Background: 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. Oil and natural gas revenues enable Qatar to have one of the highest per capita incomes in the world.
May 8th 2008Middle East » Qatar » Doha Hello everyone! So I had a lovely Bday and a lovely time in London. Before telling about those, I just want to point out that today is Addie’s birthday and you should all call/email her.
So ... [full story]
March 31st 2008Middle East » Qatar » Doha
It looks like this is really popular, you can tell that lots of people go out to the desert over the weekends by
the queues at the end of the only tar road,
the tracks across the (temporarily ... 11 photos[full story]
March 24th 2008Middle East » Qatar » Doha
Apparently 16 Navies came to town this week. So some intrepid paddlers went out to take a much closer look. ... 7 photos[full story]
March 12th 2008Middle East » Qatar » Doha The winner made it in 2 1/2 hours which is not human, more like a robot. They should test him for metal parts.
We did not take part in the Argus this year because we thought we would be away, bu ... 8 photos[full story]
February 10th 2008Middle East » Qatar » Doha Flight en route from Manchester to Ho Chi Minh City.
We stayed at the SAS Radisson at Manchester Airport on Saturday evening, avoiding a very early drive from Shropshire. We had a so-so meal with ... [full story]
October 20th 2007Middle East » Qatar » Doha The seven-hour flight aboard the Qatar Airlines Airbus went surprisingly quickly. Leaving behind the frost and cold of England, Angela and I arrived at Doha International, straight into the scorching ... [full story]
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