A glimpse of Qatar's history
Qatar is an Arab country in West Asia, located on the Qatar Peninsula on the southwest coast of the Persian Gulf, bordering Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with an area of 11,000 square kilometers and a population of nearly 3 million, of which only about 15% are Qatari citizens. The official language is Arabic and the state religion is Islam.
Before the opening of the new shipping route, Qatar was ruled by Persia, the Arab Empire, the Kalmat State, and Bahrain.
After the opening of the new shipping route, Portugal, the Ottoman Empire, and the United Kingdom joined the competition for Qatar.
After the mid-18th century, the Al Thani family from the Arabian Peninsula gradually became the most powerful family in Kuwait. In 1846, Sani bin Mohammed of the Al Thani family established the Emirate of Qatar. For the first time, Qatar emerged as a nation. The rule of the Al Thani family continues to this day.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Britain made Qatar its protectorate. Oil was discovered in Qatar in 1939, and later BP and Dutch Shell monopolized the exploitation of Qatari oil. In 1956, the United States established a military base in Qatar, which was used for 99 years.
Under the hard struggle of the Qatari people, Britain was forced to relinquish control of the cartel. Qatar declared its independence on 3 September 1971 and is a constitutional monarchy, with the head of state being the emir, who holds the highest power in the country. In February 1972, Emir Ahmed was deposed by his cousin Khalifa, who became Emir. In 1995, Hamad, son of Khalifa, staged a palace coup to overthrow Khalifa and become emir. In June 2013, Hamad abdicated and passed the throne to his son Tamim. Shortly after independence, Qatar reclaimed Occidental Oil's oil monopoly, nationalized oil, and gradually became one of the richest countries in the world.
