n.
officially State of Qatar
Independent emirate on the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula .
Area: 4,412 sq mi (11,427 sq km). Population (2002 est.): 606,000. Capital: Doha . Most of the population is Arab, with South Asian and Iranian minorities who are often migrant workers. Languages: Arabic (official), English. Religion: Islam (official). Currency: Qatar rial. Qatar is mostly stony, sandy, and barren and consists of salt flats, dune desert, and arid plains. Largely because of petroleum and natural gas exports, Qatar's gross national product per capita is one of the highest in the world. The government owns all of the agricultural land and generates most of the economic activity; the private sector participates in trade and contracting on a limited scale. Qatar is a monarchy, and its basis of legislation is Islamic law. The head of state and government is the emir, assisted by the prime minister. It was partly controlled by Bahrain in the 18th and 19th centuries and was nominally part of the Ottoman Empire until World War I (191418). In 1916 it became a British protectorate. Oil was discovered in 1940, and the country rapidly modernized. Qatar declared independence in 1971, when the British protectorate ended. In 1991 it served as a base for air strikes against Iraq in the Persian Gulf War .