QatarEssay Preview: QatarReport this essayQatar is a small wealthy country located on the Arabian Peninsula. Most of the peninsula is inappropriate to agriculture because of huge expanses of desert. The landscape is a level area that is more than 2,500 feet high. The Qatar Peninsula is low-lying except for a few hills in the west of the country. There is little rainfall except for occasional winter showers. There is a shortage of fresh water in Qatar. The capital of Qatar is Doha. The main language is Arabic. It is a constitutional monarchy. The head of state is an emir. Qatar gained independence in 1971. The current Emir and Prime Minister is Hamad bin Khalifa and the Prime Minister is Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr Al Thani.
The key industries are basic oil production and refining, fertilizers, petrochemicals, steel reinforcing bars and cement. Exports are petroleum products, fertilizers and steel. Imports include machinery and transport equipment, food and chemicals. The two major natural resources are oil and natural gases. Oil has given it a per capita gross domestic product comparable to some of the leading western European industrial economies. The country has 15.2 billion barrels of oil reserves and an enormous 910.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Qatars gas reserves represent about 15 percent of the worlds total gas output, and is the third largest gas reserve in the world. Most of the gas reserves are centered around northern fields, which is the largest gas field in the world. An interesting fact about the gas field is that it contains no oil.
The total population is about 885,000 people (July 2006 estimate) of which approximately 200,000 people are citizens. Approximately 73% of the people are between the ages of 15 and 64, with there being about twice as many men then women. About 4% of the people are over 64. The life expectancy rate in Qatar is about 74 years. The ethnic groups in Qatar are about 40% Arabs, 18% Indian and Pakistani, 10% Iranian and the remaining 14% are other nationalities. Approximately 95% of the people are of the Muslim religion.
The Qatari government dominates the economy. The states role in the economy remains central, as the government controls the oil revenue. Qatar uses its oil wealth to fuel rapid growth and development, relying heavily on imported labor and expertise. In 2004, Qatars exports totaled $18.7 billion and its imports $6 billion. The countrys main trading partners are Japan, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which is located in the Middle East, near the southern border. Qatar is a also a member of three trading organizations, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Being a part of OPEC and OAPEC helps Qatar form policies with other oil exporters such as Saudi Arabia
; a key contributor to the Gulf Cooperation Council is Jordan, a country in the region with a strong position in oil. Qatari foreign ministries are also active in the Gulf. Qatar is a member of the Opec regional group that includes North America (Alaska, Canada, and the United States), Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Qatar’s oil reserves are almost equal to that of the United Kingdom, Spain, and the United States with only a few exceptions. The main concern of the Qatar Government is, that oil revenues are falling, so the country’s economy will decline and its government will fall apart.
Qatar’s economy is weak.
Qatar has a significant income crisis, which has caused a decline in its revenue. In 2000, the Ministry of Finance had to raise about 5 percent of the country’s revenue to balance its budget. Qatari citizens have been unable to get by even on low-carbon, low-cost and less energy-efficient cars in the current regime. The government is pushing the oil price, which has been rising to $27.95 per U.S. gallon, to below $37 in 2013, which is not sustainable. In recent years, the official rate for gasoline has been raised to $33 annually, the last three months being February 1-March 14. The rate for imported gasoline is nearly three times higher. On the contrary, Qatar is making almost double the amount in gasoline. In 2004, Qatar produced $14.1 billion of oil reserves, up 6.5 percent compared to 2005. But its budget deficit now exceeds $150 billion, which creates a substantial government pressure that could lead to problems for the country. The Qatari government has also cut the country’s budget by nearly three times the size of Japan, Japan, and the United States combined. In March of last year, the country’s economy grew at 2 percent a year, and the country grew at 17.6 percent. The government’s budget deficit has risen to almost $1.5 trillion after Qatari foreign investment alone, according to the United Nations. During the past six years, many of the major oil refineries in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have had to close due to the low cost of their operation.[8] The Qatar government is a major player in the Middle East and Asia. It is also contributing directly to the growth of the economy in Qatar. The Qatari government continues to influence the foreign investment climate in the region by producing and selling large quantities of refined oil and exporting large quantities of refined oil products domestically. One of its main suppliers is Russia (in the form of natural gas, which it exports to Qatar). The government is an economic player based on oil, which in Qatari form has become a very important means for the development and protection of Saudi Arabia. The government’s oil production is mainly based in Qatar so one of the problems that the Government of Qatar has seen is its lack of investment as a major source of revenue.
Ribbon trade
The amount of Qatar’s crude available through the Qatari oil reserves is very different from most other countries. Qatar’s crude is mainly traded through its other major companies