Qatar
| Country summary | |
|---|---|
|
Capital |
Doha |
|
Borders |
Saudi Arabia 60 km |
|
Government type |
emirate |
|
Population |
833,285 (July 2010 est.)[1] |
|
Population growth |
0.957% (2010 est.)[1] |
|
Life expectancy |
75.35 years[1] |
|
Unemployment |
0.5% (2009 est.)[1] |
|
39[2] | |
|
22[3] | |
|
39[4] | |
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. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Qatari economy was crippled by a continuous siphoning off of petroleum revenues by the Amir, who had ruled the country since 1972. His son, the current Amir HAMAD bin Khalifa Al-Thani, overthrew him in a bloodless coup in 1995. In 2001, Qatar resolved its longstanding border disputes with both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. As of 2007, oil and natural gas revenues had enabled Qatar to attain the second-highest per capita income in the world.[1]
Economical characteristics
- Currency: Riyal (ISO code: QAR)
- Central bank discount rate: 5.5% (31 December 2009)[1]
- Commercial banks lending rate: 6.84% (31 December 2008)[1]
- Stock of money (M1): $14.59 billion (31 December 2009)[1]
- Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $44.5 billion (31 December 2009)[1]
Statistics
| Statistic / Year | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP (million USD)[5] | 12 393 | 17 760 | 17 538 | 19 364 | 23 534 | 31 734 | 42 463 | 56 770 | 71 041 | |
| Govt. debt (% of GDP)[6] | ||||||||||
| Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[7] | 47.048 | 41.995 | 41.516 | 45.452 | ||||||
| Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[8] | 23.468 | 20.797 | 23.770 | 17.769 | ||||||
| Debt to revenue (years) |
References
Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Qatar", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ Heritage Foundation. "Qatar", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ Transparency International. "Qatar", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ Doing Business. "Qatar", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ World Bank. "Qatar: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ World Bank. "Qatar: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ World Bank. "Qatar: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ World Bank. "Qatar: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
Links
- Qatar on Wikipedia
- Central bank of Qatar
- Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
- BBC country profile
- We're Not Gonna Protest by Elizabeth Weingarten, March 2011
