Qatar and its population breakup

The most remarkable thing about Qatar is that it’s Qatari population is only 313,000 whereas the expatriate population is about 2.3 million. Of this 2.6 million population about half of population lives in the capital city of Doha. There are about 7 expatriate for every Qatari native. There are about 300 males for every 100 females in the country overall and the most probable reason is the expatriate population. For Qatari population the sex ratio is natural which is 97 males per 104 females. All these numbers are taken from online sources and may have discrepancy but you get the idea that Qatar depends a lot on migration to get things done. 

Qatar when compared to the size of an Indian state it will be close to Tripura and population of 26 lakhs (I am always comfortable with lakhs and crores than millions and billions) every other Tier I/II city can be counted in. 

Let’s look at where is the expatriate population coming from. As per the available online information here is the breakup. India is one of the highest. 

 

Geographical Location and Economic Indicators

The geographical location of Qatar is also special. It is only connected to Saudi Arabia and border is about 74 KM long shown below. Qatar would have been Island except for the border with Saudi Arabia. The neighbors Bahrain and Saudi Arabia had estranged relations and there was an embargo instituted by Saudi Arabia led group supported by UAE, Bahrain and Egypt. Finally in January 2021 the deal was brokered by Kuwait and US and the normal relations are being maintained so far. Qatar relations with Iran and Turkey, the Al Jazeera network and support of groups like Muslim Brotherhood and other such organizations by Qatar were major points of contention. The deal was not published publicly but Al Jazeera is still up and running and Qatar played a significant role with Taliban and US treaty. So there may specific clauses that resulted in the deal.  

Qatar is resource rich and world number four  exporter of natural gas and second in export of helium which is a by-product of natural gas.

Qatar’s GDP has shown exponential growth after 2000 (shown below) and currently it’s GDP per capita is one of the highest in the world about $ 62K and also rated very high in HDI by the United Nations.

This growth is driven by the Al Thani family who rule the state like an autocrat. Until 1971 Qatar used to be protectorate of British and then it gained independence. Al Thani family has controlled the country for hundreds of years now. Qatari native population are very small but they tend to get good education in countries like US and are mostly in leadership positions in government and private sectors. All the skilled and non-skilled laborers are fulfilled from South Asian countries as shown by the expatriate population. During the Arab Spring Qatar was not affected as the Qataris are taken care by government very well and are even paid stipends.

Qatar emerging as a mediator

Qatar has been trying to establish itself as negotiator between many conflicts like the Lebanon, Sudan, Yemen and latest one in Afghanistan. The Taliban has political office in Doha and negotiating with US government with Qatari intervention. It also an ally to US with presence of about 10000 US forces in their Al Udeid Air Base. Hence most of the US evacuation flights were going to Qatar from Kabul recently when Afghans and foreign wanted to flee the country. 

This approach is very intentional on part of Qatar to get into conflicts and help to mediate them. They want to grow their influence further globally. For such a small country Qatar has significant influence on politics and commerce. They will be hosting FIFA World Cup next year as well as Asian Games later on in order to enhance their soft power.  

Qatar’s native population has many rights and entitlements though their democratic voting rights are not very clear. In contrast the large amount of expatriate population don’t seem to have lot of rights and the working conditions as per some news reports are not that great. If there is anyone who can shed some light on expatriate conditions there it will be great.  

Qatar being small country, under an Autocratic Emir with limited rights for common Qatari citizens is all acceptable by world. There is definitely a difference between states like Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and other who are much bigger than Qatar but are battered down world powers again and again.