Qatar

**Qatar** (, ,  or ;  **' ; local dialect: ), officially the **State of Qatar** ( **'), is a sovereign country in Western Asia. It is on the small Qatari-Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Its only land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of it's territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf. A strait in the Persian Gulf separates Qatar from the nearby island country of Bahrain, as well as sharing maritime borders with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iran.

Following Ottoman rule, Qatar became a British protectorate in the early 20th century until gaining independence in 1971. Qatar has been ruled by the House of Thani since the early 19th century. Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani was the founder of the State of Qatar. Qatar is a hereditary monarchy and its head of state is Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.  Whether it should be called a  constitutional or an absolute monarchy is a matter of opinion. In 2003, the constitution was overwhelmingly approved in a referendum, with 100% in favour. As of early 2017, Qatar's total population was around 2.6 million: 313,000 Qatari citizens and 2.3 million expatriates.

## Infobox (country)

- **conventional long name**: State of Qatar
- **common name**: Qatar
- **native name**:
<small>__</small>
- **image flag**: Flag of Qatar.svg
- **image coat**: Emblem of Qatar (1976–2022).svg
- **symbol type**: Emblem
- **national anthem**:
_As-Salam al-Amiri_

- **image map**: QAT orthographic.svg
- **map caption**: Location and extent of Qatar (dark green) on the Arabian Peninsula.
- **image map2**: Qatar - Location Map (2013) - QAT - UNOCHA.svg
- **capital**: Doha
- **largest city**: capital
- **ethnic groups**: 11.6% Demographics of Qatar, Qatari
 88.4% non-Qatari
- **ethnic groups year**: 2015
- **official languages**: Arabic language, Arabic
 English language, English
- **demonym**: Demographics of Qatar, Qatari
- **government type**: Unitary state, Unitary constitutional monarchy, constitutional authoritarianism, authoritarian monarchy
- **leader title1**: List of emirs of Qatar, Emir
- **leader name1**: Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Tamim bin Hamad
- **leader title2**: List of prime ministers of Qatar, Prime Minister
- **leader name2**: Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdul Aziz Al Thani, Khalid bin Khalifa
- **legislature**: Consultative Assembly of Qatar, Consultative Assembly
- **established event1**: Qatar National Day
- **established date1**: December 18, 1878
- **established event2**: Declared independence
- **established date2**:
September 1, 1971
- **established event3**: Independence from the United Kingdom
- **established date3**:
September 3, 1971
- **area km2**: 11,581
- **area rank**: 158th
- **area sq mi**: 4,467.6
- **percent water**: 0.8
- **population estimate**: 2,641,669
- **population census**: 1,699,435
- **population estimate year**: 2017
- **population estimate rank**: 140th
- **population census year**: 2010
- **population census rank**: 148th
- **population density km2**: 176
- **population density sq mi**: 455
- **population density rank**: 76th
- **gdp ppp**: $357.338 billion
- **gdp ppp year**: 2018
- **gdp ppp rank**: 51st
- **gdp ppp per capita**: $128,702
- **gdp ppp per capita rank**: 1st
- **gdp nominal**: $183.807 billion
- **gdp nominal year**: 2018
- **gdp nominal rank**: 56th
- **gdp nominal per capita**: $66,202
- **gdp nominal per capita rank**: 6th
- **gini**: 41.1
- **gini year**: 2007
- **hdi**: 0.856
- **hdi year**: 2018
- **hdi change**: increase
- **hdi rank**: 37th
- **currency**: Qatari riyal, Riyal
- **currency code**: QAR
- **time zone**: Arabia Standard Time, AST
- **utc offset**: +3
- **drives on**: Right
- **calling code**: +974
- **religion**: Islam