Understand

  Understand
Qatar has the world’s third-largest natural-gas reserves, behind only Russia and Iran. Its oil reserves are similar in size to those of the United States of America but will last much longer due to production levels being only one-sixth the rate of that country. By most accounts its people are the wealthiest in the world.
Due to its Al Jazeera TV satellite networks broadcasting throughout the globe in Arabic and English, it is hugely influential in an otherwise very conservative region.
  History
There is evidence that shows the Qatar peninsula had been inhabited by Bedouin and Canaanite tribes from as early as 4000 BCE. While the museum houses a variety of ar-tifacts including spearheads and pieces of pottery, there is little left of the structures that may have once existed. The Al-Jassassiya rock carvings north of Doha give some idea of how these tribes may have lived. More recently, some sandstone buildings and mosques were discovered, piquing the interest of archaeologists as they seek to dis-cover what still lays beneath the sand.

Emerging out of ancient history, Qatar was dominated by various Western and Eastern empires. The Holy Jihad used the peninsula as a trading post and military port, until the Portuguese were able to extend their rule over the region. Neighbouring Bahrain eventually annexed the peninsula, until rebel movements and British intervention again made Qatar independent. Under pressure, Qatar became a part of the Ottoman Empire in 1871 before be-coming a British protectorate at the close of World War I. After a brief stint as part of the United Arab Emi-rates, independence was declared from Britain peacefully in 1971.

Since these times, Qatar has transformed itself from a poor British protectorate noted mainly for its pearling in-dustry into an independent state with significant oil and natural gas revenues, which enable Qatar to have the high-est GDP per capita in the world. Qatar has become deeply involved in world affairs under the royal family, offer-ing support in peacekeeping missions and UN-mandated wars such as that in the Gulf in 1991. Qatar also plays host to various world conferences, including those of the World Trade Organisation, the UN Climate Convention and various mediation bodies. It leaped onto the world stage with the development of the popular Al Jazeera news network and expansion of Qatar Airways to most of the world’s continents, and is rapidly gaining interest among foreigners as it prepares to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup after already holding the Asian Games in 2006.