The capital of Qatar, Doha is a Middle Eastern city built around a shallow bay off the Persian Gulf. Long a sleepy fishing village, Doha became a wealthy and thriving city in the 20th century. Places of interestDoha has a number of educational and cultural sites. The University of Qatar is at Doha, as is the national library. The Qatar National Museum, also in the capital, has an aquarium with live and preserved marine animals. The museum also has a collection of artifacts reflecting the country's historic bedouin culture. Other attractions include the Clock Tower Square and the souk—a marketplace selling everything from produce to clothing. Doha International Airport is located just southeast of the city. Economy - A boat stands docked at Doha, the capital of Qatar.
For many years the main economic activities in Doha were fishing and pearling, or the gathering and selling of pearls. The discovery of oil in the region in the 1930s, however, greatly changed Doha's economy. Qatar became a wealthy country, and the government began to modernize its capital. Old slum sections of the city were torn down and replaced with new housing and commercial buildings. During the 1970s workers completed a deepwater port that enabled the city to welcome most oceangoing vessels and to increase its shipping activity. In recent years Doha also has benefited from the country's large reserves of natural gas, which is widely exported. HistoryPeople have lived on the land that is now Qatar for thousands of years. The original section of Doha, known as al-Bida‘, is located in the northwest part of the city. For many years the city was a center of pirate activity in the Persian Gulf. It was destroyed in 1867 in a war between ruling families in Qatar and the nearby island nation of Bahrain. Doha was eventually rebuilt, and during World War I (1914–18) the city and the rest of Qatar came under the control of Great Britain. In 1971 Qatar gained its independence, and Doha became its capital. Population (1997 estimate), 264,000. |