In the recent Middle East, the frequency of appearances is a bit high.
The 2022 World Cup will be held in Qatar, a Middle Eastern country, with exciting and unpopular matches on the field, and lively and gossip off the field.
Because of this Qatar World Cup, the world has widely seen what the "real local tyrants" look like!
First, Qatar lavishly threw 229 billion US dollars (about 1.64 trillion yuan) to host the Olympic Games, and various show-off operations continued.
Then after the Saudi team beat Argentina 2-1, it was rumored on the Internet that the Saudi crown prince wanted to reward 30 Saudi players, each with a Rolls-Royce, each car about 7 million yuan.
The smell of money fills the air, the happiness of rich people, you really can't imagine!
With a piece of cloth on my head, I am the richest in the world.
The same Arab country with a cloth on their heads, Qatar or Saudi Arabia, who is the richest?
Qatar
Qatar is the host country of this World Cup, and this time it has successfully exported a "pure gold business card" to the world. Luxury stadiums, brand new star hotels, and the humble Prince of Dumpling Skins.
As a peninsular on the Arabian Peninsula, Qatar has a land area of only 11,000 square kilometers (about the same as the mainland city of Tianjin).
But it was the first country in Asia to achieve common prosperity, and everyone is rich.
Like many wealthy Arab countries, Qatar made its fortune on oil and gas resources. Its oil reserves of about 2.5 billion tons rank 14th in the world and natural gas reserves are the third largest in the world. In the first half of 2022, after the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Qatar became the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas in the EU, doubling its natural gas growth and earning 150 billion riyals.
It is said that everyone in Qatar owns at least one luxury car, so there are very few bicycles, electric vehicles, bus stops, and subway stations.
For this World Cup, they directly spent 36 billion US dollars (about 258 billion yuan) to build the world's most advanced subway system, and almost all of them are free.
To put it bluntly, Qatar has established a convenient transportation system for the convenience of foreign fans. As for costs and profits, no one in Qatar cares.
How unpretentious the wishes of the rich are.
If everyone in Qatar is rich, who will repair the stadium and work as a waiter?
Don't worry, let's take a look at Qatar's demographics.
As of November 2022, Qatar has a total population of about 3 million. However, only 315,000 citizens (10.5 per cent of the population) actually have Qatari nationality, and nearly 2.7 million others are foreigners.
Among the foreign ethnic groups living in Qatar, Indians ranked first, with 654,000, and Bangladeshis and Nepalese tied for second with 375,000.
Then there are the Qataris.
The average working hour in Qatar is only 3 hours, and for wealthy Qataris, it is natural not to go to work to earn money, it is just a social responsibility, after all, there are still 2.7 million people to serve themselves!
There are no workers in Qatar, everyone is the founder of the company. Because the country's laws stipulate that foreigners must partner with local people to open a company in Qatar, and local people account for at least 51% of the shares, and wholly foreign-owned enterprises are not allowed.
Qatar's wealth not only relies on mining, but also develops industry, tourism, and financial industries, and wantonly expands the global wealth territory.
If you like art, you will become the largest buyer of modern art in the world;
If you want to develop sports, you have invested money and become the actual controller of 20% of the global sports market;
If you want land, you can directly become the number one real estate developer in London. The BBC has reported that Qatar owns more land in London than the former Queen of Britain, and that Britain's famous landmarks have almost been bought up by Qatar.
According to incomplete statistics:
Qatar wholly acquired the Italian luxury brand Valentino, the largest shareholder of Deutsche Bank, the largest shareholder of Credit Suisse Bank, the largest shareholder of the London Stock Exchange, the third largest shareholder of the German Volkswagen Group, the largest shareholder of Swiss Glencore, the largest real estate developer in London, the controlling shareholder of Harrods Department Store, the world's largest luxury department store, the largest shareholder of J. Semboli Public Limited, the second largest supermarket chain in the UK, and the controlling company of Spanish El Gles...
All so rich, do the Qataris still have any troubles? It's time to sacrifice this picture...
Saudi Arabia
As the first team to upset this World Cup, the Saudi team can be described as proud.
If the host country next door, Qatar, explained that "money cannot buy goals", Saudi Arabia said that "goals bring money to players and holidays to the whole country." ”
Saudi Arabia, full name Saudi Arabia, has a land area of 2.25 million square kilometers and is the largest country in the Middle East.
As of April 2019, Saudi Arabia has a population of 32.55 million, of which Saudi citizens account for about 62%. Saudi Arabia is a veritable "oil kingdom", ranking first in the world in terms of oil reserves and production, with known recoverable oil reserves of up to 36.1 billion tons and annual production of up to 500 million tons.
The oil industry is the main pillar of the Saudi economy, accounting for more than 70% of the country's fiscal revenue.
The most popular thing in Saudi Arabia is their royalty, who can be called "the fighter among the local tycoons".
In 2017, when the Saudi king visited China on his gold-plated Boeing 747 custom plane, the 81-year-old king stepped out of the cabin and stood on the escalator and slowly landed.
Chinese netizens who ate melons dropped their jaws in shock.
The most exaggerated thing is that the old king brought 506 tons of luggage on this trip (2 gold-plated elevators alone), and two Mercedes-Benz S600, 1500 entourage, including 25 princes, 10 ministers, 800 representatives, 620 accompanying servants...
If Saudi Arabia's number one specialty is oil, the second largest specialty may be princes.
The Saudi royal family is very large, all the sons of kings and princes are princes, and they are still polygamous, and the family is prosperous. Since its founding in 1932, there have been 5,000 princes alone, and a total of 15,000 members of the royal family.
After the World Cup, some media reported: Saudi Arabia's current crown prince Salman Jr. used a special plane to send the injured players of the Saudi team to Germany for treatment, and wrote "money" on his face.
But this expense is really a drop in the bucket for him, after all, the prince once gave himself 80 pet eagle falcons a special plane.
Not all princes are crown princes and all are close to the throne, but every prince is not poor in money. Because in Saudi Arabia, as long as you are related to the royal family, even if you do nothing, you can receive at least 60,000 US dollars a month for living expenses.
In addition to the royal family, other local Saudi Arabs are also very comfortable.
Because like Qatar, all foreigners who come to Saudi Arabia to do business must cooperate with locals to open a company, and Saudis generally do not participate in the operation and only receive dividends.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia also stipulates that every shop must employ at least one Saudi person, the salary can only be high, not low, and the work content should be as easy as possible.
The welfare of ordinary people is also good, basically education and medical care do not cost money, in the country to study in the university, not only free accommodation fees, but also additional education allowances; The basic medical system is perfect, and the free medical system is implemented for the citizens of the country.
However, there were so many spendthrift royals in the past, and the Saudis accounted for more than half of the country's population, so the gap between the rich and the poor in Saudi Arabia is still quite large.
After reading the previous introduction, I was already frightened by this group of rich people who "rely on hundreds of millions of people".
So, who is richer in the two local tyrants?
According to the latest data released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in April this year:
In 2021, Saudi Arabia's gross national GDP was US$833.541 billion, accounting for 0.8674% of the world's total GDP;
Qatar's gross national GDP is US$179,571 million, accounting for 0.1869% of the world's total GDP.
Qatar's total GDP is only 21.5% of Saudi Arabia's.
However, Qatar's per capita GDP is $68,600, ranking 8th in the world, and Saudi Arabia's per capita GDP is $23,500, ranking 39th in the world.
(Although the mainland is the world's second largest economy, due to its large population, its per capita GDP for the whole of 2021 was only US$12,500.) )
So in terms of total GDP, Saudi Arabia is superior, but in terms of common prosperity, Qatar is not allowed.
【Reference Article】
What kind of magical country is Qatar, which is hosting the World Cup? Science has a story.20221124
With an annual income of one million, why is Qatar so rich? The Paper.20221121
The Saudi king of the trenches visited China, bringing 1,500 entourage, 2 14-ton gold-plated ladders, 400 luxury cars, and 25 beautiful princes with him! Most British.20170318
Comparison of Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar GDP data over the years.
https://www.kylc.com/stats/global/yearly_per_country/g_gdp/sau-irn-qat.html