12 interesting facts about Qatar

The absolutist monarchy of Qatar (the almost unlimited power of the Al Tani royal family, which practically applies a combination of secular and Sharia law) is a country on the edge of the desert of the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf (or popularly, a country in the Middle East). In 1971, it gained independence from Great Britain.
Throughout history, Qatar was under the rule of Bahrain, Great Britain, the Ottoman Empire and Portugal. Today’s modern Ruler of Qatar is the “Emir” (whose rule is limited by Sharia law). Today, Qatar is developing as a modern state, but trade unions, political rallies and political gatherings are prohibited. The Qatari rial is the national currency. The Al Thani dynasty has been the ruling dynasty of Qatar since the middle of the 19th century. Tens of thousands of people belong to a large family (caste). The ruling family owns the media (Al Jazeera), football clubs, funds (via the sovereign wealth fund of 500 billion dollars) and countless properties. The state is the largest buyer of works of art in the world. The current emir is Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and has ruled the country since 2013. His mother Moza (the second wife of Sheikh Hamad) is probably the richest woman in the world, “A few years ago she became the owner of Cornwall Terrace, the most expensive house in Great Britain, not far from Regent’s Park in London, which was paid 120 million pounds and which today is London’s her son’s residence. By the way, according to the media, the multi-billionaire rulers of Qatar are in Britain the owners of “The Shard”, “Harrods”, the Olympic Village, the American Embassy building in Grosvenor Square, part of Camden Market, half of “One Hyde Park” in Nightbridges (the most expensive block of flats in the world) and large real estate in Chelsea, and 8% of the London Stock Exchange… In total, they own more of London (as the media reports) than the British royal house,” says the line about Moza Nint Nase el Misned.
It is rich in natural resources (Qatar is the main exporter of oil), oil and natural gas (it is counted among the 3 largest countries according to the wealth of natural gas).
There is not a single permanent river in Qatar, except for temporary streams that fill up after heavy rains. There is a lack of fresh water bodies, as a result of which the inhabitants have to desalinate the sea water. That is why clean drinking water is more expensive than Coca-Cola. In December 2022, Qatar began the construction of the largest water reservoir in the world. Almost the entire area of Qatar is occupied by desert (the temperature during the summer can be +50 ⁰C).
The capital is Doha, where 99% of the population of Qatar live (9 out of 10 are residents of Doha). No foreigner can obtain Qatari citizenship. Qatar has 2.7 million inhabitants, of which 300,000 are Qatari citizens. The other 2.3 million are foreigners (mostly workers who do not have Qatari citizenship).
The official language of Qatar is Arabic (Arabs make up 40% of the population) although most of the inhabitants speak English. Many immigrants from India (18%), Pakistan (18%) and other countries of the world live in Qatar.
The population of Qatar used to be engaged in pearl hunting and camel breeding. El-Qatar was a series of villages (whose inhabitants engaged in fishing and poor agriculture).
Most of the foodstuffs used in Qatar are imported from other countries. However, Qatar has a specific cuisine. The most popular dishes in Qatar are falafel (is an ideal substitute for meat, i.e. seasoned balls of chickpeas and fava beans fried in deep oil, falafel is served in pita-bread and looks like a pocket knife), shawarma (the dish consists of different types of meat: lamb , chicken, turkey, beef, veal or a mixture of these types of meat. It is served on a plate with the usual toppings or wrapped in a soft type of dough, similar to a tortilla, pie crust or pancake, maiboos (a dish made of spices, rice and meat served on This is a national dish in all countries of the Middle East), Saloona ( is a chicken stew with spices that has Bedouin origins. It can be made from fish, beef and lamb), Kuzi ( is a rice and meat dish but one of the famous Iraqi national (The dish is served with very slow-cooked lamb, roasted walnuts and raisins over rice.) Alcoholic beverages are prohibited.
Today, Qatar ranks first in the world according to gross national income (according to the purchasing power of the inhabitants). The organization of the 2022 FIFA World Cup is only the culmination of efforts initiated by the discovery of gas reserves in the territorial waters of the Persian Peninsula. Exploitation intensified in the 90s in the 20th century. The growth of Qatar’s influence in the world begins with the discovery of natural gas reserves (the assumption is that the existing gas reserves can last for the next 200 years in Qatar).
Qatar had a leading position “according to the indicator of average national income per inhabitant (Forebs magazine published the rating in 2012). The average income for one resident is 88 US$ or more precisely 88,222 US$.
Qatar is an interesting country whose influence in the world exceeds its size. Qatar occupies an area of about 11,000 square kilometers
Qatar is also the second flattest country in the world, with the highest point only 103 meters above sea level (data from the National Geographic).