GEOGRAPHY & CLIMATE

                 Religions
              Languages
              Local Time
              Electrical Current
              Topography
              Climate

Location

Qatar is an independent state in the Southern Arabian Gulf surrounded by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Iran. The country is situated midway along the western coast of the Arabian Gulf between latitudes 24.27° - 26.10° North and longitude 50.45° - 51.40° East. It is approximately 11,437 square kilometers on a low-lying limestone peninsula projecting northward about 160 kilometers into the Gulf. The coastline is 550 kilometers long and bounds the country to the west, north and east.

Area

• total: 11,437 sq km

• water: 0 sq km

• land: 11,437 sq km

Capital City

Doha

Population

In March 2004, The Planning Council announced the preliminary phase results of the new population census. According to the 2004 census, Qatar’s population reached 742,883 increasing by 42.3% from the 1997 census of 522,023.
The 2004 census shows an average annual increase of 6.0% during the period 1997-2004, compared to the annual average increase of 3.7% during 1986-1997. The rapid increase in population over the last few years is attributed to the strong performance of the economy, which has resulted in a large number of projects coming online, thereby leading to the influx of professionals, service and contracting sector staff and others.

Religions

Islam is the official religion of the country, and the Shariah (Islamic Law) is the principal source of legislation in the country.

Languages

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

Local Time

3 hours + Greenwich Mean Time.

Electrical Current

240 Volts + 6% with frequency 50 hertz.

Topography

Qatar generally consists of flat rocky surfaces. It does, however, include some hills and sand dunes which reach an altitude of 40m above sea level in the western and northern parts of the country.
Qatar is characterized by a number of geographical features which are peculiar to the western side of the Arabian Gulf. These include rainwater-draining basins found mainly in the north and central areas of the country. These two areas are considered the most fertile and have attracted heavy agricultural investment.

Climate

The climate is characterized by a mild winter and a hot summer.
Rainfall in the winter is slight, averaging some 80 millimeters a year.
Temperatures range from 7 degrees centigrade in January to around 45 degrees at the height of summer.
The weather is generally pleasant during the period from October until May.
Maximum and minimum temperatures throughout the year can be seen through