Qatar is a country in the Middle East, not a person. It is a small, wealthy Gulf state on a peninsula that juts into the Arabian (Persian) Gulf, with its capital city in Doha.

What is Qatar?

  • Qatar is officially called the State of Qatar and is an independent, sovereign country in West Asia, on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula.
  • It shares its only land border with Saudi Arabia to the south and is surrounded by the Arabian/Persian Gulf, close to Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran.

Basic facts at a glance

  • Capital: Doha, the political, economic, and cultural center where most of the population lives.
  • Government: Constitutional hereditary monarchy (an emirate), ruled by the Al Thani family; the current emir is Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
  • Official language and religion: Arabic is the official language, and Islam is the official religion, with Islamic law being a major source of legislation.

Economy and global role

  • Qatar has some of the world’s largest reserves of natural gas and significant oil resources, which have made it one of the richest countries per person.
  • It plays an active regional and international role, hosting diplomatic talks, running the Al Jazeera media network, and investing globally through its sovereign wealth fund.

People and society

  • The population is a few million people, with Qatari citizens as a minority and a large expatriate workforce from many countries.
  • Islam is dominant, but there are recognized religious minorities, and English is widely spoken alongside Arabic in business and daily life.

Geography and climate

  • Qatar is mostly flat desert, forming a peninsula about 100–200 km long and around 11,500–11,600 square km in area.
  • The climate is very hot and dry, with long, extremely hot summers and very little rainfall each year.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.