Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Qatar: The Richest Country on Earth

          As I was searching the web, I questioned my seri on my I-pad. I asked, " Where is the richest country in the world?" It responded with a summary of the country Qatar. I have never heard of this country before but as I was researching it, I found out that Qatar is a fascinating country.
Qatar is located in the "Middle East, peninsula bordering the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia" (Central Intelligence.) "Ruled by the Al Thani family since the mid-1800s, Qatar transformed itself from a poor British protectorate noted mainly for pearling into an independent state with significant oil and natural gas revenues" (Central Intelligence.) Amir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani jr over threw his father Amir for the crown. After he became king, Qatar starting thriving. "As of 2007, oil and natural gas revenues had enabled Qatar to attain the highest per capita income in the world" (Central Intelligence."Jobs are guaranteed in Qatar, and college education is free. "There is no income tax here; all public services are gratis, and all health care is provided by the government" (World Atlas.) Qatar has increased tourism since Khalifa has taken the throne and the capital Doha has underwent various construction to keep the tourist interested (World Atlas.)

           Citizens of Qatar are known as Qataris. Etiquette in Qatar are somewhat different than the United States. Foreigners need to have permission to take photographs of buildings for security reasons. Qatar forbids the "brewing and trafficking of alcohol,"  and the import of pork (Cornell.) Qatari men wear long white shirt over white pants with a head dress called gutra. Women are dressed modestly with a long black dress called abayha (Cornell.)
Arabic is the official language in Qatar but English is commonly used for business situations. Many Americans go to Qatar for business purposes because of the booming industrialization. Qatar has the largest and most sophisticated oil plant in the world. This is why the country is so rich. Qatar is a fascinating country because everything is free. The health care, school, taxes, and funerals are all at no cost. Never in the history have there been any protest against the government. Khalifa has also raised the salary of government workers by 60% and police and the military by 120% (Qatar.)

"It was announced that Qatar will be the host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which is sure to draw even more attention to the already thriving region" (World Atlas.)

As I have come to the conclusion of my research, I have never come across a country that all the citizens seem so happy. The CNN video I saw, showed a very industrialized and serene place. With the beautiful city and tranquility, who would not want to move to Qatar? Maybe this is why I have never met a Qatari in my life, they love it in there and  it is understandable why they would not want to come here.
References


"About Us: Qatar Culture." About Us: Qatar Culture. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.

"Central Intelligence Agency." CIA. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.
 
CNN. "Qatar: A Tiny Country Asserts Powerful Influence." YouTube. YouTube, 15 Jan. 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.

"QATAR." Map of Qatar. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.

 



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2 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 13, 2013 at 5:29 PM

    This was really interesting to read, I myself had no idea where the richest country in the world was. I like the information that you put on the blog, I was wondering about statistics though, how much richer is Qatar than the next country? A possible extension to this blog would be the history of Qatar and the influence England had over Qatar because in the past, England took over a lot of countries while on their way to India in the 1800s. I appreciated the visuals too, the pictures were nice to see, I had no idea how the people of Qatar looked.

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  2. Julie Quinn TACFebruary 16, 2013 at 6:45 AM

    I agree--I think Qatar is a fascinating place. How big is it? How do the people move freely around? And could the "happiness" be a ruse? I mean, there seems to be quite strict rules on dress, behavior (no alcohol, for example), religious practice, etc. What could that mean to an insular society that doesn't know any different versus a society with open borders and many tourists?

    And what happens if the oil ever dries up? Finally--I've read that rich oil states have a very interesting take on immigrant visa work. I wonder: who moves to Qatar to work there in the hospitality industries, and what are their lives like?

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