Located on the southern coastline of the Persian Gulf, Qatar has an area of 11,586 square kilometers. Its location amid the GCC states makes it a regional hub. To the south is Saudi Arabia, while to the West is the Bahrain Gulf. Towards the southeast of the peninsula is where you’ll find the “Khor Al Adaid” inner sea.
Qatar is 160 kilometers long and 80 kilometers broad. The country’s 563 kilometers of uninterrupted coastline allowed for centuries of prosperity from fishing and pearling before oil was discovered.
Except for a series of low-lying limestone outcroppings along the Western and Northwestern shores, the area is generally flat and rocky, covered with sand dunes.
It is easy to observe from a map or satellite picture of Qatar that the country has a varied topography that includes beaches, deserts, and plains. Municipalities, which are further subdivided into administrative divisions, dot the political map of the country. Al Khawr, Ad Dawhah, and Al Wakrah are three of the largest cities in Qatar.
Qatar has been continually populated, if sparingly, from prehistoric times and occupies a tiny desert peninsula that stretches north from the wider Arabian Peninsula. The area was dominated by the Islamic caliphate after the spread of Islam and then by a series of local and foreign dynasties before the Thani dynasty (al Thna’) took it in the nineteenth century.
Qatar’s foreign policy was dominated by the United Kingdom until its independence in 1971 because the Thani family wanted British sponsorship against other tribal groups and the Ottoman Empire, which colonized the nation in the late 19th and early years of 20th centuries. In the years that followed, the monarchy’s links to the West remained an essential part of its defense strategy.
There are a lot of foreign employees involved in oil and gas production in Qatar because the country possesses one of the world’s greatest reserves. The country’s oil wealth has allowed it to provide its citizens with modern conveniences and a robust welfare system.
The capital of Qatar, Doha
Doha (Al-Dawaah), on the country’s eastern coast, was formerly a major pearling hub and is now the country’s capital and largest metropolis. Doha’s attractive Corniche, or coastal boulevard, serves as a hub for the city’s sprawling collection of contemporary office buildings, commercial centers, and residential high-rises.
From hand-woven textiles to the ancient sport of falconry, many of Qatar’s traditions have their roots in the country’s nomadic history. The majority of the population, however, lives in metropolitan or coastal areas, the country has embraced contemporary conveniences, and its leaders have worked to expand individual rights. Qataris take pride in their tolerance for the cultures and beliefs of others, and the country has one of the freest journalistic environments in the area.
Climate, soils, flora, and fauna of Qatar
Temperatures in Qatar‘s summers can reach the high 40s and low 50s, while winters are warm and seldom dip below 7 degrees Celsius. The average annual rainfall is only 70 millimeters, and it often falls in short, intense bursts throughout the winter. There is hardly much vegetation.
Qatari soils are often calcareous and agriculturally unproductive, with just a trace amount of organic material. Sand dunes created by the wind are abundant, and the soil layer is thin and patchy over the underlying bedrock. Coastal areas and agricultural areas with inadequate irrigation control both have significant levels of soil salt.
Only in the north, where the country’s irrigated farming lands reside, can you find some sort of vegetation, and even then, only for a short time in the spring when the desert plants bloom. Qatar’s national animal, the Arabian oryx, is in danger. Thus, the government has instituted a protection campaign for this specific animal.
While the majority of the region is covered in arid deserts, there are pockets in the country where trees, reeds, and plants like tamarind, phragmites, and mace thrive. Most of these areas are found in the east, close to the sea.
The availability of water is the primary factor limiting plant development. Rawdas, which are enormous depressions on the top of the soil that assist in replenishing the aquifers, is one geographical feature that helps ease this water deficit. These locations are rich in natural flora because they are close to the most accessible sources of shallow groundwater.
Wadis (dry river valleys) and rawdas (dry river beds) provide areas of vegetation in the south, where groundwater is extremely rare, with water from adjacent hills.
The mammals of Qatar number at least 21 different species. The Arabian oryx and the Arabian gazelle, both of which are larger terrestrial mammals, are protected creatures that are kept in nature reserves. The Arabian gazelle, known as rheem in Qatari, is the only species of gazelle found naturally in the country.
The Persian Gulf seas that Qatar claims as its own are teeming with marine life. From Fuwayrit to Ras Laffan, sea turtles nest in huge numbers along the shoreline. Regular patrols of nesting locations are conducted by the Ministry of the Environment (MME) to ensure their preservation. Off the shores of the country, dugongs tend to gather.
Ethnic Groups & cultural aspects of Qatar
In 2019, there were around 15 percent Qataris out of a total population of 2,832,067 in Qatar.
Arab and Asian nations (including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines) provide a disproportionate share of the country’s foreign labor force. The majority of the world’s population now resides in metropolitan settings.
Even though English is widely used in business and among the ex-pat community, Arabic remains the official language of government and law in Qatar. Official forms, such as visa applications, must be filled out in Arabic.
While Islam is the state religion, ex-pat groups have brought other faiths to Qatar. 67.7 percent are Muslims, 13.8 percent are Hindus, 13.8 percent are Christians, 3.1 percent are Buddhists, 0.7 percent follow other religions, and 0.9 percent are not associated with any religion, according to statistics collected by the Pew Forum in 2010.
Agriculture and Fishing in Qatar
Despite the government’s efforts to modernize the fishing and agriculture industries through interest-free loans, food production still accounts for a negligible share of GDP.
Due to significant constraints on agriculture caused by a lack of fertile land and water, the majority of the food consumed in the nation must be imported.
However, with the use of desalinated water and treated sewage effluent for irrigation, Qatar has increased its output of dates, melons, tomatoes, squash, and eggplant, all of which it sells to neighboring Persian Gulf countries.
By the end of the twentieth century, farmers had started to ramp up their output of meat, cereal grains, and milk.
Fishing and pearling, formerly the backbones of Qatar’s economy, are now minor industries. Due in great part to Japan’s thriving cultured-pearl industry, traditional pearling has all but disappeared. The government supports a fishing fleet and has given commercial fishing and shrimp farming more attention since the late 1990s.
Conclusion
Qatar is one of the smallest nations in the world, with a population of over 2.6 million and a total geographical area of little over 11,586 km2. It borders the Persian Gulf to the north, east, and south and sits on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Bahrain, Oman, Iran, and Kuwait are just a few of the Middle Eastern nations that border Qatar.