Qatar: 1920 to Present: Middle East
CULTURAL SOCIOLOGY OF THE MIDDLE EAST, ASIA, AND AFRICA: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA, pp. I334-I335, A. Stanton, E. Ramsamy, P. Seybolt, C. Elliott, eds., Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2012
4 Pages Posted: 1 Jan 2013
Date Written: December 31, 2012
Abstract
The State of Qatar is a small peninsula situated in the Persian Gulf and located west of Saudi Arabia, northeast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), southeast of Kuwait and Iraq, and southwest of Iran. It is an emirate (a territory ruled by an emir, who is the head of a royal family) with a mix of sharia (Islamic law) and a civil code of law comprising the constitution. It has been ruled by the Al-Thani family since 1916, based on the signing of an agreement with the British Empire establishing Qatar as one of its protectorates in the Middle East. Qatar gained independence in 1971 after it considered joining a federation with Bahrain and UAE (seven former Trucial States), a federation that failed to materialize.
Keywords: Qatar, Middle East
JEL Classification: A00
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation