Qatar

• arid;
• mild, pleasant winters;
• very hot, humid summers

agricultural land:

5.6%;

• arable land 1.1%;
• permanent crops 0.2%;
• permanent pasture 4.3%

forest:

0%

other:

94.4% (2011 est.)

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

noun:

Qatari(s)

adjective:

Qatari

at birth:

1.02 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

2.64 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

4.91 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

3.38 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

1.71 male(s)/female

total population:

3.41 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

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 is cutter

etymology:

the origin of the name is uncertain, but it dates back at least 2,000 years since a term "Catharrei" was used to describe the inhabitants of the peninsula by Pliny the Elder (1st century A.D.), and a "Catara" peninsula is depicted on a map by Ptolemy (2nd century A.D.)

name:

Doha

geographic coordinates:

25 17 N, 51 32 E

time difference:

UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

the father must be a citizen of Qatar

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

20 years; 15 years if an Arab national

highest court(s):

• Supreme Court or Court of Cassation (consists of the court president and several judges);
• Supreme Constitutional Court (consists of the chief justice and 6 members)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court judges nominated by the Supreme Judiciary Council, a 9-member independent body consisting of judiciary heads appointed by the Amir;
• judges appointed for 3-year renewable terms;
• Supreme Constitutional Court members nominated by the Supreme Judiciary Council and appointed by the monarch;
• term of appointment NA

subordinate courts:

• Courts of Appeal;
• Administrative Court;
• courts of first instance;
• sharia courts;
• Courts of Justice;
• Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Center, established in 2009, provides dispute services for institutions and bodies in Qatar, as well as internationally

chief of mission:

Ambassador Muhammad bin Jaham Abd al-Aziz al-KUWARI (since 10 March 2014)

chancery:

2555 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20037

telephone:

[1] (202) 274-1600 and 274-1603

FAX:

[1] (202) 237-0061

consulate(s) general:

Houston, Los Angeles

chief of mission:

Ambassador Dana Shell SMITH (since 8 September 2014)

embassy:

22 February Road, Al-Luqta District, Doha

mailing address:

P. O. Box 2399, Doha

telephone:

[974] 4496-6000

FAX:

[974] 4488-4298

• maroon with a broad white serrated band (nine white points) on the hoist side;
• maroon represents the blood shed in Qatari wars, white stands for peace;
• the nine-pointed serrated edge signifies Qatar as the ninth member of the "reconciled emirates" in the wake of the Qatari-British treaty of 1916

note: the other eight emirates are the seven that compose the UAE and Bahrain; according to some sources, the dominant color was formerly red, but this darkened to maroon upon exposure to the sun and the new shade was eventually adopted

name:

"Al-Salam Al-Amiri" (The Peace for the Anthem)

lyrics/music:

Sheikh MUBARAK bin Saif al-Thani/Abdul Aziz Nasser OBAIDAN

note: adopted 1996; anthem first performed that year at a meeting of the Gulf Cooperative Council hosted by Qatar

• fruits, vegetables;
• poultry, dairy products, beef;
• fish

lowest 10%:

1.3%

highest 10%:

35.9% (2007)

general assessment:

modern system centered in Doha

domestic:

combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular telephone subscribership exceeds 180 telephones per 100 persons

international:

• country code - 974;
• landing point for the Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) submarine cable network that provides links to Asia, Middle East, Europe, and the US;
• tropospheric scatter to Bahrain;
• microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia and the UAE;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat (2015)

• TV and radio broadcast licensing and access to local media markets are state controlled;
• home of the satellite TV channel Al-Jazeera, which was originally owned and financed by the Qatari government but has evolved to independent corporate status;
• Al-Jazeera claims editorial independence in broadcasting;
• local radio transmissions include state, private, and international broadcasters on FM frequencies in Doha;
• in August 2013, Qatar's satellite company Es'hailSat launched its first communications satellite Es'hail 1 (manufactured in the US), which entered commercial service in December 2013 to provide improved television broadcasting capability and expand availability of voice and internet;
• Es'hailSat released a request for proposals in March 2014 for its second satellite to launch in 2016 (2014)

number of registered air carriers:

2; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 199

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

25,263,224

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

7,563,307,390 mt-km (2015)

• condensate 288 km;
• condensate/gas 221 km;
• gas 2,383 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 90 km;
• oil 745 km;
• refined products 103 km (2013)

total:

28

by type:

bulk carrier 3, chemical tanker 2, container 13, liquefied gas 6, petroleum tanker 4

foreign-owned:

6 (Kuwait 6)

registered in other countries:

35 (Liberia 5, Marshall Islands 29, Panama 1) (2010)

country comparison to the world: 87

major seaport(s):

Doha, Mesaieed (Umaieed), Ra's Laffan

LNG terminal(s) (export):

Ras Laffan

current situation:

• Qatar is a destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor, and, to a much lesser extent, forced prostitution;
• the predominantly foreign workforce migrates to Qatar legally for low- and semi-skilled work but often experiences situations of forced labor, including debt bondage, delayed or nonpayment of salaries, confiscation of passports, abuse, hazardous working conditions, and squalid living arrangements;
• foreign female domestic workers are particularly vulnerable to trafficking because of their isolation in private homes and lack of protection under Qatari labor laws;
• some women who migrate for work are also forced into prostitution

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List – Qatar does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
• however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
• the government investigated 11 trafficking cases but did not prosecute or convict any offenders, including exploitative employers and recruitment agencies;
• the primary solution for resolving labor violations was to transfer a worker’s sponsorship to a new employer with minimal effort to investigate whether a forced labor violation had occurred;
• authorities increased their efforts to protect some trafficking victims, although many victims of forced labor, particularly domestic workers, remained unidentified and unprotected and were sometimes punished for immigration violations or running away from an employer or sponsor;
• authorities visited worksites throughout the country to meet and educate workers and employers on trafficking regulations, but the government failed to abolish or reform the sponsorship system, perpetuating Qatar’s forced labor problem (2015)