Natives of the Arabian Peninsula, many Qataris are descended from a number of migratory tribes that came to Qatar in the 18th century to escape the harsh conditions of the neighboring areas of Nejd and Al-Hasa. Some are descended from Omani tribes. Qatar has over 0.5 million people, the majority of whom (about 90%) live in Doha, the capital. Foreign workers with temporary residence status make up about four-fifths of the population. Most of them are South Asians, Egyptians, Palestinians, Jordanians, and Iranians. About 5,000 U.S. citizens resided there as of 2001. The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula is a mainly desert peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia and an important part of the greater Middle East. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Najd (Nejd) is a region in central Saudi Arabia and the location of the nations capital, Riyadh. ... Ash Sharqiyah, known as Eastern Province is the largest province of Saudi Arabia, located in the east of the country on the coasts of the Persian Gulf, and has borders with Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. ... Doha, Qatar Doha (Arabic: الدوحة;, Ad-Dawḥah) (population 370,000) is the capital of Qatar, located on the Persian Gulf. ... World map showing Asia (geographically) Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia and worlds largest continent. ... The Palestinian flag, adopted in 1948, is a widely recognized modern symbol of the Palestinian people. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

For centuries, the main sources of wealth were pearling, fishing, and trade. At one time, Qataris owned nearly one-third of the Persian Gulf fishing fleet. With the Great Depression and the introduction of Japan's cultured-pearl industry, pearling in Qatar declined drastically. Map of the Persian Gulf. ... The Great Depression was a massive global economic recession (or depression) that ran from 1929 to approximately 1939. ...

The Qataris are mainly Sunni Muslims. Islam is the official religion, and Islamic jurisprudence is the basis of Qatar's legal system. Arabic is the official language and English is the lingua franca of business. Education is compulsory and free for all residents 6-16 years old. Qatar has an increasingly high literacy rate. Sunni Islam (Arabic سنّة) is the largest denomination of Islam. ... Islām is described as a dÄ«n, meaning way of life and/or guidance. ... The Arabic language (; , less formally, ) is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ...

Population: 863,051 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 23.7% (male 104,453; female 100,295)
15-64 years: 72.9% (male 427,118; female 191,830)
65 years and over: 3.4% (male 21,599; female 7,756) (2005 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.61% (2005 est.)

Birth rate: 15.54 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate: 4.61 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate: 15.54 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 2.28 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 2.78 male(s)/female
total population: 1.88 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 18.61 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 73.67 years
male: 71.15 years
female: 76.32 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.87 children born/woman (2005 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Qatari(s)
adjective: Qatari

Ethnic groups: Arab 40%, Pakistani 18%, Indian 18%, Iranian 10%, other 14%

Religions: Muslim 95%

Languages: Arabic (official), English commonly used as a second language

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 82.5%
male: 81.4%
female: 85% (2003 est.)

See also : Qatar