being made for more development, the government is cautious.
Education
Main articles: Education in Qatar
In recent years Qatar has placed great emphasis on
education. Along with the country’s free healthcare, citizens enjoy free education from
kindergarten through to
university. The
University of Qatar was founded in 1973. More recently, with the support of the
Qatar Foundation, some major
American universities have opened branch
campuses in
Education City, Qatar. These include
Northwestern University,
Carnegie Mellon University,
Georgetown University,
Texas A&M University,
Virginia Commonwealth University, and
Cornell University's
Weill Medical College. In 2004, Qatar established the
Qatar Science & Technology Park at Education City to link those universities with industry. Education City is also home to a fully
accredited International Baccalaureate school,
Qatar Academy. Two Canadian institutions,
College of the North Atlantic and the
University of Calgary also operate campuses in Doha.
In November 2002, the Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani created the
Supreme Education Council. The Council directs and controls education for all ages from the
pre-school level through the university level, including the
"Education for a New Era" reform initiative.
The Emir's second wife, Her Highness
Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, has been instrumental in new education initiatives in Qatar. She chairs the Qatar Foundation, sits on the board of Qatar's Supreme Education Council, and is a major driving force behind the importation of western expertise into the education system, particularly at the college level.
Communications
Qatar has a modern Telecommunication system centered in Doha. Tropospheric scatter to Bahrain; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia and UAE; submarine cable to Bahrain and UAE; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat. People can call to Qatar using their submarine cable, satellite or using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol); however,
Qtel has interfered with VoIP systems in the past, and Skype's website has been blocked before.
Qtel's ISP branch, Internet Qatar, uses SmartFilter to block websites they deem inappropriate to Qatari interests and morality.
Al Jazeera (Arabic: الجزيرة, al-ğazīrä, [al.dʒaˈziː.ra], meaning "The Island") is a television network headquartered in
Doha, Qatar. Al Jazeera initially launched as an
Arabic news and current affairs
satellite TV channel of the same name, but has since expanded into a network of several specialty TV channels.
Forced labor
According to the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report, men and women who are lured into Qatar by promises of high wages are often forced into underpaid labor. The report states that Qatari laws against forced labor are rarely enforced and that labor laws often result in the detention of victims in deportation centers pending the completion of legal proceedings
[5] [6].
Mansour vs. The State of Qatar
Leader of the Sudanese
Liberal Democrat Party and former presidential candidate in the general elections of 2000 in Sudan:
Dr. Al-Samuel Hussein Osman Mansour in early 2007 brought forth accusations against the State of Qatar of theft of five pages of manuscript from one of the five original Qur'ans compiled on the order of the
Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab. (The historical authenticity of the manuscripts was confirmed via carbon dating performed by the
University of Oxford which concluded the manuscripts were approximately 1400 years old). Originally the owner of the manuscripts, Dr. Mansour claims he had intended to sell the pages to the Islamic Museum of the State of Qatar in 2000 through the Qatar Embassy in London. Sheikh Saud bin Ali bin Mohammed Al-Thani, the then Minister for Culture for Qatar met with Dr. Mansour in London as the Emir's representative. Sheikh Al-Thani requested to take with him a sample of the manuscripts which it was agreed he would keep for a single night, with a check being handed to Dr. Mansour's present party for the sample and the promise of full payment still to come. The following day however, Sheikh Al-Thani had left the country with the manuscripts and the check that had been handed to Dr. Mansour's present party bounced. As Skeikh Al-Thani was the representative of the Emir
Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani at the time and held a senior government post, along with the fact that the manuscripts of the Qur'an remained in the hands of the State of Qatar itself, Dr. Mansour reasoned to place all responsibility on the State of Qatar itself. In the 7 years that followed, the unpaid-for manuscripts remained with the State of Qatar. Dr. Mansour claims that with all amicable attempts at recovering his property having produced no success he had no choice, but to resort to legal action. The legal proceedings are currently being undergone in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island in London in The High Court of Justice at the Queen's Bench Division in the Royal Courts of Justice. The claim number is: HQ06X02359 with the claimant being Dr. Al-Samuel Hussein Osman Mansour and the defendants being The State of Qatar and the Skeikh Saud bin Ali bin Mohammed Al Thani and the court being presided over by Master Turner of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. Currently, the case seems to be going in favour of the claimant, as suggested by such events as a solicitor hired to defend the State of Qatar refusing to do so on moral grounds. However, the case has seen extensive periods in which no progress either way has been made, largely due to the difficulties imposed on the claimants' endeavour by the defendants' diplomatic immunity .
[5] .
[6]
Notes and references
1. The pronunciation of ''Qatar'' in English varies; see List of words of disputed pronunciation for details.
In terms of English phonemics, the vowels sound halfway between short ''u'' and broad ''a'' . The ''q'' and the ''t'' have no direct counterparts, but are closest to the unaspirated allophones of English ''k'' and ''t''. However, since these allophones cannot occur in these positions in English, in this context they will sound more like English ''g'' and ''d''. So the closest pronunciation, according to English phonemics, to the original Arabic might be or .
2. Adrian Room, ''Placenames of the World'' (1997) McFarland and Company.
3. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51608.htm
4. http://www.channel4.com/more4/news/news-opinion-feature.jsp?id=527
(mms://a1187.v15478d.c15478.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/1187/15478/v0004/origin.channel4.com/news/2007/02/08_saudi.wmv)
5. PF244(RCJ) - Application Notice (Part 23) - Royal Courts of Justice.
6. As testified by Dr. Al-Samuel Hussein Osman Mansour of the Liberal Democrat Party of Sudan to the author of the this article's section which reads: Mansour vs The State of Qatar.
See also
External links
★
Ministry of Education
★
Supreme Education Council - "Education for a New Era" Reform Initiative
★
Ministry of Interior
★
The Planning Council
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