text:
State of Qatar دولة قطر
Dawlat Qaṭar |
Anthem: السلام الأميري (Arabic) As Salam al Amiri (transliteration) Amiri Salute |
Location and extent of Qatar (dark green) on the Arabian Peninsula.
Capital and largest city |
Doha 25°18′N 51°31′E / 25.300°N 51.517°E |
Official languages | Arabic | |||||
Demonym | Qatari | |||||
Government | Unitary absolute monarchy | |||||
- | Emir | Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani | ||||
- | Prime Minister | Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani | ||||
Legislature | Consultative Assembly | |||||
Establishment | ||||||
- | Qatar National Day | 18 December 1878 | ||||
- | Declare Independence | 1 September 1971 |
- | Independence from the United Kingdom | 3 September 1971 |
Area | ||||||
- | Total | 11,571 km2 (164th) 4,467.6 sq mi |
- | Water (%) | negligible | ||||
Population | ||||||
- | 2013 estimate | 2,035,136[1] (148th) | ||||
- | 2010 census | 1,699,435[2] (148th) | ||||
- | Density | 176/km2 (76th) 455/sq mi |
GDP (PPP) | 2012 estimate | |||||
- | Total | $182.004 billion[3] | ||||
- | Per capita | $102,943[3] | ||||
GDP (nominal) | 2011 estimate | |||||
- | Total | $173.847 billion[3] | ||||
- | Per capita | $98,329[3] | ||||
Gini (2007) | 41.1[4] medium |
HDI (2013) | 0.834[5] very high · 36th |
Currency | Riyal (QAR ) |
Time zone | AST (UTC+3) | |||||
- | Summer (DST) | not observed (UTC+3) | ||||
Drives on the | right | |||||
Calling code | +974 | |||||
ISO 3166 code | QA | |||||
Internet TLD |
Qatar (i/ˈkɑːtɑr/, i/ˈkɑːtər/ or i/kəˈtɑr/;[6][7] Arabic: قطر Qaṭar [ˈqɑtˤɑr]; local vernacular pronunciation: [ɡɪtˤɑr][8]), officially the State of Qatar (Arabic: دولة قطر Dawlat Qaṭar), is a sovereign Arab state, located in Western Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf. A strait in the Persian Gulf separates Qatar from the nearby island state of Bahrain.
Qatar is an absolute monarchy that has been ruled by the Al Thani family since the mid-19th century. Before the discovery of oil, Qatar was noted mainly for pearl hunting and sea trade. It was a British protectorate until it gained independence in 1971. In 1995, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani became Emir when he deposed his father, Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, in a peaceful coup d'état.[9]
Qatar has the world's third largest natural gas reserves which has fueled Qatar to become world's richest country per capita and achieve the highest human development in the Arab World and 36th highest globally, furthermore it is recognized as a high income economy by the World Bank and also the 19th most peaceful country in the world.[10][11] Qatar is currently undergoing transformation under the National Vision 2030, in which it expects to achieve advanced, sustainable and diversified economy.[12] In order to promote tourism, Qatar has invested billions into improving infrastructure, it held the 2006 Asian Games and is the host of 2022 FIFA World Cup, becoming the first Arab country to host either of the events.[13]
More recently, Qatar has been seen as a more influential player in Arab world. Qatar supported several rebel groups during the Arab Spring both financially and by asserting global influence through its expanding news group, Al Jazeera.[14][15][16] It maintains close relationship with western and eastern powers, and has often tried to bridge the gap between Muslim and non-Muslim states. Qatar has a population of around 1.8 million people, however only 250,000 of these are citizens;the majority of the population are foreigners who work and live in the state.[17] It is also one of the few countries in which citizens do not have to pay any taxes.[18][19]
The name may derive from Qatar, believed to refer to the Qatari town of Zubara, an important trading port and town in the region in ancient times.
In Standard Arabic, the name is pronounced [ˈqɑtˤɑr], while in the local dialect it is [ˈɡitˤar].[8]
Ancient history[edit]
Recent discoveries in Wadi Debay'an, a site located a few kilometers south of Zubarah, indicate human presence from 7,500 years ago. Amongst the findings were a wall built of stone, possibly used as a fish trap.[20] Discovery of a 6th millennium BC site at Shagra, in southeastern Qatar revealed the key role the sea (the Persian Gulf) played in the lives of Shagra's inhabitants. Excavations at Al Khor in northeastern Qatar, Bir Zekrit and Ras Abaruk, and the discovery there of pottery, flint, flint-scraper tools, and painted ceramic vessels indicates Qatar's connection with the Al-Ubaid civilization, which flourished in the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers in present-day Iraq during the period of 5th–4th millennium BC. It is thought that Mesopotamian fisherman working the rich fishing banks off the Arabian coast visited local settlements, bringing pottery with them and exchanging it for fresh meat in an improvised barter-based trade system.[21] The first potsherds of the Ubaid Mesopotamia were found by a Danish expedition in Al Da'asa in 1961, but not identified until later. A second expedition was held in 1973–74 led by Beatrice De Cardi.[22] Contact between the people of Mesopotamia and the eastern Arabian coast (including Qatar) continued over centuries.
In the early 3rd millennium, Sumerians settled on Tarut Island, off the Arabian peninsula coast, approximately 100 kilometers north-west of Qatar. Later, from 2450 to 1700 BC, Dilmun, a peaceful trading civilization, was centered in Bahrain.[23] Evidence that Qatar was part of the complex trading network is found from the presence of Barbar pottery, a product of the Dilmun civilization, in Ras Abrouk.[24]
Qatar then emerged as one of the richest places in the Persian Gulf, with regard to the trade and commerce between the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC. This period witnessed the spread of the Bronze Age cultures and civilizations from Mesopotamia to the Indus Valley settlements of India. Trade between Mesopotamia and Indus Valley was channeled through the Persian Gulf, with the western coast of Qatar playing a vital role in the transshipment of the commercial goods as the discovery of fragments of Barbar pottery in Ras Abaruk reveals it. Qatar also attracted seasonal migrants during the period of the Bronze Age.[21]
The Kassite of the Zagros Mountains, which is located in the Iranian province of Lorestan, assumed power in Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire after circa 1531 BC to circa 1155 BC and spread their influence throughout the Persian Gulf region including a small island on the bay of Al Khor in the north of Doha. Ceramics, which were of Kassite origin that were unearthened while excavating in Al Khor for archaeological evidences, clearly indicate the close links between Qatar and Babylonia during this period.[21]
The Greco-Roman trade between Europe and India was carried on via the Persian Gulf during 140 BC. Archaeological evidence found in Qatar suggests the Greek and Roman influences in the peninsula, particularly at Ras Abaruk, included stone structures, such as dwellings, cairns, hearths and low mounds containing large quantities of fish bones. Excavation of the dwelling revealed two chambers; linked by a cross-wall, with a third room open to the sea. Ras Abaruk was a temporary fishing station where periodic landing were made to dry fish during this period. In fact, pearls and dried fish were the major items for exportation from Qatar during the Greco-Roman period.[21]
The whole Persian Gulf region afterwards emerged as the most important trade centre, linking between the West and the East, during the time of the Sassanid Persian Empire in the 3rd century AD. Cargoes of copper, spices, sandalwood, teak, blackwood, etc., arriving from the East were exchanged for shipments of purple dye, clothing, pearls, dates, gold and silver. Qatar played a pre-eminent role in that commercial activity contributing at least two of these commodities to the Sassanid trade – purple dye and precious pearls.[21]
Advent of Islam[edit]
Although the peninsula land mass that makes up Qatar has sustained humans for thousands of years, for the bulk of its history, the arid climate fostered only short-term settlements by Nomadic tribes.
Islam was spread in the entire Arabian region by the end of the 7th century, resulting in the Islamization of the native Arabian pagans. With the spread of Islam in Qatar, the Islamic prophet Muhammad sent his first envoy, Al Ala Al-Hadrami, to Al-Mundhir Ibn Sawa Al-Tamimi, the ruler of Bahrain (which extended from the coast of Kuwait to the south of Qatar, including Al-Hasa and Bahrain Islands), in the year 628, inviting him to accept Islam as he had invited other kingdoms and empires of his time such as Byzantium and Persia. Mundhir, in response to Muhammad, announced his acceptance of Islam, and the inhabitants of Qatar became Muslim, heralding the beginning of the Islamic era in Qatar. However, it is likely that some settled populations in Qatar did not instantaneously convert.
During the Umayyad and the Abbasid rules in Damascus and Baghdad respectively, there was further growth of trade and commerce in Qatar. Yaqut Al Hamawi, an Arab historian and biographer, who died in 1229, considered Qatar as a village famed as a camel and horse breeding centre during the Umayyad period. During the ascendancy of the Abbasid in Baghdad, the pearling industry in the rich waters around Qatar developed considerably and the demand for Qatari pearl increased in the East, which extended as far as China. With the expansion of the mercantile activities on the coasts of Qatar, settlements began to grow on the north of Qatar, particularly at Murwab in the Yoghbi area between Zubarah and Umm el-Ma with more than 100 small stone built houses.[21]
At the beginning of the 16th century, the Portuguese Empire enhanced their power and influence over the Persian Gulf after establishing hold over the Strait of Hormuz. The Portuguese Empire settled its commercial relations with many Persian Gulf harbors including Qatar, where it exported gold, silver, silk textiles, Dianthus, all kinds of pearls, amber and horses.[21] This lasted until the Portuguese were expelled from Qatar and Oman in 1522 by the Ottoman Navy.[25]
In the 18th century, migrants established pearling and trading settlements along the coast of present-day Qatar. In the early part of the century, the Bani Khalid people extended their power in Eastern Arabia to the area from Qatar to Kuwait. Zubarah, which had already emerged as one of the key sea ports in the Persian Gulf in view of the expanding pearl trade to many different parts of the world, became the headquarters of the Bani Khalid administration in Qatar and the principal transit port for their Eastern and the Central Arabian territories. Products imported from Surat in India to the port of Zubarah included Surat blue cottons and other piece goods, 'cambay' cotton robes, chauders, shawls, bamboo, coffee, sugar, pepper, spices, iron, tin, oil, ghee and rice. Some of the imported goods were retained at Zubarah for consumption there and in the immediate vicinity, while the remainder were conveyed by camel to Dariyah in Nejd and to Al Hasa, taking in the other districts under the jurisdiction of Bani Khalid.[21]
Bahraini rule (1783–1868)[edit]
In 1783, the Al Khalifa family of Bahrain invaded and annexed Qatar.[citation needed][26]
In 1821, as punishment for piracy, an East India Company vessel bombarded Doha, destroying the town and forcing hundreds of residents to flee. The residents of Doha had no idea why they were being attacked. As a result, Qatari rebel groups began to emerge in order to fight the Al-Khalifas and to seek independence from Bahrain. In 1825, the House of Thani was established with Sheikh Mohammed bin Thani as the first leader.[27]
Although Qatar had the legal status of a dependency, resentment festered against the Bahraini Al Khalifas along the eastern seaboard of the Qatari peninsula. In 1867, the Al Khalifas launched an effort to crush the Qatari rebels, sending a massive naval force to Al Wakrah. This resulted in the maritime Qatari–Bahraini War of 1867–1868, where Bahraini forces sacked and looted Doha and Al Wakrah.[28] However, the Bahraini aggression was in violation of the 1820 Anglo-Bahraini Treaty. This attack, and the Qatari counterattack, prompted the British political agent, Colonel Lewis Pelly, to impose a settlement in 1868. His mission to Bahrain and Qatar and the peace treaty that resulted were milestones in Qatar's history because they implicitly recognized the distinctness of Qatar from Bahrain and explicitly acknowledged the position of Sheikh Mohammed bin Thani, an important representative of the peninsula's tribes. The diplomatic response of the British to this violation set into motion the political forces that would eventuate in the founding of the state of Qatar on 18 December 1878 (for this reason, the date of 18 December is celebrated each year as Qatar National Day). In addition to censuring Bahrain for its breach of agreement, the British Protectorate (per Colonel Lewis Pelly) asked to negotiate with a representative from Qatar.
The request carried with it a tacit recognition of Qatar's status as distinct from Bahrain. The Qataris chose as their negotiator the entrepreneur and long-time resident of Doha, Muhammed bin Thani. The Al Thanis had taken relatively little part in Persian Gulf politics, but the diplomatic foray ensured their participation in the movement towards independence and their hegemony as the future ruling family, a dynasty that continues to this day. The results of the negotiations left the nation with a new-found sense of political identity, although it did not gain official standing as a British protectorate until 1916.
Ottoman rule (1871–1916)[edit]
Under military and political pressure from the Governor of the Ottoman Vilayet of Baghdad, Midhat Pasha, the House of Thani in Qatar submitted to Ottoman rule in 1871.[29] By the end of that year, Ottoman rule extended from Kuwait to Qatar.[29] The Ottoman government imposed reformist (Tanzimat) measures concerning taxation and land registration to fully integrate these areas into the empire.[29]
In March 1893, at the Battle of Wajbah (10 miles west of Doha), Shaikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani defeated the Ottomans. Although Qatar did not gain full independence from the Ottoman Empire, the result of the battle forced a treaty that would later form the basis of Qatar emerging as an autonomous separate country within the empire.[30]
The British initially sought out Qatar and the Persian Gulf as an intermediary vantage point en route to their colonial interests in India; although, the discovery of petroleum and natural gas in the early 20th century would reinvigorate their interest. During the 19th century, the time of Britain's formative ventures into the region, the Al Khalifa clan reigned over the northern Qatari peninsula from the nearby island of Bahrain to the west.
British rule (1916–1971)[edit]
The Ottoman Empire fell into disorder after losing battles in different fronts in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. Qataris took part in the Arab revolt against the Ottomans. The revolt was successful and Ottoman rule in Qatar collapsed.
The United Kingdom and the Ottoman Empire accorded their recognition to Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani and his successors' right to rule over the whole of the Qatari Peninsula. The Ottomans renounced all their rights to Qatar and following the outbreak of the First World War, Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani, who was pro-British, forced the Ottomans to abandon Doha in 1915.[31]
As a result of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, Qatar became a British protectorate on 3 November 1916. On that day, the United Kingdom, in order to bring Qatar under its Trucial System of Administration, signed a treaty with Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani. While Sheikh Abdullah agreed not to enter into any relations with any other power without prior consent of the British Government, Percy Zachariah Cox, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, who signed the treaty on behalf of his government, guaranteed the protection of Qatar "from all aggression by sea".[31]
On 5 May 1935, Sheikh Abdullah signed another treaty, which was able to obtain Britain's agreement for the protection of Qatar from inside as well as any attacks from external forces.[31] Oil reserves were first discovered in 1939. However, exploitation was delayed by World War II.
The reach of the British Empire diminished after World War II, especially following Indian independence in 1947. In the 1950s, oil was beginning to replace pearling and fishing as Qatar's main source of revenue. Oil revenues began to fund the expansion and modernisation of Qatar's infrastructure. Pressure for a British withdrawal from the Arab emirates in the Persian Gulf increased during the 1950s, and the British granted Kuwait's independence in 1961. When Britain officially announced in 1968 that it would disengage politically (though not economically) from the Persian Gulf in three years' time, Qatar joined Bahrain and seven other Trucial States in a federation. Regional disputes, however, quickly compelled Qatar to resign and declare independence from the coalition that would evolve into the United Arab Emirates.
Independence (1971)[edit]
On 3 September 1971, Qatar officially gained its independence from the United Kingdom and became an independent sovereign state.[21] In 1972, Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani seized power in a palace coup after infighting in the ruling family. In 1974, the Qatar General Petroleum Corporation took control of all oil operations in the country, and Qatar rapidly became a rich country.[32]
In 1991, Qatar played a significant role in the Persian Gulf War, particularly during the Battle of Khafji in which Qatari tanks rolled through the streets of the town providing fire support for Saudi Arabian National Guard units which were fighting against units of the Iraqi Army. Qatar also allowed Coalition troops from Canada to use the country as an airbase to launch aircraft on CAP duty.
In 1995, Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani seized control of the country from his father Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, with the support of the armed forces and cabinet, and neighbouring states.[33] Under Emir Hamad, Qatar has experienced a moderate degree of liberalization, including the launch of the Al Jazeera television station (1996), the endorsement of women's suffrage or right to vote in municipal elections (1999), drafting its first written constitution (2005), and inauguration of a Roman Catholic church (2008). In 2010, Qatar was selected to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and will be the first country in the Middle East to host the tournament. The Emir says Qatar will hold its first national legislative elections in 2013.
Qatar served as the US Central Command headquarters and one of the main launching sites of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.[34] In March 2005, a suicide bombing killed a British teacher at the Doha Players Theater, shocking for a country that had not previously experienced acts of terrorism. The bombing was carried out by Omar Ahmed Abdullah Ali, an Egyptian residing in Qatar, who had suspected ties to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.[35][36] In 2011, Qatar joined NATO operations in Libya and reportedly armed Libyan opposition groups.[37] It is also currently a major funder of weapons for rebel groups in the Syrian civil war.[38] Qatar is pursuing an Afghan peace deal and in January 2012 the Afghan Taliban said they were setting up a political office in Qatar to facilitate talks.
On 25 June 2013, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani became the Emir of Qatar after his father handed over power in a televised speech.[39]
Government and politics[edit]
Under the leadership of the Al Thani family, whose origins can be traced back to the Banu Tamim tribe. The Al Thani dynasty has been ruling Qatar since the family house was established in 1825.[40] There is no independent legislature, and political parties are forbidden.[41] Parliamentary elections, which were originally promised for 2005, have been postponed indefinitely.[41]
The eighth Emir of Qatar is Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, whose father Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani handed power to him on 25 June 2013.[42] The supreme chancellor has the exclusive power to appoint and remove the prime minister and cabinet ministers who, together, comprise the Council of Ministers, which is the supreme executive authority in the country.[43] The Council of Ministers also initiates legislation. Laws and decrees proposed by the Council of Ministers are referred to the Advisory Council (Majilis Al Shura) for discussion after which they are submitted to the Emir for ratification.[43]
A Consultative Assembly or Majlis Al-Shura has limited legislative authority to draft and approve laws, but the Emir has final say on all matters.[40] No legislative elections have been held since 1970 when there were partial elections to the body.[40] Elections to the Majlis al-Shura have been announced, and then postponed, several times.[44] In 2011 the seventh Emir announced that elections to the council would be held in the second half of 2013.[45]
In 2003, Qatar adopted a new constitution that provided for the direct election of 30 of the 45 members of Advisory Council.[40][44] As of 2012, the Council is composed entirely of members appointed by the Emir.[40] An elected 29-member Central Municipal Council (CMC) has limited consultative authority aimed at improving municipal services.[40] The CMC makes recommendations to the Ministry for Municipal Affairs and Agriculture. Disagreement between the CMC and the Ministry can be brought to the Council of Ministers for resolution.[44] Municipal elections are scheduled for every four years.[44] The most recent elections for the council were in May 2011.[40] Before 1999, members of the CMC were appointed by the government.
Qatar's legal system is a mixture of civil law and Islamic law.[46][47]Shari'a (Islamic law) is one of the sources of Qatari legislation, and is applied to aspects of family law, inheritance, and certain criminal acts.[48] In some cases in family courts, a female's testimony is worth half a man's and in some cases a female witness is not accepted at all.[49] Codified family law was introduced in 2006. Sharia courts were abolished in 2003.
Under the provisions of Qatar's sponsorship law, sponsors have the unilateral power to cancel workers' residency permits, deny workers' ability to change employers, report a worker as "absconded" to police authorities, and deny permission to leave the country.[50] As a result, sponsors may restrict workers' movements and workers may be afraid to report abuses or claim their rights.[50] According to the ITUC, the visa sponsorship system allows the exaction of forced labour by making it difficult for a migrant worker to leave an abusive employer or travel overseas without permission.[51] Qatar also does not maintain wage standards for its immigrant labor.
Many cases of ill-treatment of immigrant labour have been observed. The Nepalese ambassador to Qatar, Maya Kumari Sharma, described the emirate as an "open jail".[52] Qatar does not have national occupational health standards or guidelines, and workplace injuries are the third highest cause of accidental deaths.[53]
In May 2012, Qatari officials declared their intention to allow the establishment of an independent trade union.[54] Qatar also announced it will scrap its sponsor system for foreign labour, which requires that all foreign workers be sponsored by local employers, who in some cases hold workers' passports and can deny them permission to change jobs.[54]
As of 2005, certain provisions of the Qatari Criminal Code allowed punishments such as flogging and stoning to be imposed as criminal sanctions. The UN Committee Against Torture found that these practices constituted a breach of the obligations imposed by the UN Convention Against Torture.[55][56] Qatar retains the death penalty, mainly for threats against national security.
Alcohol consumption is legal in Qatar. Luxury hotels are allowed to sell alcohol to their adult customers.[57][58] Foreign nationals may obtain a permit to purchase alcohol for personal consumption. The Qatar Distribution Company (a subsidiary of Qatar Airways) is permitted to import alcohol and pork; it operates the one and only liquor store in the country, which also sells pork to holders of liquor licences.[59] Qatari officials have also indicated a willingness to allow alcohol in "fan zones" at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[60]
Until recently, restaurants on the Pearl-Qatar (a man-made island near Doha) were allowed to serve alcoholic drinks.[57][58] In December 2011, however, restaurants on the Pearl were told to stop selling alcohol.[57][61] No explanation was given for the ban.[57][58] Speculation about the reason includes the government's desire to project a more pious image in advance of the country's first election of a royal advisory body and rumors of a financial dispute between the government and the resort's developers.[61]
Foreign relations[edit]
Qatar was also an early member of OPEC and a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It is a member of the Arab League. The country has not accepted compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction.[40]
Qatar hosts the Al Udeid Air Base, which acts as the hub for all American air operations in the Persian Gulf.[62] Qatar has bilateral relationships with a variety of foreign powers. It has allowed American forces to use an air base to send supplies to Iraq and Afghanistan.[63]
Qatar signed a defense cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia,[64] with whom it shares the largest single non-associated gas field in the world. It was the second nation, the first being France, to have publicly announced its recognition of the Libyan opposition's National Transitional Council as the legitimate government of Libya amidst the 2011 Libyan civil war.[65] Qatar's relations with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are strained, owing to the perceived closeness between the Qatari government and the Muslim Brotherhood.[33]
The history of Qatar's alliances provides insight into the basis of their policy. Between 1760 and 1971, Qatar sought formal protection from the high transitory powers of the Ottomans, British, the Al-Khalifa's from Bahrain, the Persians, and the Wahhabis from Saudi Arabia.[66][page needed] According to leaked documents published in The New York Times, Qatar's record of counter-terrorism efforts was the "worst in the region" although Qatar had been a generous host to the American military.[67] The cable suggested that Qatar's security service was "hesitant to act against known terrorists out of concern for appearing to be aligned with the U.S. and provoking reprisals".[67]
Qatar has hosted academic, religious, political, and economic conferences. The 11th annual Doha Forum recently brought in key thinkers, professionals of various backgrounds, and political figures from all over the world to discuss democracy, media and information technology, free trade, and water security issues. This year was the first year the forum featured the Middle East Economic Future conference.[68] In more recent times, Qatar has been active in initiating peaceful talks between rival factions across the globe. Notable among these include the Darfur Agreement. The Doha Declaration is the basis of the peace process in Darfur and it has achieved significant gains on the ground for the African region. Notable achievements included the restoration of security and stability, progress made in construction and reconstruction processes, return of displaced residents and uniting of Darfur people to face challenges and push forward the peace process.[69] Qatar was one of the main backers of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. Qatar lent or gave Egypt $7.5 billion during the year he was in power.[70]
The Qatar Armed Forces are the military forces of Qatar. The country maintains a modest military force of approximately 11,800 men, including an army (8,500), navy (1,800) and air force (1,500). Qatar's defense expenditures accounted for approximately 4.2% of gross national product in 1993. Qatar has recently signed defense pacts with the United States and United Kingdom, as well as with France earlier in 1994. Qatar plays an active role in the collective defense efforts of the Gulf Cooperation Council; the other five members are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, and Oman. The presence of a large American military base in the country provides the country with a guaranteed source of defense and national security. In 2008 Qatar spent US$2.355 billion on military expenditures, 2.3% of the gross domestic product.[71] Qatari special forces have been trained by French and other Western countries, and are believed to possess considerable skills.[41] They also helped the Libyan rebels during the 2011 Battle of Tripoli.[41]
Administrative divisions[edit]
Since 2004, Qatar has been divided into seven municipalities (Arabic: baladiyah).[72]
For statistical purposes, the municipalities are further subdivided into 98 zones (as of 2010),[73] which are in turn subdivided into blocks.[74]
The Qatari peninsula juts 100 miles (161 km) north into the Persian Gulf from Saudi Arabia. It lies between latitudes 24° and 27° N, and longitudes 50° and 52° E.
Much of the country consists of a low, barren plain, covered with sand. To the southeast lies the Khor al Adaid ("Inland Sea"), an area of rolling sand dunes surrounding an inlet of the Persian Gulf. There are mild winters and very hot, humid summers.
The highest point in Qatar is Qurayn Abu al Bawl at 103 metres (338 ft)[40] in the Jebel Dukhan to the west, a range of low limestone outcroppings running north-south from Zikrit through Umm Bab to the southern border. The Jebel Dukhan area also contains Qatar's main onshore oil deposits, while the natural gas fields lie offshore, to the northwest of the peninsula.
Biodiversity and environment[edit]
Qatar signed the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity on 11 June 1992, and became a party to the convention on 21 August 1996.[75] It has subsequently produced a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, which was received by the convention on 18 May 2005.[76] A total of 142 fungal species have been recorded from Qatar.[77]
For two decades, Qatar has had the highest per-capita carbon dioxide emissions in the world, at 49.1 metric tons per person in 2008.[78] Qataris are also some of the highest consumers of water per capita per day, using around 400 litres.[79]
Climate data for Qatar | |||||||||||||
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Average high °C (°F) | 22 (72) |
23 (73) |
23 (73) |
32 (90) |
38 (100) |
41 (106) |
41 (106) |
41 (106) |
38 (100) |
35 (95) |
29 (84) |
24 (75) |
32.3 (90) |
Average low °C (°F) | 13 (55) |
13 (55) |
17 (63) |
21 (70) |
25 (77) |
27 (81) |
29 (84) |
29 (84) |
26 (79) |
23 (73) |
19 (66) |
15 (59) |
21.4 (70.5) |
Precipitation mm (inches) | 12.7 (0.5) |
17.8 (0.701) |
15.2 (0.598) |
7.6 (0.299) |
2.5 (0.098) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
2.5 (0.098) |
12.7 (0.5) |
71 (2.794) |
Source: weather.com[80] |
Before the discovery of oil, the economy of the Qatari region focused on fishing and pearl hunting. Report prepared by local governors of Ottoman Empire in 1892 states that total income from pearl hunting in year of 1892 is 2,450,000 kran.[28] After the introduction of the Japanese cultured pearl onto the world market in the 1920s and 1930s, Qatar's pearling industry crashed. Oil was discovered in Qatar in 1940, in Dukhan Field.[81] The discovery transformed the state's economy. Now, the country has a high standard of living. With no income tax,[citation needed] Qatar (along with Bahrain) is one of the countries with the lowest tax rates in the world. The unemployment rate in June 2013 was 0.1%.[82]
Qatar has the highest GDP per capita in the world as of 2012, according to the CIA World Factbook[83] and approximately 14% of households are dollar millionaires.[84] It relies heavily on foreign labor to grow its economy, to the extent that migrant workers comprise 94% of the workforce.[85] The economic growth of Qatar has been almost exclusively based on its petroleum and natural gas industries, which began in 1940.[86] Qatar is the leading exporter of liquefied natural gas.[41] In 2012, it was estimated that Qatar would invest over $120 billion in the energy sector in the next ten years.[87] The country is a member state of OPEC, having joined the organisation in 1961.[88]
In 2012, Qatar retained its title of richest country in the world (according to per capita income) for the third time in a row, having first overtaken Luxembourg in 2010. According to the study published by the Washington based Institute of International Finance, Qatar's per capita GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) was $106,000 (QR387,000) in 2012, helping the country retain its ranking as the world's wealthiest nation. Luxembourg came a distant second with nearly $80,000 and Singapore third with per capita income of about $61,000. The research put Qatar's GDP at $182bn in 2012 and said it had climbed to an all-time high due to soaring gas exports and high oil prices. Its population stood at 1.8 million in 2012. The same study published that Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), with assets of $115bn, was ranked 12th among the richest sovereign wealth funds in the world.[89]
As of 2012, Qatar has proven oil reserves of 15 billion barrels and gas fields that account for more than 5% of the global resource, it is the richest per-capita state in the world. None of its population of about 1.9-million lives below the poverty line and less than 1% is unemployed.[90]
Qatar's economy was in a downturn from 1982 to 1989. OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) quotas on crude oil production, the lower price for oil, and the generally unpromising outlook on international markets reduced oil earnings. In turn, the Qatari government's spending plans had to be cut to match lower income. The resulting recessionary local business climate caused many firms to lay off expatriate staff. With the economy recovering in the 1990s, expatriate populations, particularly from Egypt and South Asia, have grown again.
Oil production will not long remain at peak levels of 500,000 barrels (80,000 m³) per day, as oil fields are projected to be mostly depleted by 2023. However, large natural gas reserves have been located off Qatar's northeast coast. Qatar's proved reserves of gas are the third-largest in the world, exceeding 250 trillion cubic feet (7000 km³). The economy was boosted in 1991 by completion of the $1.5-billion Phase I of North Field gas development. In 1996, the Qatargas project began exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Japan. Further phases of North Field gas development costing billions of dollars are in various stages of planning and development.
Qatar's heavy industrial projects, all based in Umm Said, include a refinery with a 50,000 barrels (8,000 m³) per day capacity, a fertilizer plant for urea and ammonia, a steel plant, and a petrochemical plant. All these industries use gas for fuel. Most are joint ventures between European and Japanese firms and the state-owned Qatar General Petroleum Corporation (QGPC). The U.S. is the major equipment supplier for Qatar's oil and gas industry, and U.S. companies are playing a major role in North Field gas development.[91]
Qatar pursues a vigorous program of "Qatarization", under which all joint venture industries and government departments strive to move Qatari nationals into positions of greater authority. Growing numbers of foreign-educated Qataris, including many educated in the U.S., are returning home to assume key positions formerly occupied by expatriates. In order to control the influx of expatriate workers, Qatar has tightened the administration of its foreign manpower programs over the past several years. Security is the principal basis for Qatar's strict entry and immigration rules and regulations.[92]
International Holdings[edit]
Established in 2005, Qatar Investment Authority is the countries sovereign wealth fund, specializing in foreign investment.[93] Due to billions of dollars in surpluses from oil and gas industry, Qatari government has directed investments into United States, Europe and Asia Pacific. As of 2013, the holdings were valued at $100 billion in assets. Qatar Holding is the international investment arm of QIA, since 2009, Qatar Holding received $30bn-$40bn a year from the state. As of 2013, it has investments in Valentino, Siemens, Printemps, Harrods, The Shard, Barclays Bank, Heathrow Airport, Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Volkswagen, Royal Dutch Shell, Bank of America, Tiffany, Agricultural Bank of China, Sainsbury's, BlackBerry[94] and Santander Brasil.[95][96]
First records about the demographics of Qatar dated back to 1892 which was prepared by Ottoman governors in the region. Based on this census, which only includes the residents in cities, total population of Qatar in 1892 was 9,830[28]
Populations | ||
Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
1904 | 27,000 | — |
1970 | 111,133 | +2.17% |
1986 | 369,079 | +7.79% |
1997 | 522,023 | +3.20% |
2004 | 744,029 | +5.19% |
2010 | 1,699,435 | +14.76% |
2013 | 1,903,447 | +3.85% |
Source: Qatar Statistics Authority (1904–2004);[97] 2010 Census;[2] 2013 est.[98] |
The 2010 census recorded the total population at 1,699,435.[2] In January 2013, the Qatar Statistics Authority estimated the country's population at 1,903,447, of which 1,405,164 were males and 498,283 females.[98] At the time of the first census, held in 1970, the population was 111,133.[97] The population has tripled in the decade to 2011, up from just over 600,000 people in 2001, leaving Qatari nationals as less than 15% of the total population.[99] The influx of male labourers has skewed the gender balance, and women are now just one-quarter of the population.[99]
The make up of ethnic groups is as follows: Qatari (Arab) 15%; other Arab 13%; Indian 24%; Nepali 16%; Filipino 11%; Sri Lankan 5%; Bangladesh: 5%; Pakistani 4%; other: 7%.[17] In 2010, there were 250,000 Filipinos in Qatar, making them the third largest among expatriates.[100]
Projections released by Qatar Statistical Authourity indicates that the total population of Qatar could reach 2.8 million by 2020. Qatar's National Development Strategy (2011–16) had estimated that the country's population would reach 1.78m in 2013, 1.81m in 2014, 1.84m in 2015 and 1.86m in 2016 – the yearly growth rate being merely 2.1 percent. But the country's population have soared to 1.83 million by the end of 2012, showing 7.5 percent growth over the previous year.[101]
Sunni Islam is the predominant religion. According to the 2004 census, 71.5% of the population are Sunni Muslim and about 10% Shi'a Muslim, 8.5% are Christian and 10% are "Other".[40][102][103] Most Qatari citizens practice Wahhabism.[104]
In 2010, the religious affiliation in the country was estimated by the Pew Forum as 67.7% Muslim, 13.8% Christian, 13.8% Hindu and 3.1% Buddhist. Other religions and religiously unaffiliated people accounted for the remaining 1.6%.[105]
In March 2008, a Roman Catholic church, Our Lady of the Rosary, was consecrated in Doha. No missionaries are allowed in the community. The church displays no Christian symbols such as crosses, bells, or a steeple on its exterior.[106]
The Christian population is composed almost entirely of foreigners. Active churches are Mar Thoma Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church from Southern India, Arab Evangelicals from Syria and Palestine, and Anglicans,[107] about 50,000 Catholics and Copts from Egypt.[108] No foreign missionary groups operate openly in the country,[109] but the government allows churches to conduct Mass. Since 2008 Christians have been allowed to build churches on ground donated by the government.[110]
This section requires expansion. (January 2013) |
Arabic is the official language of Qatar. English is also widely spoken,[111] and is considered to be a rising lingua franca, especially in commerce, to the extent that steps are being taken to try to preserve Arabic from English's encroachment.[112] English is particularly useful for communication with Qatar's large expatriate community. Reflecting the multicultural make-up of the country, many other languages are also spoken, including French, Hindi, Malayalam, Urdu, Tamil, and Tagalog.[113]
Qatar's native culture is similar to that of other Arab States of the Persian Gulf (see Culture of the Gulf states). The Qatar National Day hosted every 18 December is the day Qataris celebrate their national identity and history. On that day, expressions of affection and gratitude are conveyed to the people of Qatar who cooperated in solidarity and vowed allegiance and obedience to Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani as a leader in 1878.[114][115]
Arts and museums[edit]
Several senior members of Qatar's ruling Al Thani family are noted collectors of Islamic and contemporary art (see Collecting practices of the Al Thani Family).
The Museum of Islamic Art, opened in 2008, has quickly come to be regarded as one of the great museums of the world.[116] This, and several other Qatari museums, fall under the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) which is led by Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the daughter of the ruling Emir of the State of Qatar, and the prominent collector and art patron Sheikh Hassan bin Mohammed Al Thani.[117] The QMA also sponsors artistic events abroad, such as major exhibitions by Takahashi Murakami in Versailles (2010) and Damien Hirst in London (2012).
Qatar is the world's biggest buyer in the art market by value.[118] The Qatari cultural sector is being developed to enable the country to reach world recognition in order to contribute to the development of a country that comes mainly from its resources from the gas industry.[119]
Qatar's media was classified as "not free" in the 2012 Freedom of the Press report by Freedom House.[120] Criticism of the Emir in the media is illegal: according to article 46 of the press law "The emir of the state of Qatar shall not be criticized and no statement can be attributed to him unless under a written permission from the manager of his office."[121]
Al Jazeera is a main television network headquartered in Doha, Qatar. Al Jazeera initially launched in 1996 as an Arabic news and current affairs satellite TV channel of the same name, but has since expanded into a network of several specialty TV channels.
Print media is going through expansion, with over three English dailies and Arabic titles. Qatar Today is the only monthly business magazine in the country. It is published by Oryx Advertising, which is the largest magazine publisher in Qatar. The group also publishes several titles such as Qatar Al Youm, the only monthly business magazine in Qatar in Arabic language, Woman Today, the only magazine for working women, and GLAM,[122] the only fashion magazine. In December 2009, Oryx launched T Qatar: The New York Times Style Magazine,[123] which marks the entry of an international magazine into Qatar.
In more recent times, with the advent of Social Media, online news portals such as peninsula online, Gulf Times online and Qatar Chronicle have gained popularity among the public in Qatar. The latter of which has been particularly noted for their bold articles that are often not in line with the publicly accepted propaganda.[124]
Football (soccer) is popular in the country. The Qatar under-20 national football team finished second in the 1981 FIFA World Youth Championship after a 4–0 defeat to Germany in the final.
The Asian Football Confederation's 2011 AFC Asian Cup finals was held in Qatar in January 2011. It was the fifteenth time the tournament has been held, and the second time it has been hosted by Qatar, the other being the 1988 AFC Asian Cup.
Doha, Qatar, is also home to Qatar Racing Club, a drag racing facility. Sheik Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani is very involved in the sport and owner of Al-Anabi Racing. He recently brought his racing company to the United States as a member of the NHRA with the help of 9 time NHRA champion crew chief Alan Johnson, renaming the American team Awsome Al-Anabi Racing, he also brought Johnson on as CEO of the American team, luring him from rival Don Schumacher Racing. They currently have two teams in Top Fuel: Khalid Al-Balooshi and Shawn Langdon. Langdon finished 2013 as NHRA Top Fuel Champion.
Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha, Qatar, hosted the WTA Tour Championships in women's tennis between 2008 and 2010. Doha holds the WTA Premier tournament Qatar Ladies Open annually.
On 2 December 2010, Qatar won their bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, despite never having qualified for the FIFA World Cup Finals before.[125]
Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar won the 2011 Dakar Rally and the Production World Rally Championship in 2006. In addition, he has also won gold medals at the 2002 Asian Games and 2010 Asian Games as part of the Qatari skeet shooting team, as well as a bronze medal in the individual skeet event at the 2010 Games in Guangzhou. In the 2012 Summer Games, he won the bronze medal in clay pigeon shooting.[126]
Since 2002, Qatar has hosted the annual Tour of Qatar, a cycling race in six stages. Every February, riders are racing on the roads across Qatar's flat land for six days. Each stage covers a distance of more than 100 km, though the time trial usually is a shorter distance. Tour of Qatar is organised by the Qatar Cycling Federation for professional riders in the category of Elite Men.[127]
In March 2013, Qatar hosted the first round of the FIM World Motocross Championship, becoming the first Motocross Grand Prix to be held in the Middle East.
In 2022, Qatar will host the World Cup. Qatar are planning on building nine new stadiums and expanding three existing stadiums for this event. Qatar's winning bid for the 2022 World Cup was greeted with much joy across the Persian Gulf region as it would be the first time that the Middle East is hosting the Fifa World Cup. However the bid has been embroiled in much controversy since then and European football associations have objected to the 2022 World Cup being held in Qatar for a variety of reasons from the impact of warm temperatures on player's fitness to the confusion it might cause in European domestic league calendars, should the event be moved to the Winter.[128][129]
Qatar has hired RAND to reform its K–12 education system.[41] Through the Qatar Foundation, the country has built an "Education City", hosting local branches of the Weill Cornell Medical College, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, Texas A&M's School of Engineering, and other Western institutions.[41]
The illiteracy rate in Qatar was 3.1% for males and 4.2% for females in 2012, the lowest in the Arab world.[130] Citizens are required to attend government-provided education from kindergarten through high school.[131] Qatar University was founded in 1973.
In 2008, Qatar established the Qatar Science & Technology Park at Education City to link those universities with industry. Education City is also home to a fully accredited International Baccalaureate school, Qatar Academy. Two Canadian institutions, the College of the North Atlantic and the University of Calgary, also operate campuses in Doha. Other for-profit universities have also established campuses in the city.[132]
In November 2002, the Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani created the Supreme Education Council.[133] The Council directs and controls education for all ages from the pre-school level through the university level, including the "Education for a New Era"[134] reform initiative.
According to the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, the top-ranking universities in the country are Qatar University (1881st worldwide), Texas A&M University at Qatar (3905th) and Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (6855th).[135]
In 2012, Qatar was ranked near the bottom of the OECD countries participating in the PISA test of math, reading and skills for 15 to 16 year olds, comparable to Colombia or Albania, despite having the highest per capita income in the world. [136]
Health care[edit]
In 2010, spending on healthcare accounted for 1.40% of the country's GDP. In 2006, there were 23.12 physicians and 61.81 nurses per 10,000 inhabitants.[137] The life expectancy at birth was 78.25 years in 2010, or 78.54 years for males and 77.95 years for females.[138]
Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), affiliated with Cornell University, is the premier non-profit health care provider in Doha, Qatar. Established by the Emiri decree in 1979, HMC manages five highly specialised hospitals and a health care centre: Hamad General Hospital, Rumailah Hospital, Women's Hospital, Psychiatric Hospital and the Primary Health Care Centres and Al Khor Hospital. These hospitals are quite sophisticated by the standards of the region, with most hosting advanced fMRI and other scanning machines.
Other private hospitals consist of Sidra Hospital, Al-Ahli Hospital, Doha Clinic, Al-Emadi Hospital, Aster Medical Centre, Alkharashy Dental Centers, Naseem Al Rabeeh,The American Hospital, Apollo Clinic, Future Medical Center, Future Dental Center,Life Line Medical Centre,Al Salam Poly Clinic and Tadawi Medical. Qatar has among the highest rates in the world for obesity, diabetes and genetic disorders.[139]
See also[edit]
- List of Qatar-related topics
- Outline of Qatar
- Qatar's Kafala system—laws regarding foreign workers in Qatar
- Human rights in Qatar
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(help) - ^ "Health". SESRIC.
- ^ "Demography". SESRIC.
- ^ Slackman, Michael (26 April 2010). "Privilege Pulls Qatar Toward Unhealthy Choices". New York Times.
External links[edit]
Find more about Qatar at Wikipedia's sister projects | |
Definitions and translations from Wiktionary | |
Media from Commons | |
Learning resources from Wikiversity | |
Quotations from Wikiquote | |
Source texts from Wikisource | |
Textbooks from Wikibooks | |
Travel guide from Wikivoyage |
- SwiftQatar (Qatar Updates-Qatar Living, Qatar Newspaper, Qatar Expats,Qatar Directory).
- Amiri Diwan (official government website).
- Qatar entry at The World Factbook
- Qatar web resources provided by GovPubs at the University of Colorado–Boulder Libraries
- Qatar at the Open Directory Project
- Qatar from the BBC News.
- Qatar travel guide from Wikivoyage
- Wikimedia Atlas of Qatar
- Key Development Forecasts for Qatar from International Futures.
- Legal Portal by the Ministry of Justice, including official gazette.
- Qatar Medical Care System
- Qatar Guide
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text:
Seven players from the area earned All-State honors, with three of them earning first team honors,
Pell City's Cole Billingsley was rewarded for a great season, earning first team honors in Class 6A as a utility player. Billingsley played a huge role in the Panthers setting a school record with 29 wins. Pell City head coach Andrew Tarver was elated when he found out that Billingsley made the first team.
"He worked really hard to be that type of player that he needed to be," Tarver said. "He is a great kid. If you had to build a team around someone, that is who you would want to build around. He works so hard in the cages, on his mechanics and everything he has to do baseball wise to be that type of guy."
Billingsley had a great season off the mound for the Panthers. The lefty went 6-1 and recorded two saves in 79.2 innings of action. In his last career start on the mound, Billingsley pitched a gem. He dominated for nine innings against the eventually Class 6A champions, the Oxford Yellow Jackets.
"It is pretty exciting," Billingsley said. "I have always wanted to do this since I have been in high school. I am pretty excited that I finally got a chance to make it. I've worked hard for it and I have to give my teammates all the thanks because without them I wouldn't have been able to make it. They give me great surroundings and a great baseball atmosphere."
The University of South Alabama commitment also got it done at the plate. The senior recorded 63 hits, which included 14 doubles, two triples and a homer. He scored 37 runs, drove in 18 RBI's and also walked 18 times. The gold medal winner said earning first team All-State caps off the great career he had as a Panthers.
"It puts a cherry on the top," Billingsley said. "I've had a great four years at Pell City. Hearing my name being on first team All-State, that is really awesome."
The Fayetteville Wolves had two players to earn All-State spots. Zach McGrady earned first team honors, while Justin Ricks earned a spot on the honorable mention team.
Fayetteville head coach Morris Phillips believes both players were worthy of the accolades they received.
"I am very blessed to have those two guys make the team," Phillips said. " I am very fortunate that we had them. I am real excited for them. I am real proud of Ricks and McGrady for making it. They had a really good year for us and I am very proud of them."
This is McGrady's first time making the All-State team. He said receiving this honor was unexpected.
"It is a great honor," McGrady said. "I really didn't think I would get it. I had a good year this year, but I figured there were more deserving people out there. I am glad they felt I was good enough to get it and I thank them for that."
McGrady was dominant off the mound for the Wolves. The junior recorded a 9-3 record in 72 innings of action. He had 89 strikeouts; he only allowed 14 runs and only eight earned runs. He also had astounding ERA of 0.85.
"I had a good defense behind me and that helped a lot," McGrady said. I had good coaching; it wasn't just me at all. Then, I had runs support from the offense."
Josh Quinn earned All-State honors for Winterboro. The Bulldogs head coach Brandon Brown believes Quinn may be the first player in school history to earn All-State honors.
Quinn recorded a 4-3 record. He had an ERA of 1.69 and opposing batters only had a .160 batting average against him. The senior only allowed 16 runs and only 10 of them were earned.
"He is the best player that I have ever had the privilege of coaching," Brown said. "I am really proud of what he was able to accomplish over the course of his career. This is something he has earned and I am really proud of him.
The Coosa Valley Academy Rebels had two players to earn AISA All-State honors.
Ragland's Scottie Smith earned honorable mention honors in Class 1A as a pitcher.
Seniors Hunter Winslett and Allen Logan played a huge role in the Rebels of Coosa Valley Academy's success this season. CVA won 30 games and earned a trip to the AISA semifinals. Winslett earned first team honors as a second baseman and Allen Logan earned honorable mention honors.
Winslett recorded 32 runs and drove in 22 runs while recording a batting average of .311.
"Those were two of our contributors," CVA former head coach Bobby Hughes said. "They did a lot for our team. Hunter was a gritty ball player. He played for me for three years. He was one of our leaders. He was a good ball player and I enjoyed coaching him the three year I coached him."
Logan led the Rebels in hitting, with a batting average of .437. He had 38 hits and 30 RBI's on the season.
"Allen did a great job on the mound and he also played third," Hughes said. "I think he led our team in hitting. He will be a big contributor to the team next year."
Ragland's Scottie Smith earned honorable mention honors in Class 1A as a pitcher.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Blowout Cards Promotions! (And Other FREE Giveaways!) Try to Win a FREE Box of cards & other awesome free giveaways, contests, and promotions! |
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06-02-2013, 06:13 PM | #1 (permalink) |
Vote for the May 2013 Blowout Cards Best Pull Winner! (CLOSED)
Vote for the May 2013 Blowout Cards Best Pull Winner! Thank you to everyone who posted their big BLOWOUT hits in the Blowout Cards Best Pull Contest: May 2013! Now it's time for your peers to vote on who they think should win Best Pull of the Month! The May 2013 "Pull of the Month" Winners will receive: 1st Place $75 Blowout Cards Gift Card! 2nd Place $50 Blowout Cards Gift Card! 3rd Place $25 Blowout Cards Gift Card! Please vote for who you think the winner of the Blowout Cards Best Pulls: May 2013 Contest should be! The Rules: - Only 1 Vote per member -Voting will end on June 10th at 6:00 PM ET -In the event of a tie, winners will split the gift code amounts. -For your vote to count, you must copy and paste the name of the pull and post in this thread. Here are your choices!
Visit the Best Pulls Contest Entry Page to see pics of all the May Best Pulls! __________________________________________ Thank you to everyone who voted for the May 2013 Blowout Cards' Best Pull Contest Winner! Voting ended June 10, 2013 at 6 PM ET. Here's how the voting went! (Drum roll please...) 1st Place $75 Blowout Cards Gift Card! Robert Griffin III 2012 Panini Contenders Championship Ticket Auto #1/1 (10 Votes) 2nd Place $50 Blowout Cards Gift Card! Robert Griffin III 2012 Panini National Treasures NFL Shield Auto #1/1 (9 Votes) 3rd Place $25 Blowout Cards Gift Card! Brett Favre/Dan Marino/John Elway/Peyton Manning 2012 Panini National Treasures Prime Pairings Quad Auto Redemption /5 (7 Votes) Others receiving votes: -Luke Kuechly 2012 Topps Finest Pulsar Refractor #4/10 (1 Vote) -Mike Trout 2012 Topps Museum Collection Archival Auto #2/5 (1 Vote) -Robert Griffin III 2012 Topps 1965 Tall Boy Auto #21/25 (1 Vote) -John Cena Topps Signature Swatch Auto /25 (1 Vote) -Robert Griffin III 2012 Panini National Treasures Printing Plate Auto (1 Vote) -Kevin Durant 2012/13 Panini Preferred Black Auto #1/1 (1 Vote) -Sandy Koufax 2013 Topps Museum Collection Momentous Materials Auto #7/10 (1 Vote) -Reuben Randle 2012 Panini National Treasures NFL Sheild Auto #1/1 (2 Votes) Please contact us at email@example.com if you are due to receive a gift card! Include the following info in your email: Full name - Email Address - Order # - And finally, if you've placed an order with us and would like to post a Big hit or pull, check out the JUNE Best Pulls Contest thread! Blowout Cards Best Pull Contest: JUNE 2013
Shop all of the Holiday Madness Deals Here! Last edited by blowoutcards2; 06-11-2013 at 09:59 AM. |
06-03-2013, 07:24 AM | #9 (permalink) |
Approved Group Break Host
Brett Favre/Dan Marino/John Elway/Peyton Manning 2012 Panini National Treasures Prime Pairings Quad Auto Redemption /5
But his name is James Cortellessa, retired air force, loving grandfather, father and husband, and the best smartass around. RIP PAPAJIM |
06-03-2013, 09:21 AM | #10 (permalink) |
Mike Trout 2012 Topps Museum Collection Archival Auto #2/5
I'm a sucker for the sepia vintage look.
Always interested in Fightin' Texas Aggie autos Christine Michael, Ryan Tannehill, Acie Law IV, Khris Middleton http://s1349.photobucket.com/user/20rubberducky11/library/ "The whole wheel of cheese? I'm not even mad, just impressed." |
06-03-2013, 09:24 PM | #15 (permalink) |
Man you think with all these RGIII votes that someone would throw some love towards the Archives card. I guess I will, I vote for the 2013 Topps Archives 1965 Tall Boy Robert Griffin III auto /25.
Dustin Ackley Supercollector! BRING ME YOUR ACKLEYS! Check out my Dustin Ackley PC Video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XcwTU5byd4 |
06-03-2013, 09:35 PM | #16 (permalink) | |
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: bkNY
Posts: 10,479
Have to go with contenders rg3 1/1
this one goes out to some of the members http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?title=dee-dee-dee-song&videoId=72779 |
06-03-2013, 11:45 PM | #19 (permalink) |
If I'm allowed to vote for my own....
#9 Brett Favre/Dan Marino/John Elway/Peyton Manning 2012 Panini National Treasures Prime Pairings Quad Auto Redemption /5
http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a177/ncluett/ Cortez Kennedy HOF Induction Speech, "...God bless America, and God bless the Seattle Seahawks!" |
06-04-2013, 12:07 AM | #20 (permalink) |
Guess no love for basketball .
Complete Karl Malone collection 1.618 and counting (all different). Website: http://karlmalonecollection.webs.com/ I AM FINALLY CONSIDERED SUPERCOLLECTOR MATERIAL (BECKETT SPORTS CARD MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2012) |
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- Join the France 24 community here
- Log in
Latest update: 21/02/2011
- Arab world - corruption - diplomacy - Europe - European Union - French politics
Eva Joly, French MEP, former anti-corruption magistrate
We speak to Eva Joly, a Norwegian-born French MEP with the Greens who is best known in France for her personal crusade against corruption. Joly has spent 30 years of her life working both as a judge in financial cases on the Paris bench and as a corruption trouble-shooter in her native Norway. We ask her about Europe's response to the situation in the Arab world, as well as French domestic politics.
Presented by Christophe Robeet (France 24) and Sarah Elzas (RFI)
Programme prepared by Soumaya Benaissa


text:
Final Sale
Faux-Leather Tipped Sheath Dress
Item# 3312007
Sorry, this item is no longer available!
- Smooth ponte knit with contrast faux-leather trim
- Cap sleeves
- Faux-leather front center stripe
- Faux-leather inset waist
- Invisible back zipper
- Measures approximately 26 1/2" from shoulder to bottom hem
- 86% Polyester/9% Rayon/5% Spandex
- Turn inside out. Machine wash.
- Imported
Classy dress
This dress can be worn for work or for a night out. Its simple yet classy and elegant. Every woman should have this dress in their closet. I definitely recommend it.
May 4, 2013
Bought this dress online with a little hesitation because of the giant cross in the middle. I am 5'2 and this dress fit perfectly! It complimented all the right places. The leather came a little crumpled when I received it but I wore it to work and it straightened out. Another gorgeous dress from The Limited!
April 24, 2013
Love this item
Fits like a glove! Quality material, caught it on sale which makes it even better
April 3, 2013
A Cross to Bear
The dress is made of lovely material. The cut is wonderful. The color choices are fantastic. That being said, when I wore the dress, I couldn't tell if I was going out to a party, going to work, going to an art museum, or on my way to becoming an extra in a Madonna or Lady Gaga video. Further, the way the light hit the faux leather really accentuated the fact that it looked like I was wearing a cross. I think this dress can work in some occasions, but again, the question is where? Maybe an event, but other than that, I would have a hard time wearing this to work or out.
March 23, 2013
Twist on the LBD
I love the style of this dress and its a nice twist to the usual LBD. However my usual size was a bit snug and it ran a bit shorter than I like (couple inches above my knee). I am 5'7.
March 22, 2013
Classic sheath with an edge
I love The Limited's ponte sheath dresses, they're comfortable and hold their shape well throughout the day. The tan leather detailing is a nice touch, but I found this dress ran a bit ore snug than I'm used to. I'm 5'8, 140lbs, and my typical size medium didn't leave a ton of wiggle room. Sizing up made the dress a bit too big. This dress hit about three inches above my knees, so it's a nice twist on a classic black dress!
March 13, 2013
Great Dress
I love the dress but I wish it was a little longer. If any of you watch Bones Cam has the nicest dresses but it is hard to find them with the length that is just below the knee with this style.
March 13, 2013
A classic dress
I like this dress a lot. It is quite basic, but classic for work. It is more fun than a solid black dress. The fit is great as well.
March 2, 2013


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The Chilliwack Fraser Rotary Club is looking for old TVs-lots of them.
The club is gearing up for its fourth annual Swing Into Spring fundraiser, and this year's theme is "As Seen On TV."
On Feb. 23, Evergreen Hall will be decorated in all things television, and guests will come dressed as their favourite TV personalities.
To set the set the stage for the event, organizers are looking for 50 to 100 used TVs.
"Working or not, big or small. Evergreen Hall is a big place, and we need to fill it with TVs" said Fieny van den Boom, co-chair of the fundraising committee.
The good news for Chilliwack residents is that not only will Rotarians haul away all their old and clunky TV sets, they will recycle them all after the event.
"This is a great way to help the community and the environment with out breaking a sweat," van den Boom said.
And all the funds raised on Feb. 23 will support the Chilliwack Fraser Rotary's continued pledge to the University of the Fraser Valley for three dental operatories.
? To set up a TV pickup, email email@example.com.
© Copyright 2013


text:
"I am a human being; nothing human can be alien to me."
Related authors
Other Terence Quotes
How unfair the fate which ordains that those who have the least should be always adding to the treasury of the wealthy.
60% of people like this quote
For you to ask advice on the rules of love is no better than to ask advice on the rules of madness.
58% of people like this quote


text:
This summer marked the third year that the NCAA Football Youth Initiative partnered with bowls in various cities to bring young football players together with coaches and student-athletes for a half-day session of agility drills, offensive and defensive training, and character development. NCAA Football partnered with the bowls to ensure that clinic attendees had the best experience possible as they received instruction from college football coaches and participated in a series of drills that collegiate student-athletes perform to learn the fundamentals of the game.
NCAA Football Youth Day Clinics began in New Orleans in 2007 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Since its inception, the program has continued to expand each year. This summer, 19 bowls in 17 cities participated. New host cities included Arlington, Texas; Birmingham, Ala.; Charlotte, N.C.; El Paso, Texas; Jacksonville, Fla.; Orlando; Pasadena, Calif.; San Diego; San Francisco; Shreveport, La.; St. Petersburg, Fla.; and Washington, D.C.
Participating bowls included:
June 10 - AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl (Shreveport, La.) June 25 - Birmingham Bowl (Formerly Papajohns.com Bowl; Birmingham, Ala.) June 26 - Orange Bowl (Miami) July 17 - Valero Alamo Bowl (San Antonio) July 23 - Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl (St. Petersburg, Fla.) July 24 - Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (San Francisco) July 24 - Rose Bowl Game (Pasadena, Calif.) July 24 - San Diego County Credit Union Pointsettia Bowl (San Diego) July 26 - AT&T Cotton Bowl (Arlington, Texas) July 28 - Allstate Sugar Bowl & R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (New Orleans) July 28 - Capital One Bowl & Champs Sports Bowl (Orlando) July 29 - New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque) July 31 - Chick-fil-A Bowl (Atlanta) July 31 - DI FCS Championship Game (Frisco, Texas) July 31 - EagleBank Bowl (Washington, D.C.) July 31 - Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl (Nashville) August 6 - MAACO Bowl Las Vegas (Las Vegas) December 18 - Insight Bowl & Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Ariz.)
Thank you to the conferences, bowls, coaches, staff and partners who helped to make the 2010 summer clinics so successful.
2009 Photo Galleries
Albuquerque Las Vegas Nashville San Antonio


text:
We can help you
Building on 10 years of experience in IT operations our mission is to advice you, and even take care of your entire IT solution so you can focus on your core competences. You can stop worrying about how you should configure, provision, monitor, and operate your IT infrastructure, what you should do to improve efficiency, resiliency and security. We help you to transform your data center operations from a cost center to a value-based center.
Are your company using manual scripts that slows down deployment and takes up too much of operations team time? Are you struggling to maintain consistency in your datacenter? And what about the need to increase speed to deployment to respond to customer demands?
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text:
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Quick Post!
It's that crazy weekend....clients this morning, dress rehearsal with the philharmonic this afternoon...Sun is shining brightly outside and though it is chilly, I'm hoping our temps get somewhere near normal!
I'm also gearing up for the first of my two february retreats in Hilton Head next weekend! Weeehaaaa...I know what's coming with me as far as projects go. I want to do the borders on the crumby quilts that Tonya and I did over New Years. I have ideas for the border,and I'm not telling her what it is until it is done..NANANANANANA!
Binding and sleeve are finished on the amish strings. I washed it and it shrunk up WONDERFULLY! I can't believe how aged it looks...I love it! The only thing I need to do is go over it with a sticky roller to get the remaining threads and beady lint balls off it...but I can't find my sticky roller. Here is a pic of the close up too. Pics aren't true to color, even outside on this one. The colors are very vibrant, they look kind of washed out in the pics.
Also is a pic of the completed Lilies top. This thing turned out GI-NORMOUS! It is 80X80 without borders. I'm trying to decide what to do about it from here. It may sit a while. Because this has been an on again off again quilt, and I have had to think really hard through each process, I'm titling it "Consider The Lilies". The string blocks were fun to do, Didn't make a dent in the bin, and this top is HEAVY because of all the seams in it!
Oh...one of the best things about setting this quilt this way? The outside edge of the quilt ended up ON GRAIN! I didn't even think about it until it got time to piece the setting triangles, that they were going to end up that way. How's that for providence?
Off to work (while dreaming of quilts)
16 comments:
Congrats on finishing the gorgeous Amish Strings. Love how the string lily turned out - personally don't think it needs a border, tho I'm sure if you put one one it will be incredible.
Nananana you say? Well since I won't have put a border on mine yet, I'll still be able to steal any awesome idea you come up with so mwahahahaha.
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Last of Their Kind
Airplanes without equal at the National Air and Space Museum.
- By Patricia Trenner
- Air & Space magazine, August 2012
Carolyn Russo
Boeing 367-80
Nipping at the landing gear of the world's first jet-powered airliner—the de Havilland D.H.106 Comet—the "Dash 80" was Boeing's first big gamble. The company designed it as a refueling tanker for the Air Force with a sideline as a passenger aircraft. The Air Force ordered the KC-135 tanker version, and in 1955 Pan American was the first to order the airliner. Ultimately Boeing built just over 1,000 707s, including the smaller 720 version, and 800 KC-135s. First flight: July 15, 1954. Donated by Boeing in 1972; single prototype.
Kyushu J7W1 Shinden
Curators note similarities between the J7W1 Magnificent Lightning, an experimental fighter developed in Japan during World War II, and the Curtiss XP-55 Ascender, a U.S. experiment. Each had a canard, a rear-mounted engine, and pusher propeller. Although the Shinden (not shown) was more advanced, both had stability problems, and neither saw production. First flight: August 3, 1945. Shipped to the U.S. with some 145 Japanese aircraft in 1945 for evaluation; transferred from the U.S. Air Force to the National Air Museum in 1949. Sole survivor; in storage, disassembled.
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Comments (2)
I wasn't sure how I felt about the decision to put the Wright Flyer on the floor instead of hanging it in the main entry hall. When I saw it in October 2011, I was delighted. I could walk all around it and almost touch it! What a treasure!!
Posted by Beverly Wright Coleman on September 8,2012 | 03:26 AM


text:
- June 27, 2012
- 3:31 p.m.
- Suggest removal
- Reply to this post
OakTree writes:
in response to GroveReb84:
"creating districts that are dominated by a single race and funded to a greater degree than the rest of the system"
Oh...you mean like MCS had been for 30-35 years prior to this merger?
Give me a break on the racial business.
My question is...if the County Commission didn't vote, then how is Bearman filing a suit, and who is the party to the suit?
If the County Commission didn't vote, I wouldn't think it would be possible for the "County Commission" to be a body bringing charges.
I find this all tiring, yet unsurprising.
I also don't see much of a case being presented here. The constitutionality of MSD formation and whether the legislation is special may have a fighting chance.
The racial discrimination charges have very little chance of standing up, unless you're going to start requiring a quota system for districts in every county in the country based on the racial make up of the county in which they reside.
If you want an example, go look up the Vestavia Hills school district (municipal district). Then look up the Birmingham City School District. Birmingham as a city and its surrounding county actually has a higher minority percentage than Shelby County. Vestavia Hills has a lower minority percentage and higher white percentage than the whitest of the suburbs attempting to form MSDs (Germantown).
They co-exist side by side today.
That's just one example of many across the country, so I don't see a judge being willing to make a quota ruling of any sort in this case. Also, if he did, would he set the percentage at a level where certain suburbs could form districts and others couldn't? If that is done, what happens if the demographics of any of the suburbs change?
I think you see how unmanageable it is to try to claim racial discrimination based on existing city/county lines. People choose where to live, and demographics change. You can't realistically set a quota.
"..You can't realistically set a quota..."
I can see the problem right there.
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text:
A few reminders about this game:
The 'Iron Civer Scenario' is being used.
A player's turn may be skipped after 36 hours have passed.
Any player that looses their second city is eliminated from the game.
The first round ends at noon GMT Nov 1, 2005- winners will be determined by score among surviving players.
Please make a post reporting the save has been sent and what year as frequently as possible.
Once everyone has reported into this thread confirming readiness and that Masuro has the barbarian fix, the game will be generated and sent...


text:
Coach Kronsteiner Emphasizes Communication and a Positive Attitude
Written by Ben Markus
Günter Kronsteiner sits, legs crossed, elbow propped on knee, his chin supported by the palm of a hand and three fingers. A natural, perhaps habitual intensity marks his face, aided by the minimalistic sophistication of rimless square eyeglasses and close-cropped white hair. He is a man whom, if you came upon in a classroom or at a library desk, you would think was deliberating possible solutions to an intricate math problem. And maybe he is.
Kronsteiner, the newly hired head coach of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, has been assigned the task of leading the Strikers, who earned just eight points in 12 matches during the NASL 2013 Spring Season, out of last place in the NASL standings. To do the job, Kronsteiner must mold 11 players, each a unique personality and set of skills, into one cohesive unit - a single brain.
It is a daunting task under the best of circumstances. Moreover, for Kronsteiner and the Strikers, the clock is ticking. "To work with the defensive line correctly so that they know what they have to do 100 percent… takes minimum eight weeks practicing every day," Kronsteiner said days after his hiring, recounting the advice of the former New York Red Bulls (MLS) Head Coach, Hans Backe. "We have seven days."
However, Strikers fans can take solace in the fact that Kronsteiner is uniquely qualified to handle the pressure that accompanies the demand for instant results. Raised at the foot of the Gesäuse mountain range in Central Austria, Kronsteiner's father worked rescuing fallen climbers, frequently accompanied by his son, even as a small boy. Running and climbing in the mountains developed Kronsteiner's aerobic and physical strength and, later, withstanding three years of hospitality school, at the wish of his mother, may have provided the foundation for his mental fortitude. It was during these three years that Kronsteiner decided to dedicate himself to the sport of soccer, to rise slowly but surely up the ranks and leagues of Austrian soccer. By that third year he was playing professionally in the Austrian Bundesliga, the country's first division, and soon after winning league titles.
Strikers supporters should find further comfort in the fact that Kronsteiner's thirst for success seems rarely, if ever, satisfied. While playing professionally, he held other jobs simultaneously, from insurance salesman to head coach of the team he was currently playing for. "It didn't satisfy me, just to be a professional player," Kronsteiner said. "Everybody else was happy with this, but I wasn't. I didn't think that just playing soccer was everything."
After reaching the knockout stage of the 2004-2005 UEFA Cup as head coach of FK Austria Wien, he calmly and boldly told reporters that his team would defeat eight-time La Liga champion and heavy-favorite Athletic Bilbao. And that's exactly what they did. The public reaction, evidenced by the next day's standing-room-only press conference, Kronsteiner says, replays in his head constantly. "It was really amazing to me how people think about certain countries soccer-wise or certain teams," Kronsteiner said. "That's why I say to this [Strikers] team… nobody will believe that we can succeed, but this is exactly what I think is possible."
Listen to Coach Kronsteiner tell his story
But how? What does a coach look for in players he's just getting to know? The first requirement of a successful team, Kronsteiner says, is players of a certain skill and quality. He likened a team without players of baseline ability to a labrador retriever competing in a greyhound race: no matter the level of dedication or purity of intentions, the retriever will not win the race.
However, without dedication and commitment, Kronsteiner says, even highly talented players will not be successful. "What is, in my opinion, the most important thing is what the players bring themselves," Kronsteiner said. "[The Strikers players] are really working very hard. I think I made it very clear already that if somebody wants to impress me, he has to work very hard always during practice."
Listen to Coach Kronsteiner talk about the Strikers
Yet even after selecting skilled and hard-working players, fitting the individual pieces of a soccer team together, just like a 1,000-piece cardboard puzzle, takes time. And Kronsteiner has precious little of it. Ten days after his hiring, the Strikers faced the New York Cosmos in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 11,000, surrendering a game-losing goal in the 94th minute. Just a week later, the team fell at home to Minnesota United FC, 3-1.
Despite two underwhelming results to start the season, Kronsteiner said he wasn't concerned and acknowledged that it takes time for tangible improvement. "The main thing for me is that we bring the players to a different playing-level tactically," Kronsteiner said. "You cannot just put a hand on a shoulder and say 'you are a different player now.' It takes practice, practice, practice."
Within weeks of Kronsteiner's hiring, Strikers assistant coach Raoul Voss said the staff appeared optimistic and were already noticing differences in the team's play. "I think we're more stable overall, more balanced," Voss said. "We have to do a better job of finishing our chances and scoring more goals… but overall we're more stable and more balanced from the midfield."
Although it's still early to draw any firm conclusions about the team's on-field future, that balance and stability is starting to show – and produce results. On August 17 the Strikers beat the San Antonio Scorpions, 2-1, in one of the league's toughest places to play, San Antonio's Toyota Field. Saturday's 1-0 victory over 2013 Spring Season Champion Atlanta Silverbacks gave the Strikers back-to-back road wins for the first time since the 2011 reincarnation of the team. The Strikers are currently tied for third place in the league with six points, two fewer than all of Spring Season, through just four games.
No matter the final on-field result for the Strikers in the Fall Season, Kronsteiner seems to be cultivating a positive attitude inside the locker room, a workplace and overall environment his staff appreciates. "He's a very relaxed guy," Voss said. "He thinks it's very important that the [Strikers players] feel comfortable in the locker room."
Midfielder Manny Gonzalez said that the atmosphere in the locker room after Saturday's win in Atlanta was almost euphoric. "Obviously we didn't win a championship, it was just one game, but that's how it felt," Gonzalez said. "Everybody was happy, everybody had a positive attitude, and I think that's good for our next game."