Qatar (2002) | World (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 9 municipalities (baladiyat, singular - baladiyah); Ad Dawhah, Al Ghuwayriyah, Al Jumayliyah, Al Khawr, Al Wakrah, Ar Rayyan, Jarayan al Batinah, Madinat ash Shamal, Umm Salal | 267 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 25.2% (male 102,110; female 98,053)
15-64 years: 72.1% (male 403,508; female 168,428) 65 years and over: 2.7% (male 15,299; female 5,943) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years:
29.6% (male 933,647,850; female 886,681,514) 15-64 years: 63.4% (male 1,975,418,386; female 1,931,021,694) 65 years and over: 7% (male 188,760,223; female 241,449,691) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | fruits, vegetables; poultry, dairy products, beef; fish | - |
Airports | 4 (2001) | - |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
over 3,047 m: 2 (2002) |
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Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
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Area | total: 11,437 sq km
land: 11,437 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total:
510.072 million sq km land: 148.94 million sq km water: 361.132 million sq km note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Connecticut | land area about 16 times the size of the US |
Background | Ruled by the Al Thani family since the mid-1800s, Qatar transformed itself from a poor British protectorate noted mainly for pearling into an independent state with significant oil and natural gas revenues. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Qatari economy was crippled by a continuous siphoning off of petroleum revenues by the amir who had ruled the country since 1972. He was overthrown by his son, the current Amir HAMAD bin Khalifa Al Thani, in a bloodless coup in 1995. In 2001, Qatar resolved its longstanding border disputes with both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Oil and natural gas revenues enable Qatar to have a per capita income not far below the leading industrial countries of Western Europe. | Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the drop in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). |
Birth rate | 15.78 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 21.37 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $5 billion
expenditures: $4.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $900 million (FY01/02 est. ) |
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Capital | Doha | - |
Climate | arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers | two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates |
Coastline | 563 km | 356,000 km |
Constitution | provisional constitution enacted 19 April 1972; in July 1999 Amir HAMAD issued a decree forming a committee to draft a permanent constitution | - |
Country name | conventional long form: State of Qatar
conventional short form: Qatar local long form: Dawlat Qatar local short form: Qatar note: closest approximation of the native pronunciation falls between cutter and gutter, but not like guitar |
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Currency | Qatari rial (QAR) | - |
Death rate | 4.34 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 8.93 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $13.1 billion (2000 est.) | $2 trillion for less developed countries (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Maureen E. QUINN
embassy: Al-Luqtas District, 22 February Road, Doha mailing address: P. O. Box 2399, Doha telephone: [974] 488 4101 FAX: [974] 488 4298 |
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Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Badr Umar al-DAFA
chancery: 4200 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016 telephone: [1] (202) 274-1600 FAX: [1] (202) 237-0061 consulate(s) general: Houston |
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Disputes - international | none | - |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA | traditional worldwide foreign aid $50 billion (1997 est.) |
Economy - overview | Oil accounts for more than 30% of GDP, roughly 80% of export earnings, and 58% of government revenues. Proved oil reserves of 3.7 billion barrels should ensure continued output at current levels for 23 years. Oil has given Qatar a per capita GDP comparable to that of the leading West European industrial countries. Qatar's proved reserves of natural gas exceed 7 trillion cubic meters, more than 5% of the world total, third largest in the world. Production and export of natural gas are becoming increasingly important. Long-term goals feature the development of offshore natural gas reserves. In 2000, Qatar posted its highest ever trade surplus of $7 billion, due mainly to high oil prices and increased natural gas exports, and managed to maintain the surplus in 2001. | Growth in global output (gross world product, GWP) rose to 4.8% in 2000 from 3.5% in 1999, despite continued low growth in Japan, severe financial difficulties in other East Asian countries, and widespread dislocations in several transition economies. The US economy continued its remarkable sustained prosperity, growing at 5% in 2000, although growth slowed in fourth quarter 2000; the US accounted for 23% of GWP. The EU economies grew at 3.3% and produced 20% of GWP. China, the second largest economy in the world, continued its strong growth and accounted for 10% of GWP. Japan grew at only 1.3% in 2000; its share in GWP is 7%. As usual, the 15 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations experienced widely different rates of growth. The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that eat up gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, and in Canada. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. Continued financial difficulties in East Asia, Russia, and many African nations, as well as the slowdown in US economic growth, cast a shadow over short-term global economic prospects; GWP probably will grow at 3-4% in 2001. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses serious economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. (For specific economic developments in each country of the world in 2000, see the individual country entries.) |
Electricity - consumption | 8.556 billion kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - production | 9.2 billion kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
fossil fuel:
NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m
highest point: Qurayn Abu al Bawl 103 m |
lowest point:
Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
Environment - current issues | limited natural fresh water resources are increasing dependence on large-scale desalination facilities | large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
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Ethnic groups | Arab 40%, Pakistani 18%, Indian 18%, Iranian 10%, other 14% | - |
Exchange rates | Qatari rials per US dollar - 3.6400 (fixed rate) | - |
Executive branch | chief of state: Amir HAMAD bin Khalifa Al Thani (since 27 June 1995 when, as crown prince, he ousted his father, Amir KHALIFA bin Hamad Al Thani, in a bloodless coup); Crown Prince JASSIM bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, third son of the monarch (selected crown prince by the monarch 22 October 1996); note - Amir HAMAD also holds the positions of minister of defense and commander-in-chief of the armed forces
head of government: Prime Minister ABDALLAH bin Khalifa Al Thani, brother of the monarch (since 30 October 1996); Deputy Prime Minister MUHAMMAD bin Khalifa Al Thani, brother of the monarch (since 20 January 1998) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary note: in March 1999, Qatar held nationwide elections for a 29-member Central Municipal Council, which has consultative powers aimed at improving the provision of municipal services |
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Exports | $11 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) | $6 trillion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | petroleum products 80%, fertilizers, steel | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Exports - partners | Japan 43%, Singapore 8%, South Korea 6%, US 4%, UAE 2% (1999) | in value, about 75% of exports from the developed countries |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | - |
Flag description | maroon with a broad white serrated band (nine white points) on the hoist side | - |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $16.3 billion (2001 est.) | GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $43.6 trillion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 1%
industry: 49% services: 50% (1996 est.) |
agriculture:
4% industry: 32% services: 64% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $21,200 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,200 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 5.6% (2001 est.) | 4.8% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 25 30 N, 51 15 E | - |
Geography - note | strategic location in central Persian Gulf near major petroleum deposits | - |
Heliports | 1 (2002) | - |
Highways | total: 1,230 km
paved: 1,107 km unpaved: 123 km (1996) |
total:
NA km paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $3.5 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.) | $6 trillion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, food, chemicals | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Imports - partners | UK 10%, Japan 8%, Germany 6%, Italy 6%, US 6% (1998) | in value, about 75% of imports by the developed countries |
Independence | 3 September 1971 (from UK) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 6% (2000 est.) |
Industries | crude oil production and refining, fertilizers, petrochemicals, steel reinforcing bars, cement | dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems |
Infant mortality rate | 20.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | 52.61 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2% (2001) | all countries 25%; developed countries 1% to 3% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically (2000 est.)
note: national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from stable prices in Japan to hyperinflation in a number of Third World countries |
International organization participation | ABEDA, AFESD, AL, AMF, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, GCC, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDB, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | - |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 10,350 (2000 est.) |
Irrigated land | 130 sq km (1998 est.) | 2,481,250 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal | - |
Labor force | 280,122 (1997 est.) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | - | agricultue NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | total: 60 km
border countries: Saudi Arabia 60 km |
the land boundaries in the world total 251,480.24 km (not counting shared boundaries twice) |
Land use | arable land: 1.27%
permanent crops: 0.27% other: 98.46% (1998 est.) |
arable land:
10% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 26% forests and woodland: 32% other: 31% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Arabic (official), English commonly used as a second language | - |
Legal system | discretionary system of law controlled by the amir, although civil codes are being implemented; Islamic law dominates family and personal matters | all members of the UN plus Switzerland are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court |
Legislative branch | unicameral Advisory Council or Majlis al-Shura (35 seats; members appointed)
note: the constitution calls for elections for part of this consultative body, but no elections have been held since 1970, when there were partial elections to the body; Council members have had their terms extended every four years since |
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Life expectancy at birth | total population: 72.88 years
male: 70.4 years female: 75.48 years (2002 est.) |
total population:
63.79 years male: 62.15 years female: 65.51 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 79% male: 79% female: 80% (1995 est.) |
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Location | Middle East, peninsula bordering the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia | - |
Map references | Middle East | World, Time Zones |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone: 24 NM
exclusive economic zone: as determined by bilateral agreements or the median line territorial sea: 12 NM |
contiguous zone:
24 NM claimed by most, but can vary continental shelf: 200-m depth claimed by most or to depth of exploitation; others claim 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM claimed by most, but can vary exclusive economic zone: 200 NM claimed by most, but can vary territorial sea: 12 NM claimed by most, but can vary note: boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 NM; 43 nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
Merchant marine | total: 25 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 679,081 GRT/1,051,088 DWT
ships by type: cargo 10, combination ore/oil 2, container 7, petroleum tanker 6 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Kuwait 1, United Arab Emirates 3 (2002 est.) |
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Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $723 million (FY00/01) | aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide in 1999 remained at approximately the 1998 level, about three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1999 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 10% (FY00/01) | roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 316,885
note: includes non-nationals (2002 est.) |
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Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 166,214 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 6,797 (2002 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 3 September (1971) | - |
Nationality | noun: Qatari(s)
adjective: Qatari |
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Natural hazards | haze, dust storms, sandstorms common | large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) |
Natural resources | petroleum, natural gas, fish | the rapid using up of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address |
Net migration rate | 18.75 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | - |
Pipelines | crude oil 235 km; natural gas 400 km | - |
Political parties and leaders | none | - |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | - |
Population | 793,341 (July 2002 est.) | 6,157,400,560 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | - |
Population growth rate | 3.02% (2002 est.) | 1.25% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Doha, Halul Island, Umm Sa'id (Musay'id) | Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 6, FM 5, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA |
Radios | 256,000 (1997) | NA |
Railways | 0 km | total:
1,201,337 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America; note - fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) - Atlantique line broad gauge: 251,153 km standard gauge: 710,754 km narrow gauge: 239,430 km |
Religions | Muslim 95% | - |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 2.4 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 2.57 male(s)/female total population: 1.91 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | suffrage is limited to municipal elections | - |
Telephone system | general assessment: modern system centered in Doha
domestic: NA international: tropospheric scatter to Bahrain; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia and UAE; submarine cable to Bahrain and UAE; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat |
general assessment:
NA domestic: NA international: NA |
Telephones - main lines in use | 142,000 (1997) | NA |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 43,476 (1997) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (plus three repeaters) (2001) | NA |
Terrain | mostly flat and barren desert covered with loose sand and gravel | the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean |
Total fertility rate | 3.1 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 2.73 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 2.7% (2001) | 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2000 est.) |
Waterways | none | - |