QATAR, FLAG OF

vertically divided white-maroon national flag. Its width-to-length ratio is 11 to 28. The Ottoman Empire, Iran, and Britain all had an interest in finding allies among the small Arab sheikhdoms in the Persian Gulf during the 19th century. A treaty signed in 1868 between Britain and one of those states, Qatar, may have been the occasion for the creation of the distinctive Qatari flag. Later the Turkish flag flew there, but during World War I, when the United Kingdom and the Ottoman Empire were enemies, the British again moved to preserve sovereignty for Qatar under British protection. The Union Jack was not flown, except by the local British representative. At first the flag of Qatar did not have a precisely defined design. Like many other flags in the area, it consisted of two colours, with variations in the exact configuration according to the taste of the maker. Qatar chose mauve or maroon instead of the more typical red for its flag, perhaps to distinguish it from the similar flag used in neighbouring Bahrain or because local natural dyes tended to darken in sunlight. The name of the country in white Arabic script was sometimes added, and the dividing line between the colours could be straight or serrated. In the latter case there were sometimes small maroon diamonds in the white area between the serration teeth. Inscriptions have long been popular on Arab flags because the Islamic faith forbids the representation of living beings and indirectly encourages calligraphy by the emphasis placed on the reading of the Qur'an. No change was made in the Qatari flag at the time of independence on September 1, 1971. Whitney Smith History Little is known of Qatar's history before the 18th century, when the region's population consisted largely of transient nomads and a few small fishing villages. Qatar's modern history begins conventionally in 1766 with the migration to the peninsula of families from Kuwait, notably the Al Khalifahs. Their settlement at the new town of Az-Zubarah grew into a small pearl-diving and trade centre. In 1783 the Al Khalifahs led the conquest of nearby Bahrain, where they remained the ruling family throughout the 20th century. Following their departure from Qatar, the country was ruled by a series of transitory sheikhs, the most famous of whom was Rahmah ibn Jabir al-Jalahimah, who was regarded by the British as a leading pirate of the so-called Pirate Coast. Qatar came to the attention of the British in 1867 when a dispute between the Bahraini Al Khalifahs, who continued to hold some claim to Az-Zubarah, and the Qatari residents escalated into a major confrontation, in the course of which Doha was virtually destroyed. Until the attack, Britain had viewed Qatar as a Bahraini dependency. It then signed a separate treaty with Muh ammad ath-Thani in 1868, setting the course both for Qatar's future independence and for the rule of the Al Thani family, who were until the treaty only one among several important families on the peninsula. Ottoman forces, which had conquered the nearby Al-Hasa province of Saudi Arabia, occupied Qatar in 1871 at the invitation of the ruler's son, then left following the Saudi reconquest of Al-Hasa in 1913. In 1916 Britain signed a treaty with Qatar's leader that resembled earlier agreements with other gulf states giving Britain control over foreign policy in return for British protection. In 1935 Qatar signed a concession agreement with the Iraq Petroleum Company; four years later oil was discovered. Oil was not recovered on a commercial scale, however, until 1949. The revenues from the oil company, later named Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited and then the Qatar Petroleum Company, rose dramatically. The distribution of these revenues stirred serious infighting in the Al Thani family, prompting the British to intervene in the succession of 1949 and eventually precipitating a palace coup in 1972 that brought Sheikh Khalifah ibn Hamad ath-Thani to power. In 1968 Britain announced plans to withdraw from the gulf. After negotiations with neighbouring sheikhdomsthose comprising the present United Arab Emirates and BahrainQatar declared independence on September 1, 1971. The earlier agreements with Britain were replaced with a treaty of friendship. That same month, Qatar became a member of the Arab League and of the United Nations. In 1981 the emirate joined its five Arab gulf neighbours in establishing the Gulf Cooperation Council, an alliance formed to promote economic cooperation and enhance both internal security and external defense against the threats generated by the Islamic revolution in Iran and the Iran-Iraq War. Qatari troops participated in the Persian Gulf War of 199091, notably in the battle for control of the Saudi border town of Ra's Al-Khafji on January 3031. Doha, which served as a base for offensive strikes by French, Canadian, and U.S. aircraft against Iraq and the Iraqi forces occupying Kuwait, remained minimally affected by the conflict. Renewed arguments over the distribution of oil revenues also caused the 1995 palace coup that brought Sheikh Khalifah's son, Sheikh Hamad, to power. Although his father had permitted Hamad to take over day-to-day governing some years before, Khalifah contested the coup. Before Hamad fully consolidated his power, he had to weather an attempted countercoup in 1996 and a protracted lawsuit with his father over the rightful ownership of billions of dollars of invested oil revenues, which was finally settled out of court. John Duke Anthony Jill Ann Crystal The economy Qatar's economic prosperity is derived from petroleum, which was discovered in 1939 and first produced in 1949, and from natural gas. Before World War II, Qatar's population lacked any economic occupation apart from pearling, fishing, and some trade and was one of the poorest in the world. By the 1970s, however, the native Qataris enjoyed one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, although since then this income has declined some because of fluctuating oil prices. Qatar's original oil concession was granted to the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), comprising European and American firms. This and later concessions were nationalized in the 1970s. While the state-owned Qatar General Petroleum Corporation oversees oil operations, private corporations continue to play an important role as service companies. Resources Qatar's petroleum reserves, found both onshore along the western coast at Dukhan and offshore from the eastern coast, are modest by regional standards and are expected to last only until the early decades of the 21st century at present rates of production. Oil continues to dominate Qatar's economy, however, accounting for the great bulk of government revenues and one-third of the country's gross domestic product. In an attempt to reduce its dependency on oil, Qatar began to develop its natural gas resources in the mid-1990s. The country possesses enormous deposits of natural gas, estimated at nearly 5 percent of the world's total gas reserves. Its offshore North Field is one of the largest gas fields in the world. Still, the state faces short-term financial problems. To develop the gas fields, Qatar had to borrow heavily, and by the 1990s the government was running annual budget deficits. Qatar's strategy has been to develop its natural gas reserves aggressively through joint projects with major international oil and gas companies, focusing on the North Field. The land The Qatar peninsula is about 100 miles (160 km) from north to south, 50 miles (80 km) from east to west, and is generally rectangular in shape. Most of its area is flat, low-lying desert, which rises from the east to a central limestone plateau; hills rise to about 130 feet (40 metres) along the western and northern coasts. Sand dunes and salt flats, or sabkhahs, are the chief topographical features of the southern and southeastern sectors. Virtually none of Qatar's total area is arable. Vegetation is found only in the north, where the country's irrigated farming areas are located and where desert plants blossom briefly during the spring rains; fauna is limited. A minaret and houses in the capital city of Doha, Qatar. Doha, on the east coast, is Qatar's largest city and commercial centre and contains about four-fifths of the emirate's population. It has a deepwater port and an international airport. The main oil port and industrial centre is Musay'id, to the south of Doha on the eastern coast. Ar Rayyan, just northwest of Doha, is the country's second major urban area. These three cities and many smaller settlements are linked by roads. Of the many islands and coral reefs belonging to Qatar, Halul, in the Persian Gulf 60 miles (97 km) east of Doha, serves as a collecting and storage point for the country's three offshore oil fields. The climate is hot and humid from June to September, with daytime temperatures as high as 122 F (50 C). The spring and fall monthsApril, May, October, and Novemberare temperate, averaging about 63 F (17 C), and the winters are slightly cooler. Precipitation is scarce, with less than 3 inches (75 mm) falling annually (generally in winter). The people Qatar was originally settled by nomads from the central part of the Arabian Peninsula. Qatari citizens, however, constitute only a small portion of the total population today. Economic growth in the 1970s and '80s created an economy dependent on foreign workers, mostly from South Asia or other parts of Arabia, who now far outnumber nationals; Qataris constitute less than one-third of Qatar's total population. Few nomads remain, and less than 10 percent of the people live in rural areas. Arabic is the official language, although English is commonly used, and Islam is the official religion. Qataris are largely Sunnite Muslims, with a small Shi'ite minority. The ruling Al Thani family adheres to the same Wahhabi interpretation of Islam as the rulers of Saudi Arabia, though not as strict. Economic necessity and the small number of Qatari workers have resulted in more freedom for women.