Qatar - COUNTRY PROFILE
The emirate of Qatar is a small peninsula, jutting into the Gulf from the eastern side of Saudi Arabia, the country with which Qatar shares its only land border. The island kingdom of Bahrain lies to the north-west and relations between the two countries have improved considerably since the resolution of a land dispute over Hawar Island (the International Court of Justice ruled in Bahrain’s favour) in 2001. The UAE lies to the south-east, while Iran, another important neighbour, lies further to the north-east.
Traditionally poor and populated by nomadic peoples, the country’s economy, originally dominated by pearl-diving, was in ruins by the end of the 1930s when cultured- pearl production took off in Japan. In the 1940s, the discovery of oil marked a turn in Qatar’s fortunes and over time the country has taken advantage of its natural resources to emerge as one of the fastest developing economies in the world. Qatar was a British protectorate up until 1971.
POPULATION
According to the last census, conducted by the Planning Council in 2004, the total population of Qatar is 744,029. The census shows a 5.3% average annual increase in population between 1997 and 2004. Between 1986 and 1997 the average annual increase was only 3.7%. The rapid increase in population is due to the country’s strong economic performance, fuelling an influx to the country of contracting and services staff as well as expatriate professionals. According to some unofficial forecasts, the population may reach as high as 910,000 by 2006.
In recent years the country’s population has been roughly split with 25% native Qatari while 75% of the population are foreign guest workers. The majority of migrant workers come from South Asia, the Philippines and other Arab countries. The gender breakdown from the 2004 census shows that men represent 66.7% of the total population while women make up only 33.3%. The widening imbalance is due to the large number of male, expatriate workers entering the country.
GEOGRAPHY
The land is mostly lowlying, with Qurayn Abu al-Bawl, Qatar’s highest point, a mere 103 metres above sea level. Al a rge portion of the country is made up of dry and barren desert, with limestone outcrops in the west and north of the peninsula. Qatar is home to an “inland sea” in the south-east of the country, an internationally renowned geographic feature where a bay, almost cut off from the sea, is surrounded by towering sand dunes. The coastal areas consist mainly of salt flats. Less than 2% of the land is suitable for agriculture.
Qatar receives only limited rainfall, averaging around 75 mm annually, with long and humid summers, while the winters are mild. In summer, the daytime temperature can reach as high as 50°C (122°F).
According to the 2004 census, 46% of the county’s population lives in Doha, the capital city, but there are growing populations in the smaller coastal cities. Major towns include al-Wakrah, Umm Slal, al- Khor, Dukhan, al-Shamal and Mesaieed. Approximately 80 km north-east of Doha lies Halul Island, with an area of only 1.4 km, which contains a number of crude-oil storage tanks and pumping stations.
NATURAL RESOURCES
Qatar’s total oil exploration area is divided into 18 blocs, covering a total surface area of 46,840 sq km. Over the past few years, the country’s recoverable oil reserves have risen substantially with new discoveries. In 1997 oil reserves stood at only 3.7bn barrels. As of December 2005, Qatar had proven oil reserves of 27bn barrels. With average production at 779,000 barrels per day (bdp) in 2005, these proven reserves are expected to last around 100 years..
Qatar’s natural gas reserves are more substantial. The North gas field was discovered in 1971 and is currently the world’s largest known non-associated gas field. It spans over 6000 sq km and proven reserves are estimated at 900 trillion cu ft (tcf) – the equivalent of 162bn barrels of oil.
The majority of the country’s oil and gas resources are owned and operated by the state-owned company Qatar Petroleum (QP) in partnership with major international energy companies. Qatar’s oldest and largest oil field, Dukhan, is the only onshore oil field and is operated solely by QP. Offshore oil fields include Idd al-Shargi, al-Shaheen field and al-Khaleej field.
The country’s vast reserves of natural gas are exported in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Qatar is also developing several gas-to-liquids (GTL) ventures for the production of clean liquid fuels. The Oryx GTL plant began production in early 2006 and further projects are currently in the planning stages.
Asia, and in particular Japan, has traditionally constituted the major market for Qatar’s oil and gas exports but with the increasing global demand for natural gas, Europe is a growing market and so too will be the US. The US will see its first LNG shipments from Qatar in 2008 and the UK is expected to take in 20% of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas exports by 2010.
Agriculture makes up only a small fraction of Qatar’s GDP.
POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
The head of the State of Qatar is Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani. The right to rule is passed on within the Al Thani family, with the title inherited by the son appointed as heir apparent. Since coming to power in 1995, the Emir has introduced gradual reforms into the government until finally, on April 29, 2003, a new permanent constitution was overwhelmingly approved in a general referendum.
The constitution states that the country’s political system is democratic and that its religion is Islam, with sharia, or Islamic law, forming the basis of its legislation. The constitution came into force in June 2005, sanctioning parliamentary elections and abolishing the distinction between civil and religious courts.
The highest executive authority in the country is the Council of Ministers. Appointed by the Emir and accountable to him, the Council is headed by the prime minister and ratifies all laws and resolutions – although statutes do not come into force until decreed by the Emir himself.
Under the new constitution the A d v i s ory Council, already in existence since 1972, is to become open to elections in 2007, although 15 of its 45 members will still be appointed by the Emir. Once elected, the Advisory Council will hold legislative authority and be answerable to the executive, while judicial authority is exercised independently by the courts.
In 2003, Qatar appointed its first female cabinet minister. This was the first female minister appointed a member state of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), although others, such as the UAE with its minister of economy and planning, have since followed in its footsteps.
Qatar quickly became a member of OPEC and was a founding member of the GCC. The country is keen to build regional consensus, though its relationships with its neighbours have not always been easy. While territorial disputes have largely been settled, Qatar contributed to the Allied forces in the 1991 Gulf War and, more cont roversially, allowed the US to base its main Gulf-region command centre at as-Sayliyah in 2002, causing concern in the region when, in 2003, the base was used by the coalition forces during the war in Iraq.
LANGUAGE
English is widely spoken, while official literature is in modern standard Arabic and locals speak a mixed Gulf Arabic dialect. However, with such a sizeable expatriate population a large number of other languages are also spoken in Qatar. Expat workers speak a variety of languages including Hindi and Malayalam. English and Arabic are the most common language used to communicate across groups. While some officials and receptionists in government organisations may speak only limited English, most of those working in the business world and in the service industry are relatively fluent.
EDUCATION
Formal education began in Qatar in 1951 with the establishment of a primary school for boys. Today the government offers comprehensive, three-stage education. Many state schools are becoming independent schools – institutions that are government-funded but independently operated. Education is compulsory between the ages of six and 16 and 89% of the population is literate.
In recent years Qatar has made significant investment in education. The Supreme Education Council was established in 2002 with the aim of designing and implementing the country’s educational policy, while the Ministry of Education still carries out inspections and provides a number of services to schools.
Qatar University was established in 1973 and offers a wide range of academic disciplines, which include engineering, social sciences, humanities, and sharia and Islamic studies. It remains gender segregated, with male and female students attending two separate campuses.
College of the North Atlantic-Qatar opened in 2002, offering training courses tailored to meet the needs of local industries and the public sector.
More recently, Education City has been established on a 2500-acre campus outside of Doha by the Qatar Foundation. This project has brought a number of campuses of foreign universities to the state. These new institutions offer the same standard of education and award the same accredited degrees as they do at their main campuses.
