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| Qatar (State of Qatar) |
State on the eponymous Persian Gulf peninsula. Territory - 11.3 thousand sq. km. Population - about 250 thousand (1980 estimate). The capital is Doha (160 thousand inhabitants, 1978). The state language is Arabic. Religion - Sunni Islam. Qatar gained independence on 1 September 1971, before that it was a protectorate of England. 4.IX 1971 Qatar and England signed a friendship treaty providing for the preservation of traditional ties between the two countries. In 1974, Qatar signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia on consultations on foreign and domestic policy. Qatar is a member of the League of Arab States. The Qatari government condemned the Egyptian-Israeli separate "peace" treaty, supported the decisions of the Baghdad conferences of Arab countries on the application of sanctions against the Sadat regime, and severed diplomatic relations with Egypt. Qatar is an absolute monarchy, the head of state is Emir Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani. The most important posts are held by representatives of the ruling family of Al Thani. In 1970, an interim constitution was proclaimed. Political parties and organizations are prohibited. Groups of patriots operate illegally in the country. The economy is based on oil production and refining (in 1979, 24 million tons of oil were produced). Oil revenues (in 1979 - $ 5 billion) are the main source of revenue for the state budget. Since 1977, the state has fully controlled the oil and gas industry, which was previously under the control of foreign monopolies. The State Oil Company owns an oil refinery with a capacity of 350 thousand tons of oil products per year. The government is pursuing a course towards the industrialization of the country. In 1978, the first steelmaking plant in the Persian Gulf was put into operation, the capacity of which by 1983 should be 380 thousand tons of steel per year. There is a plant for the production of ammonia and urea (835 thousand tons per year), a cement plant (370 thousand tons per year), a plant for the liquefaction of natural gas (800 thousand tons per year), a flour mill, factories for the production of soft drinks, desalination plant. The government encourages foreign investment in the country's economy; foreign companies are allowed to own up to 30% of the capital of shares of enterprises in the country. Agriculture is underdeveloped, land suitable for farming makes up about 10% of the territory. There are specialized farms (about 400) for growing vegetables and fruits. Date and coconut palms are also cultivated. Camel breeding is well developed. The traditional occupation of many coastal residents is fishing and pearl mining. The length of paved roads is over 2 thousand km. There are no railways. The main seaports are Doha and Umm al-Said. Doha has an international airport. The monetary unit is the rial of Qatar. Rial 3.7 = $ 1 (1980). The main export items are oil, liquefied gas, steel, cement, fertilizers, petroleum products, pearls and shrimp. Imported equipment, foodstuffs, building materials, textiles, etc. Main contractors: England, Japan, USA, Germany, France. Qatar ranks one of the first places in the world in terms of national income per capita. However, the bulk of this income is appropriated by the ruling elite.
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