卡达(Qatar)

正式名称卡达国（State of Qatar）

位於波斯湾西岸的独立国家。面积11,427平方公里。人口约596,000（2001）。首都：杜哈。主要人口为阿拉伯人及南亚和伊朗外来移民工作者。语言︰阿拉伯语（官方语）、英语。宗教︰伊斯兰教（国教）。货币︰卡达里亚尔（QR）。卡达地区大都多石、多砂且贫瘠，为盐质平地、沙丘沙漠及乾燥平原。主因石油和天然气的出口而使卡达人的平均每人国民生产毛额跃居世界最高之列。政府拥有全部农田并引导卡达的大部分经济活动，而私人企业只能参与贸易和小规模的承包活动。为君主国家，法律基础是伊斯兰教法律。国家元首暨政府首脑是埃米尔，由首相辅助。18～19世纪部分由巴林人控制，後来成为鄂图曼帝国名义上的领土，直到第一次世界大战。1916年成为英国的保护地。1940年发现石油，卡达於是迅速现代化。1971年宣布独立，终止与英国的保护关系。1991年在波斯湾战争中为轰炸伊拉克的空军基地之一。

English version：

Qatar

Independent emirate on the western coast of the Persian Gulf. Area: 4,412 sq mi (11,427 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 561,000. Capital: Doha. Most of the population is Arab, with South Asian and Iranian minorities who are often migrant workers. Languages: Arabic (official), English. Religion: Islam (official). Currency: Qatar riyal. Qatar is mostly stony, sandy, and barren, and consists of salt flats, dune desert, and arid plains. Largely because of oil and natural gas exports, Qatar's gross national product per capita is one of the highest in the world. The government owns all of the agricultural land and generates most of the economic activity. The private sector participates in trade and contracting on a limited scale. It is a monarchy, and its basis of legislation is Islamic law. The head of state and government is the emir assisted by the prime minister. It was partly controlled by Bahrain in the 18th-19th century and was nominally part of the Ottoman empire until World War I. In 1916 it became a British protectorate. Oil was discovered in 1940, and the country rapidly modernized. Qatar declared independence in 1971, when the British protectorate ended. In 1991 it served as a base for air strikes against Iraq in the Persian Gulf War.