STATE OF QATAR Official name: Dawlat Qatar (State of Qatar) Location: Middle East International organisations: The Arab League, The Non-Aligned Movement, The Organisation of Islamic Conference, The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, The United Nations, The World Trade Organisation, Borders: None Coastline: Persian Gulf Land area: 11,437 Km2 Population: 840,000 Ethnicity: Only about 40% of the population are Arabs, and only about 25% are native Qataris. About 15% are Arabs from other countries. Nearly 20% are Pakistanis, 20% Indians (mostly Muslim), while about 10% are Iranians.

Languages: Arabic is the official language and is spoken by the Arab population. Indian languages and Farsi are widely spoken.
Religion: Wahhabist Sunni Islam is the state religion, and the public practice of other religions is illegal. Over 70% of the population are Sunni Muslims, and about 20% are Shi'a Muslims. There are small Hindu and Christian minorities.
Form of government: Monarchy
Capital: Doha
Constitution: The new Constitution of Qatar came into effect in 2003.
Head of state: Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani came to the throne on 27 June 1995.
Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the Emir. The Prime Minister is the Emir's brother and holds office at his pleasure.
Legislature: Qatar has a unicameral legislature, the Advisory Council (Majlis al-Shura), which has 35 members appointed by the Emir.
Electoral authority: None
Freedom House rating: Political Rights 6, Civil Liberties 6

Political history

The Emirs of Qatar were tributaries of the Shah of Persia until Wahhabists from the interior of Arabia took control in the late 18th century. The al-Thani family took power in about 1870, and accepted the nominal sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire, at the same time signing a treaty that made them allies of the British. In 1915 Ottoman sovereignty was terminated and the Emirate became a British protectorate. The discovery of oil in 1940 made Qatar and its rulers wealthy, but also brought a flood of foreign workers who soon outnumbered the native Qataris.

Fear of the foreign majority is the dominant fact of Qatari politics. Unlike neighbouring Bahrein, Qatar has made no moves towards liberalisation, for fear of arousing political aspirations among the non-Qatari majority. The Emir and his family continue to make all decisions, and there are no plans to create an elected legislature. The rule of the corrupt and despotic Khalifah ibn Hamad Al Thani was ended by a 1995 coup which brought his son Hamad ibn Khalifah Al Thani to power. Hamad is a more enlightened ruler but seems disinclined to share his power and wealth with anyone outside his own family.