Countries That Begins With Q – List Of Countries In the World Starts From Letter Q
Qatar is the only country that starts with the letter Q.
About Qatar
On the western shore of the Persian Gulf is the independent emirate of Qatar. It has been continuously but sparsely inhabited since prehistoric times, taking up a small desert peninsula that extends north from the larger Arabian Peninsula. The area was governed by the Islamic caliphate after the advent of Islam, and it then came under the control of several local and foreign dynasties before being ruled by the Thani dynasty (l Thn) in the 19th century.
The Ottoman Empire, which occupied the nation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was fought off by the Thani dynasty with British support. In return, the United Kingdom controlled Qatar’s foreign policy until the latter’s independence in 1971. After that, the monarchy maintained close ties with Western nations as a key component of its national security.
Qatar has some of the largest oil and gas reserves in the world, and a significant portion of its production is carried out by foreign labor. The nation’s residents benefit from a high standard of living and a solid system of social services as a result of its oil wealth.
The majority of the population lives in the eastern coastal city of Doha (Al-Dawah), which was once a hub for pearling. Doha’s attractive Corniche, or seaside boulevard, radiates inland and is ringed by new office buildings, malls, and apartment complexes that combine premodern and modern architecture.
Land
The Qatar peninsula is approximately 100 miles (160 km) long from north to south and 50 miles (80 km) wide from east to west. It has a slightly smaller area than the U.S. state of Connecticut and is generally rectangular. It is north and west of the United Arab Emirates and shares a border with eastern Saudi Arabia where the peninsula joins the mainland.
Bahrain, an island nation, is located about 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Qatar. The International Court of Justice settled a territorial dispute with Bahrain in 2001 by awarding the Ḥawār Islands (off the coast of Qatar) to Bahrain and granting Qatar sovereignty over Jann Island and the abandoned fortress town of Al-Zubrah (on the Qatari mainland).
Relief and Drainage
The majority of Qatar is made up of a low-lying, flat desert, which rises in the east to a limestone plateau in the middle. The highest point in the nation is Ab al-Bawl Hill, which rises to a height of 335 feet (103 meters) along the western and northern coasts. The main topographical features of the southern and southeast sectors are dunes and salt flats, or sabkhahs. The border between Qatar and Saudi Arabia is about 37 miles (60 km) long, and Qatar has more than 350 miles (560 km) of coastline. There are no permanent freshwater lakes or rivers.
Soil
Qatar’s soils are typically calcareous, have a very low level of organic matter, and are unproductive for farming. Dunes blown by the wind are frequent, and the soil layering over the bedrock is thin and uneven. Coastal areas and agricultural areas with improper irrigation regulations have high salinity levels in their soil.
Climate
From June to September, the weather is hot and muggy, with daytime highs of 122 °F (50 °C). The average temperature in the temperate spring and fall months—April, May, October, and November—is around 63 °F (17 °C), and the winters are a little bit colder. The annual amount of precipitation is less than 3 inches (75 mm) (generally in winter).
Plant and Animal Life
Only in the north, where the nation’s irrigated farming regions are situated and where desert plants briefly bloom during the spring rains, is vegetation to be found. The government has established a program to protect the Arabian oryx, Qatar’s national animal, despite the country’s limited flora.
Ethnic Groups and Language
Bedouin nomads from the center of the Arabian Peninsula first inhabited Qatar. But today, Qatari nationals make up only a tiny proportion of the population—roughly one-ninth. Beginning in the 1970s, economic expansion led to the emergence of a labor force that was largely composed of immigrants from Pakistan, India, and Iran, who now outnumber citizens. Few people in Qatar still live nomadic lives.
The majority of Qataris speak a Gulf Arabic dialect that is similar to that of the neighboring states. Arabic is the official language of Qatar. In schools, Modern Standard Arabic is taught, and English is frequently spoken. Persian and Urdu are frequently spoken among the sizable expatriate population.
Religion
The majority of Muslims in Qatar are Sunni Muslims, and Islam is the official religion. A tiny Shi’i minority exists. Although not as strictly, the Thani family, who currently hold power, follows the same Wahhabi interpretation of Islam as the monarchs of Saudi Arabia. For instance, Qatar offers women more freedom than Saudi Arabia. The religious makeup of the non-Qatari population is more varied, with Muslims, Christians, and Hindus making up the bulk of the population.
Economy
Natural gas production and exports, which began in 1949 after petroleum was first discovered there in 1939, are the main sources of Qatar’s economic prosperity. With few exceptions, the only available occupations in pre-World War II Qatar were pearling, fishing, and some trade, and the country’s population was among the poorest in the world.
The native population of Qatar, however, had one of the highest per capita incomes in the world by the 1970s, despite subsequent income declines brought on by changes in global oil prices. An alliance of European and American companies, the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), was given the initial oil concession from Qatar. The 1970s saw the nationalization of this concession as well as others.
