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==Western Front==
The '''State of Qatar''' (قطر) is an [[emirate]] in the [[Middle East]]. Situated on a small [[peninsula]] off the larger [[Arabian Peninsula]], it borders [[Saudi Arabia]] to the south and is otherwise surrounded by the [[Persian Gulf]].
[[Battle of Liège]]
The pronunciation of ''Qatar'' in [[English language|English]] varies; see [[List of words of disputed pronunciation]].
{| border=1 align=right cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=300 style="margin: 0 0 1em 1em; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;"
|+<big><big>'''دولة قطر<br>Dawlat Qatar''' </big></big>
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" align="center" colspan="2" |
{| border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
| align="center" colspan=2 | [[Image:Flag of Qatar.png|125px|]]
|-
| align="center" colspan=2 | [[Flag of Qatar]]
|}
|-
| align=center style="vertical-align: top;" colspan=2 | <small>''[[National motto]]: n/a''</small>
|-
| align=center colspan=2 style="background: #ffffff;" | [[image:LocationQatar.png]]
|-
| '''[[Official language]]'''
| [[Arabic language|Arabic]]
|-
| '''[[Capital]]'''
| [[Doha]]
|-
| '''[[List of emirs of Qatar|Emir]]'''
| Sheikh [[Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani]]
|-
| '''[[List of prime ministers of Qatar|Prime Minister]]'''
| Sheikh [[Abdallah ibn Khalifah Al Thani]]
|-
| '''[[Area]]'''<br> - Total <br> - percent water
| [[List of countries by area|Ranked 162nd]] <br> 10,360 [[square kilometre|km²]] <br> Negligible
|-
| '''[[Population]]'''<br> - Total (July 2003) <br> - [[Population density|Density]]
| [[List of countries by population|Ranked 154th]] <br> 817,052 <br> 79/km²
|-
| '''[[Independence]]'''<br> - Recognised
| <br>[[September 3]], [[1971]]
|-
| '''[[Currency]]'''
| [[Qatari Riyal]] (QR) = 100 [[dirham]]s
|-
| '''[[Time zone]]'''
| [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]] +3
|-
| '''[[National anthem]]'''
| ''[[As Salam al Amiri]]''
|-
| '''[[Top-level ___domain|Internet TLD]]'''
| [[.qa]]
|-
| '''[[List of country calling codes|Calling Code]]'''
| 974
|}
== History ==
''Main article: [[History of Qatar]]''
[[Battle of the Frontiers]]
Qatar is one of many new [[emirate]]s in the [[Arabian Peninsula]]. After being dominated by [[Persian]]s for thousands of years and recently by [[Bahrain]], the [[Ottoman Turks]], and the [[United Kingdom|British]], Qatar became an independent state on [[September 3]] [[1971]]. Unlike most neighbouring emirates, Qatar declined to become part of either the [[United Arab Emirates]] or [[Saudi Arabia]].
[[First Battle of the Marne]]
Although the peninsular land mass that makes up Qatar has sustained human development for thousands of yeas, for the bulk of its history the arid climate fostered only short-term settlements by nomadic tribes. Bearing tribal monikers such as the Al Khalifa and the Al Said that would later descend upon the thrones of [[Bahrain]] and [[Saudi Arabia]] respectively, these clans swept through the Arabian peninsula and camped on the coasts within small fishing and pearling villages. The clans battled each other for lucrative oyster beds and lands, frequently forming and breaking coalitions with one another in efforts for territorial supremacy.
[[Siege of Antwerp]]
The British initially sought out Qatar and the Persian Gulf as an intermediary vantage point for their colonial interests in [[India]], although the discovery of oil and hydrocarbon some hundred years later would reinvigorate their interest. During the 1800s, the time of Britain’s formative ventures into the region, the [[Al Khalifa]] clan reigned over the Qatari peninsula from the off-shore island of [[Bahrain]]. Although Qatar was legally a dependency, resentment festered against the Bahraini Al Khalifas along the eastern seaboard in the fishing villages of Doha and Wakrah. In 1867 the Al Khalifas launched a successful effort to quash the Qatari rebels by sending a massive naval force to Wakrah. Bahraini aggression however violated an 1820 Anglo-Bahraini Treaty and the diplomatic response of the British Protectorate set into motion the political forces that would eventuate into the state of Qatar. In addition to censuring Bahrain for its breach of agreement, the British Protectorate [[Colonel Lewis Pelly]] asked to negotiate with an actor from Qatar. The request carried with it a tacit recognition of Qatar’s status as distinct from Bahrain. The man chosen to negotiate with Colonel Pelly was a respected entrepreneur and long-time resident of [[Doha]], Muhammed bin Thani. Muhammed’s clan, the Al Thanis, had been relatively inactive in Gulf politics but the diplomatic foray ensured future participation and dominion as the ruling family, a dynasty that continues to this day. The negotiation results left Qatar with a newfound sense of political self although it did not gain official standing as a [[British Protectorate]] until 1916.
[[First Battle of Arras]]
The [[Second World War]] dampened Great Britain’s old aspirations of a global Empire, especially when India embraced independence in 1947. Momentum for a similar withdrawal from the Gulf emirates increased during the 1950s and the British welcomed [[Kuwait’s]] declaration of autonomy in 1961. Seven years later when the British Protectorate officially announced that it would disengage (politically, not economically) from the Gulf in three years, 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]]. Thus 1971 marked the inauguration of Qatar as an independent sovereign state.
[[First Battle of Ypres]]
[[As of 2005]], Qatar is ruled by Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, who seized control of the country from his father Khalifa in 1995 while the old Emir was on vacation in Switzerland. Under Emir Hamad Qatar has experienced a notable amount of sociopolitical liberalisation, including the enfranchisement of women, a new constitution and the creation of [[Al Jazeera]], the controversial [[Arabic language|Arabic]] [[satellite television]] news channel.
[[First Battle of Champagne]]
== Economy ==
''Main article: [[Economy of Qatar]]''
Before the discovery of oil Qatar was a [[fishing]] and [[pearling]] region. After the introduction of the Japanese cultured pearl onto the world market in the 1920s and 1930s, Qatar's pearling industry faltered. It was the discovery of oil, beginning in the [[1940s]], that 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.
[[Second Battle of Ypres]]
Qatar's national income is primarily derived from [[oil]] and [[natural gas]] exports. The country's [[oil reserves]] are estimated to be 15 billion barrels (2.4 km³). Qataris' [[wealth]] and [[standard of living]] are comparable to those of [[Western Europe]]an nations. Qatar has the highest [[Gross domestic product|GDP]] per capita in the developing world. ($39,607 as of [[2005]])
[[Battle of Verdun]] or [[Siege of Verdun]]
[[Image:Qa-map.PNG|right|thumbnail|Map of Qatar]]
[[Battle of the Somme]]
== Geography ==
''Main article: [[Geography of Qatar]]''
[[Battle of Cantigny]]
The Qatari [[peninsula]] juts 160 km (100 miles) into the [[Persian Gulf]] from [[Saudi Arabia]]. Much of the country is a low, barren plain, covered with sand. To the southeast is the spectacular Khor al Adaid or 'Inland Sea', an area of rolling sand dunes surrounding an inlet of the Gulf.
[[Battle of Cambrai]]
The highest point in Qatar is found 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 90m [[Above mean sea level|ASL]]. This area also contains Qatar's main onshore oil deposits, while the natural gas fields are offshore, to the northwest of the peninsula.
[[Second Battle of the Marne]]
== Demographics ==
''Main article: [[Demographics of Qatar]]''
[[Third Battle of Ypres]]
Nearly all Qataris are [[Muslim]]. Besides ethnic [[Arab]]s, much of the population migrated from various nations to work in the country's oil industry. [[Arabic]] is the official language, but [[English language|English]] is widely understood.
[[Meuse-Argonne Offensive]]
== Culture ==
''Main article: [[Culture of Qatar]]''
Qatar is governed explicitly under [[Wahhabi]] law and the vast majority of its citizens follow this specific Islamic doctrine. [[Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab]] was the founder of Wahhabism, a puritanical version of Islam which takes a literal interpretation of the Koran and Sunna. In the 18th century Abd Al-Wahhab forged authority with the Saudi Arabian al-Saud family and purged the "idolatrous" practices of Sufis and Shiite from the kingdom.
Wahhabi Islam was imported from [[Saudi Arabia]] to Qatar in the early 20th century when the Al-Thanis realized that converting to the doctrine of their larger neighbor might bode well for regime survival. Perhaps as an effect of the importation, Wahhabism is not as strictly enforced in Qatar as in Saudi Arabia though it still governs a large portion of Qatari mores and rituals. For example, almost all Qatari women wear the black [[abaya]] also donned in [[Saudi Arabia]] however the style is not ubitiquously imposed on foreigners.
*[[Music of Qatar]]
== Miscellaneous topics ==
* [[Communications in Qatar]]
* [[Transportation in Qatar]]
* [[Military of Qatar]]
* [[Foreign relations of Qatar]]
* [[List of cities in Qatar]]
* [[Public holidays in Qatar]]
* [[Al Jazeera]] television broadcaster
== External links ==
*[http://english.mofa.gov.qa/ Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
*[http://www.education.gov.qa/ Qatar Education Reform Initiative, Supreme Education Council (Arabic)] [http://www.english.education.gov.qa/ (English)]
*[http://www.al-bab.com/arab/countries/qatar.htm Arab Gateway - ''Qatar'']
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/791921.stm BBC Country Profile - ''Qatar'']
*[http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/qa.html CIA World Factbook - ''Qatar'']
*[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/qatoc.html Library of Congress Country Studies - ''Qatar''] data as of December 1993
*[http://search.looksmart.com/p/browse/us1/us317916/us559898/us560105/us560119/ LookSmart - ''Qatar''] directory category
*[http://dmoz.org/Regional/Middle_East/Qatar/ Open Directory Project - ''Qatar''] directory category
*[http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/Qatar/ Yahoo! - ''Qatar''] directory category
*[http://www.thedohadebates.com/ The Doha Debates]
*[http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage/ Al Jazeera English Homepage]
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{{Middle_East}}
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[[Category:Arab League]]
[[Category:Arabia]]
[[Category:Middle Eastern countries]]
[[Category:Monarchies]]
[[Category:Peninsulas]]
[[Category:Persian Gulf states]]
[[Category:Qatar|*]]
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