Qatar Passport

The State of Qatar

【 Area 】 11521 square kilometers

The population is 2.79 million, of which Qatari citizens account for about 15%. Foreigners mainly come from India, Pakistan, and Southeast Asian countries.

[Religion] Most of the residents believe in Islam, and most of them belong to the Wahhabi sect of Sunnis. Shiites account for 16% of the national population.

Arabic is the official language and English is commonly used.

Doha, the capital, has a population of 1.19 million.

National Day: December 18th

Emir and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, ascended to the throne on June 25, 2013.

【 Overview 】 Located on the southwestern coast of the Persian Gulf on the Qatar Peninsula, it borders Saudi Arabia to the south. The coastline is 563 kilometers long. It belongs to the tropical desert climate, with hot and long summers, and the highest temperature can reach 50 ℃; Winter is cool and dry, with a minimum temperature of 7 ℃. The annual average precipitation is only 75.2 millimeters.

In the 7th century AD, Qatar was a part of the Arab Empire. The Portuguese invaded in 1517. In 1846, Sani bin Mohammed established the Emirate of Qatar. It was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1872. In 1916, it became a "protected area" in Britain. On September 3, 1971, Qatar declared independence and Ahmed became Emir. On February 22, 1972, Ahmed's cousin Khalifa was appointed Emir, and Khalifa's son Hamad was appointed Crown Prince and Minister of Defense. On June 27, 1995, Hamad was appointed Emir. On June 25, 2013, Emir Hamad gave way to Crown Prince Tamim.

Qatar is a hereditary monarchy. Emir is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, holding the highest power in the country, inherited by the Al Thani family. Prohibit any political party activities.

The first constitution was promulgated in 1970 and stipulated that Qatar is an independent sovereign state; Islam is the state religion; The Emir exercises power with the assistance of the Cabinet and the Consultative Conference. In 1972, the provisional constitution was amended. In April 2003, Qatar passed a "permanent constitution" through a national referendum, which officially came into effect on June 7, 2005.

The Consultative Conference was established in 1972 as a political advisory body, with the function of assisting the Emir in exercising his ruling power, and having the power to review legislation and make policy recommendations to the Cabinet. Composed of 45 members, 15 of whom are appointed by the Emir and 30 are elected for a term of 4 years. The current chairman, Hassan Bin Abdulla Al Ghanim, took office in October 2021.

The current cabinet was established in March 2023 and currently has 19 members. The main members include: Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister for Defense Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah, Interior Minister Khalifa bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Finance Minister Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, and State Minister for Energy Saad bin Sharida Al Kaabi.

There is no clear provincial administrative division, and the country is divided into 9 regions centered around some major cities. The main cities include Doha, Rayan, Duhan, and Khor.

[Important Figures]

Emir and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces: Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Born in 1980. Graduated from Sandhurst Military Academy in the UK in 1997. He was appointed as Crown Prince in August 2003 and succeeded his father on June 25, 2013, becoming the eighth Emir of Qatar. Currently serving as a member of the International Olympic Committee.

Prime Minister and Foreign Minister: Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. Born in 1980. Members of the Qatari royal family. Appointed as Foreign Minister in January 2016. Appointed as Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in March 2023.

The oil and gas industry is the backbone of Qatar's economy. In recent years, the Qatari government has invested heavily in the development of natural gas, making it a top priority for economic growth. While vigorously developing the energy industry, Qatar has also launched the "2030 National Vision" plan, which aims to build Qatar into a sustainable country with strong international competitiveness and high living standards by 2030 through the vigorous development of economic diversification.

Qatar became a member of the World Trade Organization in 1995.

The main economic data for 2023 are as follows:

Gross Domestic Product: 246.36 billion US dollars

Per capita Gross Domestic Product: 84900 US dollars

Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate: 2.2%

Currency Name: Qatari Rial

Exchange rate: 1 US dollar ≈ 3.64 Qatari riyals

The main resources are oil and natural gas. The proven oil reserves are 2.6 billion tons, ranking 14th in the world; The proven natural gas reserves are 17.77 billion tons, ranking third in the world.

The industry mainly includes the oil and gas sector, related industries, and energy intensive industries, including refineries, petrochemical plants, fertilizer plants, steel plants, and cement plants. At the same time, some paper mills, detergent plants, pigment plants, food plants, and plastic plants have also been established. In 2022, Qatar became the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, with an export volume of approximately 80 million tons. In 2023, Qatar will be the world's third largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (after the United States and Australia), with an export volume of approximately 80 million tons of liquefied natural gas that year.

Qatar has no railways, and major cities are connected by a modern road network. The main ports include Doha Port, Umm Said Port, and Ras Laffan Port, which is the world's largest liquefied natural gas export port.

The main export products of foreign trade include petroleum, liquefied natural gas, condensate oil, synthetic ammonia, urea, ethylene, etc. The main imported products are machinery and transportation equipment, food, industrial raw materials and light industrial products, pharmaceuticals, etc. The main trading partners include the United States, Japan, and Western European countries. In 2023, Qatar's total foreign trade volume was 129.2 billion US dollars, including imports of 31.4 billion US dollars and exports of 97.8 billion US dollars.

Qatar is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council and implements a unified defense policy. Implement a voluntary military service system. The total strength of the armed forces is about 12000, of which 30% are Qatari citizens.

The Qatari government attaches great importance to the development of education, implements free education, provides opportunities for outstanding students to study abroad, and awards scholarships. There are 567 schools and over 10 universities nationwide. Actively carrying out foreign education cooperation, 8 American and Canadian universities have established branch campuses in Qatar.

Main Arabic language newspapers: Doha Monthly, founded in 1969 and distributed by the News Department; Arab Daily, founded in 1972 and distributed by the news department; Flag Daily, founded in 1979; Time magazine was founded in 1974; Gulf Market Weekly, founded in 1980; Today's Bay, founded in 1985; Weekly News, founded in 1986. In addition, there are newspapers such as Oriental Daily and Motherland Daily. The Gulf Times, an English newspaper, was founded in 1978.

Qatar News Agency was established in 1975 and is one of the major news agencies in Arab countries.

Doha Radio broadcasts in Arabic, English, French, and Urdu.

Al Jazeera was established in 1996 and broadcasts 24-hour Arabic news programs. In 2006, it launched an English channel.

We adhere to a proactive and pragmatic foreign policy and have established diplomatic relations with over 130 countries so far. We attach great importance to developing relations with Western countries such as the United States, while also focusing on strengthening relations with Asian countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea. It is a member state of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the United Nations and other regional and international organizations, as well as the headquarters of the World Gas Exporting Countries Forum. It is the host country of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2030 Asian Games. In May 2014, Qatar became a member of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia. In September 2021, Qatar became a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Qatar on the grounds of supporting terrorism and interfering in internal affairs. In January 2021, the Gulf Cooperation Council summit was held in Euler, Saudi Arabia, and the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Egypt jointly issued the Euler Declaration. In the same month, Saudi Arabia and Egypt resumed diplomatic relations with Qatar and fully resumed exchanges. In April and June 2023, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates resumed diplomatic relations with Qatar.