1. Qatar Capital City: Doha - Largest city Official language: Arabic. Currency: Rival.

2. Since 2004,Qatar has been divided into seven municipalities. Doha,Daayen,Umm Salal and Al Khawr, Ar Rayyan,Al Wakrah and Mesaieed.

3. Government: Absolute Monarchy. Name: H.H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Prime Minister: Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani .

4. Independence : Termination of special treaty with the United Kingdom: September 3, 1971. In 1991, Qatar played a significant role in the Persian Gulf War, particularly during the Battle of Khafji in which Qatari tanks rolled through the streets of the town providing fire support for Saudi Arabian National Guard.

5. Economy Oil and Gas have made Qatar the second highest per-capita income country following Liechtenstein and one of the world’s fastest growing. Before the discovery of oil, the economy of the Qatari region focused on fishing and pearl hunting. 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, beginning in the 1940s, completely transformed the state’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 state.

6. Qatar’s national income, primarily derives from oil and natural gas exports. The country has oil reserves of 15 billion barrels (2.4km3),while gas reserves in the giant North Field (South Pars for Iran) which straddles the border with Iran and are almost as large as the peninsula itself are estimated to be between 80 trillion cubic feet (2300km3) to 800 trillion cubic feet. With no income tax, Qatar, along with Bahrain, is one of the countries with the lowest tax rates in the world. Doha kicked off an official bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics in October 2007.Qatar also plans to build an “ Entertainment City ” in the future.

7. Transportation The primary means of transportation in Qatar is by road, due to the very cheap price of petroleum. The country as a result has an advanced road system under going upgrades and new expressways within Doha under construction. A large bus network connects. Doha with other towns in the country, and is the primary means of public transportation in the city. Qatar’s main airport is the Doha inter Airport, which served almost 15,000,000 passengers in 2007. In comparison. the airport served only 2,000,000 passengers in 1998. As a result of the much larger volumes of passengers flying into an through the country today, the new Doha International Airport is currently under construction, and will replace the existing airport in 2011.

8. Environmental issues Qatar has the highest per-capita carbon dioxide emissions, at 55.5 metric tons per person in 2005. This is almost double the next highest per-capita emitting country, which is Kuwait at 30.7 metric tons (2005) and they are three time those of the United States, Qatar has had the highest per-capita carbon dioxide emissions for the last 18 years. These emissions are largely due to high rates of energy use in Qatar. The fact that Qataris do not pay for either their water or electricity supplies is thought to contribute to their high rate of energy use. Despite being a desert state they are also one of the highest consumer of water per capita per day, using around 400 liters.

9. Geography The Qatari peninsula juts 100 miles (161km)north into the Persian Gulf from Saudi Arabia and is slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut, USA. There are mild winters and very hot, humid summers. Religion Islam is the predominant religion, as Muslims constitute 77.5% of the population. Most non-citizens are Sunni or Shi’a Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, or Baha’is. Most foreign workers and their families live near the major employment center of Doha, Al Khor, Mesaieed, and Dukhan.

10. Education In recent years Qatar has placed great emphasis on education. Citizens are required to attend government provided education from kindergarten through high school. Qatar University was founded in 1973. More recently, with the support of the Qatar Foundation, some major American Universities like Carnegie Mellon University Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Texas A&M University. The Emir’s second wife, Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, has been instrumental in new education initiatives in Qatar. She chair the Qatar Foundation, sits on the board of Qatar’s Supreme Education Council, and is a major driving force behind the importation of Western expertise into the education system, particularly at the college level.

11. Health care Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) is the premier non- profit health care provider in Doha, established by the Emiri decree in 1979,HMC manages four highly specialized hospitals. These hospitals are quite sophisticated by the standards of the region, with most hosting advanced MRI and other scanning machines. Most of them have many patients affected by Down syndrome and other mental illnesses caused by the high rate of cousin marriage In the country. Qatar has among the highest rates in the world for obesity, diabetes and genetic disorders. Some big clan don’t allow marriage outside their family.

12. Communications Qatar has a modern telecommunication system centered in Doha. Qatar today is the monthly business magazine in the country. It is published by Oryx Advertising, which is the largest Magazine publisher in Qatar. Human rights Qatar is destination country for men and women from South and Southeast Asia who migrate willingly, but are subsequently trafficked into involuntary servitude as domestic workers and laborers, and, to a lesser extent, commercial sexual exploitation. According to the Trafficking in persons report by US State Department, men and women who are lured into Qatar by promises of high wages are often into underpaid labor. Many of these people are commonly known as peasants.