Overview
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia located on the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East. It shares its sole land border with Saudi Arabia to the south, while the rest of its territory is surrounded by the Persian Gulf. The Gulf of Bahrain, an inlet of the Persian Gulf, separates Qatar from nearby Bahrain. Most of the land area consists of flat, low-lying desert.
Geography and Capital
Doha is the capital of Qatar and is home to over 80% of the country's inhabitants, making it the dominant urban center in the nation.
Government and Politics
Qatar has been ruled as a hereditary monarchy by the House of Thani since Mohammed bin Thani signed an agreement with Britain in 1868, which officially recognized its separate status. Following Ottoman rule, Qatar became a British protectorate in 1916 and gained independence in 1971.
The current emir is Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who holds nearly all executive, legislative, and judicial authority in an autocratic manner under the Constitution of Qatar. The emir appoints the prime minister and cabinet. The Shura Council, also known as the "Consultative Assembly," has a limited ability to block legislation and dismiss ministers but is fully appointed by the emir, who retains final authority. While Qatar held a partial Shura Council election in 2021 with two-thirds of seats elected, in 2024 it moved to abolish those elections and reverted to a fully appointed Council.
Population and Religion
As of June 21, 2026, Qatar's population was 3,180,059, although 3.02 million are foreign expatriates and migrant workers. Islam is the country's official religion.
Economy
Qatar has the fourth-highest GDP (PPP) per capita in the world and the eleventh-highest GNI per capita (Atlas method). It ranks 42nd in the Human Development Index, the third-highest HDI in the Arab world. The country is classified as a high-income economy, backed by the world's third-largest natural gas reserves and significant oil reserves. Qatar is one of the world's largest exporters of liquefied natural gas and the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide per capita.
International Role
In the 21st century, Qatar emerged as both a non-NATO ally of the United States and a middle power in the Arab world. Its economy has grown rapidly due to its resource wealth, and its geopolitical power has risen through its media group, Al Jazeera Media Network. Qatar also forms part of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Etymology
The name "Qatar" has a complex linguistic history. Pliny the Elder, a Roman writer, documented the earliest account of the peninsula's inhabitants around the mid-first century AD, referring to them as the Catharrei. A century later, Ptolemy produced the first known map depicting the peninsula, calling it Catara. The term "Catara" was used exclusively until the 18th century, when "Katara" emerged as the most common spelling. After several variations—"Katr," "Kattar," and "Guttur"—the modern name Qatar was adopted.
According to classical linguistic accounts, the term "Qatar" may derive from muqāṭarah, an informal transaction in which goods were purchased in sealed containers without measuring or weighing the contents for a fixed price. This practice, also called jazāf, was reportedly widespread in Qatar's markets. Another explanation connects the name to qiṭār, meaning camel train, possibly referring to Qatar's role in historical trade routes.
History
Prehistory and Early Settlement
Human habitation in Qatar dates back 50,000 years. Settlements and tools from the Stone Age have been unearthed in the peninsula. Mesopotamian artifacts from the Ubaid period (c. 6500–3800 BC) have been discovered in abandoned coastal settlements. Al Da'asa, a settlement on the western coast, is the most important Ubaid site in the country and is believed to have accommodated a small seasonal encampment.
Antiquity
Kassite Babylonian material dating to the second millennium BC found on the Al Khor Islands attests to trade relations between Qatar's inhabitants and the Kassites in modern-day Bahrain. Qatar is believed to be the earliest known site of shellfish dye production, owing to a Kassite purple dye industry that existed on the coast.
In AD 224, the Sasanian Empire gained control over territories surrounding the Persian Gulf. Qatar played a role in Sasanid commercial activity, contributing precious pearls and purple dye. Under Sasanid rule, many inhabitants of eastern Arabia were introduced to Christianity following the religion's eastward dispersal by Mesopotamian Christians. Monasteries and settlements were constructed during this era. During the latter part of the Christian era, Qatar comprised a region known as 'Beth Qatraye' (Syriac for "house of the Qataris"), which also included Bahrain, Tarout Island, Al-Khatt, and Al-Hasa.
In 628, the Islamic prophet Muhammad sent a Muslim envoy to Munzir ibn Sawa Al-Tamimi, a ruler in eastern Arabia, requesting that he and his subjects accept Islam. Munzir agreed, and most Arab tribes in the region converted to Islam. In the middle of the century, the Muslim conquest of Persia resulted in the fall of the Sasanian Empire.
Early and Late Islamic Period (661–1783)
Qatar was described as a famous horse and camel breeding center during the Umayyad period. In the 8th century, it benefited from its strategically commercial position in the Persian Gulf and became a center of pearl trading.
Substantial development in the pearling industry occurred during the Abbasid period. Ships voyaging from Basra to India and China made stops in Qatar's ports. Chinese porcelain, West African coins, and artifacts from Thailand have been discovered in Qatar. Archaeological remains from the 9th century suggest that Qatar's inhabitants used greater wealth to construct higher-quality homes and public buildings. Over 100 stone-built houses, two mosques, and an Abbasid fort were constructed in Murwab during this period.
Qatar is mentioned in 13th-century Muslim scholar Yaqut al-Hamawi's book, Mu'jam Al-Buldan, which alludes to the Qataris' fine striped woven cloaks and their skills in improvement and finishing of spears. Much of eastern Arabia was controlled by the Usfurids in 1253, but control of the region was seized by the prince of Ormus in 1320, with Qatar's pearls providing the kingdom one of its main sources of income.
Portuguese Era (1507–1650)
In 1515, Manuel I of Portugal vassalised the Kingdom of Ormus. Portugal went on to seize a significant portion of eastern Arabia in 1521. After the fall of the Jabrid Dynasty with the Portuguese conquest of Bahrain, the Arabian coast up to Al Hassa came under Portuguese rule and influence. The first representation of Qatar appears on a Portuguese map by Luis Lázaro in 1563, showing the "city of Qatar" as a fortress, possibly referring to the fort of Ruwayda. The Ottomans, who had retained only a negligible military presence in the area, were expelled by the Bani Khalid tribe and their emirate in 1670.
Bahraini and Saudi Rule (1783–1868)
In 1766, members of the Al Khalifa family of the Utub tribal confederation migrated from Kuwait to Zubarah in Qatar. In 1783, Qatar-based Bani Utbah clans and allied Arab tribes invaded and annexed Bahrain from the Persians. The Al Khalifa imposed their authority over Bahrain and retained control of the region.