Qatar

Known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qa?ar, is an Arab emirate, in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly brim of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian disconnectedness. A strait of the Gulf separates Qatar from the nearby island state of Bahrain. Qatar has been ruled as an absolute monarchy by the al-Thani family since the mid-19th century.Formerly a British protectorate noted mainly for pearling, it became independent in 1971, and has occasion one of the regions wealthiest states due to its enormous oil and natural gas revenues. In 1995, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani became Emir when he seized power from his father, Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, in a peaceful coup detat. 7 The most important positions in Qatar are held by the members of the al-Thani family, or close confidants of the al- Thani family. Beginning in 1992, Qatar has built intimate soldiery ties with the United States, and is now the location of U.S. Central Commands Forward Headquarters and the Combined Air Operations Center. Qatar has the worlds largest per capita production and proven reserves of two oil and natural gas. In 2010, Qatar had the worlds highest GDP per capita, while the economy grew by 19. 40%, the fastest in the world. The main drivers for this rapid growth are attributed to current increases in production and exportations of liquefied natural gas, oil, petrochemicals and related industries. Qatar has the highest human development in the Arab World after the United Arab Emirates.In 2009, Qatar was the United States fifth largest export market in the Middle East, trailing behind the U. A. E. , Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. With a small citizen population of less than 300,000 people, Qatar relies heavily on foreign citizens, both for its justification and generating labor demand. Qatar has attracted an estimated $100 b illion in investment, with approximately $6070 billion coming from the U. S in the energy sector. It is estimated that Qatar will invest over $120 billion in the energy sector in the next ten years