Welcome to Qatar, a tiny middle-eastern country a similar size to Jamaica. Unlike Jamaica, Qatar is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. The IMF predict that this year it will have the highest GDP per capita in the world.
Qatar is due to host the FIFA World Cup next year. So far this has been mired in controversy with alleged bribes and concerns about working conditions for the foreign labourers building the three new state of the art stadiums for the games.
Qatar is home to a vast foreign workforce, in fact, migrants make up 85.7% of Qatar’s population! As a result of this, men outnumber women by three to one.
Similarly to nearby Bahrain, the Qatari economy transitioned from pearl diving to oil production in the twentieth century. Nowadays the majority of Qatari exports are oil, or oil-related products, but Qatar is making efforts to diversify. You’ve probably heard of Qatar Airways, Qatar’s jumbo-sized airline. Qatar Airways serves over 78 countries making it the 6th largest in the world in terms of the number of countries served. It also apparently has a mean business class.
Until recently Qatar was planning to construct a huge 40km causeway to Bahrain, however this infrastructure project is now on the back-burner due to the Qatar diplomatic crisis. This crisis unfolded in 2017 with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism. Saudi Arabia closed their border with Qatar, effectively turning Qatar into an island nation. Thankfully the crisis came to an end this January, and Saudi Arabia has now reopened their border with Qatar.
Right, that’s enough football, oil and diplomacy for one night. Tomorrow we’re off to Romania!
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