Qatar

Qatar is an independent sovereign state in the Middle East, a peninsula in the Arabian Gulf. Since its full independence from Britain in 1971, Qatar has emerged as one of the world’s most significant producers of oil and gas. It is an Islamic state whose laws and customs comply with Islamic law. His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani has held the reins of government since 2013.

Qatar is a peninsula in the middle of the western coast of the Arabian Gulf, about 85 kilometres wide and extending 185 kilometres into the Gulf. It has many islands, the largest of them Halul, Sharaouh and Al-Ashat. Qatar borders the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the south, and neighbours Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Iran across the sea.

The country’s terrain is a flat rocky surface, covered by a low range of limestone plateaus and hills at Jebel Dukhan in the west and Jebel Fuwairit in the north. It is marked by many inlets, bays, basins and depressions known as rawdat, found in the northern and central regions, which are among the most fertile locations and carry varied natural vegetation.