Introduction: 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...

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History: Qatar has been inhabited for millennia. Several families, including branches of the Bani Naim, lived in the peninsula, with the Al Thani and Al Misnad clans becoming the strongest. The Al Khalifa family (which now rules Bahrain) largely dominated the area until 1868 when, at the request of Qatari nobles, the British negotiated the termination of the Khalifa claim, except for the payment of ...

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