GENERAL INFORMATION

State- Sovereign and Independent Arab State Capital City - Doha

NATIONAL FLAG

Maroon color with a broad vertical white stripe at the pole, the two colors being separated with a nine serrated line.

MEANING OF THE FLAG

The white color reflects the internationally recognized symbol of peace. The maroon color symbolizes the bloodshed during the several wars Qatar has under- gone. The nine point serrated line indicates that Qatar is the 9th member of the reconciled Emirates of the Arabian Gulf in the wake of concluding the Qatari-British treaty in 1916.

NATIONAL ANTHEM

“As Salam Al Amiri” is the Qatar National Anthem. Sheikh Mubarak bin Saif Al-Thani wrote the song and music was composed by Abdul Aziz Nasser Obaidan.

NATIONAL SYMBOL/EMBLEM

The emblem shows two crossed white bent swords in a yellow circle. Between the swords there is a ship (dhow) sailing on blue and white waves beside an island with two palm trees. The circle is surrounded by a round doughnut-shaped object, which is divided horizontally. In the white section the name of the State of Qatar is written in maroon Kufi writing and in the maroon section, the English translation is written in white writing. The Coat of Arms is sometimes shown without the English translation, the middle circle is occasionally yellow and the bent swords are sometimes brown instead of white.

NATIONAL HOLIDAY

National Day- December 18th

NATIONAL ANIMAL

Oryx

TIME ZONE

GMT +3

CURRENCY

Qatari Riyal (QR) 1 QR = 100 dirhams. The Central Bank of Qatar has kept a fixed exchange rate of QR 3.64 to U.S. $1.

PHONE DIAL CODE

+974

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE

Arabic is the official language. English is widely spoken.

RELIGION

Islam is Qatar’s official religion. Most inhabitants in Qatar practice the Sunni Islam religion.