Qatar Overview

In the last half century, Qatar has developed from a small and rather poor country, where pearl fishing was the predominant occupation, to one of the richest Gulf states, largely due to the development of its abundant oil and gas resources. The country, by and large, is an expanse of sand dunes and salt flats, although the now-vibrant city of Doha presents an interesting mix of traditional Arabic and striking modern architecture. The multiple domes of the city’s Grand Mosque and the Abu Bakir al-Siddiq Mosque are particularly noteworthy. In the north of the country, where most of the historic sites are found, Umm Salal Mohammed features the ruins of a 19th-century fort. Qatar’s second-largest city is Al Khor which has developed around a natural, shallow harbour.

The country is surrounded on three sides by the Arabian Gulf. On the west coast, lovely beaches can be found at Umm Bab, also known as ‘Palm Tree Beach’ and at Dukhan and Salwah near the border with Saudi Arabia. In the south of the country, sand dunes and beaches predominate and it’s possible to arrange pearl hunting expeditions and also to enjoy various water sports. Entertainment in public places is quite limited and live entertainment in particular occurs infrequently. The country opened up to tourism in 1989, issuing its first tourist visas that year, with numbers of visitors growing steadily since that time.

The weather doesn’t change much in Qatar. Every day is sunny and hot and rain is a very rare occurrence, happening in the winter only (although the average annual precipitation is only three inches). Summers are exceptionally hot with temperatures rising to 40°C and above on a regular basis. During the winter, temperatures in the daytime are slightly cooler but drop considerably at night time. The best time to visit is from November to March, when temperatures are the most reasonable. You’ll find that the humidity, however, is very high along the coast during this period. From July through September it’s uncomfortably hot, even if the humidity is a bit lower. Also, from March until August, the country experiences a dust-laden wind, called the shamal.

The families that rule the states bordering the northern part of the Arabian Gulf today are descendants of 18th and early 19th century migrants from the central Arabian Peninsula. The Al-Khalifas (who currently govern Bahrain) established a settlement on the small peninsula that is modern-day Qatar. Although the Al-Khalifas had signed a treaty with the British in 1868, Qatar was nevertheless absorbed into the Turkish Ottoman Empire in 1872.

During WWI, the Ottoman Empire collapsed and Qatar once again came under the British domain. In exchange for control of Qatar’s external dealings as set out under earlier treaties, the British supported the internal rule of the Al-Thanis and provided them with military protection. By 1968 British troops had left the Gulf as part of the ‘East of Suez’ withdrawal plan. Qatar’s plan to enhance its security by forming federations with Bahrain and the Trucial States (now the UAE) were unsuccessful, but in 1971 Qatar became a fully-independent state, under the rule of Sheikh Ahmad.

Almost immediately following independence, rivalries within the ruling family resulted in a coup by the chief minister, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Hamad Al-Thani. Under his regime, Qatar has managed the development of its oil resources to develop a financially strong and modern infrastructure, as well as successfully enhancing the health and education services available to it citizens. The country has maintained a close alliance with Saudi Arabia on issues involving the Gulf region and international affairs.

In the Iran-Iraq war, Qatar played a rather low-key role, mostly on the side of Iraq, but was an active member of the multinational alliance involved in liberating Kuwait in 1990. Early in the 1990s, Qatar demonstrated a number of independent positions in its conduct of foreign policy, such as the strengthening of commercial relations with Israel and also welcoming American strategic objectives in the region. At the same time however, Qatar was one of the few governments maintaining relations with the Taleban regime in Afghanistan. Later in the 1990s, Qatar became involved in territorial disputes with Bahrain, over the oil-rich Hawar islands and with Saudi Arabia over the location of the border between the two countries.

In 1995, a dispute in the ruling family erupted once again and the Emir was deposed by his son, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani in a bloodless coup. Sheikh Hamad began, at that time, a gradual process of democratisation, appointing the first woman to a ministerial post and holding municipal elections for the first time in 1999. His efforts continued and in 2003, the Emir’s plan to form a national parliament was backed by a national referendum. However, it seems that there are some limits to the democratisation, in that he has appointed his son to be his successor, indicating that the Al-Thanis’ control over the country will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

With the assistance of international mediators, territorial disputes with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were settled in 2001. These were, in fact, relatively minor matters when compared to the decision made in late 2002 to allow the US to locate their regional command centre at Sayliyah and also to expand their airbase at al-Udeid. This relocation was done to help relieve the regional pressure that was being felt by Saudi Arabia. Since 2002, Qatar has actually played a vital role in the US campaigns against terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq.