State of Qatar
City of Doha

Qatar (Arabic: قطر ), officially the State of Qatar (Arabic: دولة قطر transliterated as Dawlat Qatar), is an emirate in the Middle East and Western Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south; otherwise the Persian Gulf surrounds the state.

Qatar is divided into ten municipalities (Arabic: baladiyah), also occasionally translated as governorates or provinces: Ad Dawhah, Al Ghuwariyah, Al Jumaliyah, Al Khawr, Al Wakrah, Ar Rayyan, Jariyan al Batnah, Ash Shamal, Umm Salal, Mesaieed

The Qatari peninsula juts 100 miles (160 km) into the Persian Gulf from Saudi Arabia and is slightly smaller than Connecticut. Much of the country consists of a low, barren plain, covered with sand. To the southeast lies the spectacular Khor al Adaid ("Inland Sea"), an area of rolling sand dunes surrounding an inlet of the Gulf.

Nearly all Qataris profess Islam. Besides ethnic Arabs, much of the population migrated from various nations to work in the country's oil industry. Arabic serves as the official language. However English as well as many other languages are spoken in Qatar.

Expatriates form the majority of Qatar's residents. The petrochemical industry has attracted people from all around the world. Most of the expatriates come from South Asia and from non-oil-rich Arab nations. Because a large percentage of the expatriates are male, Qatar has the most heavily skewed sex ratio in the world, with 1.88 males per female

Before the discovery of oil the economy of the Qatari region focused on fishing and pearling. After the introduction of the Japanese cultured pearl onto the world market in the 1920s and 1930s, Qatar's pearling industry faltered. However, the discovery of oil reserves, beginning in the 1940s, 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.

The cities and towns in Qatar include Doha, the capital, Al Wakrah, second city, Al Khor, Al Khuwayr, Ar Rayyan, Ar Ru'ays, Dukhan, Ras Laffan, Umm Bab, Umm Sa'id, Umm Salal 'Ali, Umm Salal Muhammad. Over 90 percent of Qatari citizens live in Doha, the capital.

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What News is making headlines in the State of Qatar and Doha City?
AME Info | Qatar | Latest News

Qatar's Al Ahli Bank jumps 10%

Qatar: Doha's Qatar Exchange closed 1.04% higher at 6,474.16 points ahead of the weekend. Trading remained extremely flat with just 7m shares changing hands. Shares of Al Ahli Bank gained 10%, closing at QR47.30. Most banks and insurers posted gains, while a handful industry shares lost value. [AMEInfo.com]

Nakilat takes delivery of Q-Flex carrier

Qatar: Qatar's Nakilat has taken delivery of 'Al Kharaitiyat', a Q-Flex carrier, which was built at the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea. The new carrier will be used to ship LNG produced by Qatargas 3, to markets primarily in the US. Qatargas 3 shareholders are Qatar Petroleum, ConocoPhillips and Mitsui & Company. [AMEInfo.com]

Six Senses Spa offers new summer promotion

Qatar: Six Senses Spa Doha has released a summer promotion for those wanting to keep in shape over the coming months. [AMEInfo.com]

Meeza opens new Command and Control Centre (C3) in Doha

Qatar: Meeza today announced the opening of its new Command and Control Centre (C3) in Doha. <BR> <BR> [AMEInfo.com]

Porsche to offer Qatar VW options

Qatar: Porsche Automobil Holding SE might sell the majority of its options on Volkswagen AG shares to Qatar and divest a smaller stake in itself, Dow Jones Newswires has reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. If successful, Porsche's balance sheet could see a capital increase of around 5bn and additional financial support from Qatar through a credit or guarantees. [AMEInfo.com]

Air Products' new AP-X LNG technology placed on-stream at world's largest LNG process train in Qatar

Qatar: Air Products, a global leader in liquefied natural gas (LNG) technology, announced that its new AP-X liquefaction process technology, which increases single train LNG production capacity over the current generation of LNG process trains by approximately 50%, was successfully placed on-stream at the Qatargas 2 Train 4 expansion project. [AMEInfo.com]

Qatar takes over Polish shipyards

Qatar: The Polish Treasury Minister Aleksander Grad has named QInvest, Qatar's largest investment bank, as the buyer of two state-owned shipyards which had faced bankruptcy amid a long-running row with the European Union over illegal state aid. The Qatar Islamic Bank will guarantee the transaction, he said. Grad has also said that a new company called Polskie Stocznie will now be set up to run the operations of the two shipyards together. [AMEInfo.com]

1Cast to offet Al Jazeera video clips on game-changing TV news site

Qatar: 1Cast, the revolutionary broadcast platform that delivers up-to-the-minute news video to subscribers' smartphones and the web, today announced that Al Jazeera English, the first English-speaking global news channel headquartered in the Middle East, is now available via the 1Cast service. [AMEInfo.com]

Nakilat, Qatargas announce delivery of LNG carrier 'Al Kharaitiyat'

Qatar: Today another of the worlds largest and most advanced Q-Flex LNG carriers was delivered to Nakilat and chartered on long term contract to Qatargas Liquefied Gas Company Limited (3), known as Qatargas 3, at Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., shipyard in Ulsan. [AMEInfo.com]

Barwa Media launches two world-wide advertising campaigns targeting millions of people in the UK

Qatar: Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company (Qatari Diar), one of the leading corporation in the State of Qatar, have chosen Barwa Media to unveil a major international advertising campaign which aims to raise their profile among elite United Kingdom residents and tourists. <BR> [AMEInfo.com]