Qatar - Tourism and Travel

The state of Qatar in southwest Asia is located on a peninsula that extends from east-central Saudi Arabia northward toward the Persian Gulf.

Qatar has a total area of 4,416 square miles (11,437 square kilometers). It is flat and barren, covered in salt pans and sand dunes.

The climate of Qatar is hot and mostly dry.

There are 1,409,000 people in Qatar, most of whom live in or near Doha, the capital.

Two fifths of the people of Qatar are Arabs.

There are also Indians, Pakistanis, Iranians and members of other ethnic groups.

A large proportion of the population consists of foreign nationals.

The official language of Qatar is Arabic.

95% of the population is Muslim - primarily Sunni Muslim.

After oil was discovered in the Persian Gulf in the 1930s, surrounding states such as Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar became very wealthy.

Qatar's economy is mainly based on the production of oil and natural gas, and on oil refining.

Overseas investment also contributes to the country's income.

The government of Qatar is a monarchy.

The official unit of currency of Qatar is the Qatari riyal, which is equal to 100 dirhams.