Arabic Al-Dawḥah
City (pop., 1997: 264,009), capital of Qatar.
Located on the east coast of the Qatar Peninsula, it contains about three-fifths of the country's population. Long a centre of pirate activity in the Persian Gulf , Doha was a small village when it became the capital of newly independent Qatar in 1971. The city has been thoroughly modernized. Its Government House (1969) was built on reclaimed waterfront land; its water supply is obtained by distilling seawater. The deepwater port, built in the 1970s, accommodates oceangoing vessels.