-- Photo courtesy of Tom Weeks.

The State of Qatar is a small, oil-rich peninsula projecting northward from the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula into the Arabian Gulf. With substantial oil and natural gas reserves, Qatar is one of the wealthiest states in the region and has developed high quality health care and education systems.

The capital city of Doha lies on the east coast of the peninsula and features a wide mixture of modern and traditional Arabic architecture. Almost 90 percent of Qatar's population lives in Doha and its surrounding suburbs. The Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam is the predominant religion.

-- Photo courtesy of Tom Weeks.

Only 20 percent of the nation's population is native to Qatar, as a large number of expatriates from India, Pakistan, Iran, North Africa, and various Western nations live and work in the country. Qatar's official language is Arabic, although Urdu and English are widely spoken, especially among the foreign community.

Education in Qatar is free from the primary to the university level. Qatar University is the country's major institution of higher education and consists of the following seven faculties: education, humanities and social sciences, science, Islamic studies, administration and economics, engineering, and technology. The government also finances a large number of students to obtain advanced degrees abroad.

Since 1987, approximately 20 Fulbright grants have been awarded to U.S. scholars to lecture and/or conduct research in Qatar. Previous U.S. scholars in Qatar have been involved in the fields of education, engineering, economics, chemistry, anthropology, environmental science, linguistics, medical science, library science, and computer science.

CIES encourages interested applicants to make use of the following links to complement their research into potential opportunities available in Qatar. Please also feel free to use the contact information at the bottom of this page to get in touch with CIES program personnel.

U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar
http://qatar.usembassy.gov
U.S. Embassy website in Qatar including consular information, reports on regional and global issues, Qatar related links, and links to electronic journals and article abstracts.

Contact Information for the State of Qatar Embassy in Washington D.C.
http://www.worldrover.com/entry/qatar_embassy.html
Includes contact information for the Qatar Embassy in Washington D.C., as well as links to statistics and historical information pertaining to Qatar.

Embassy World website
http://www.embassyworld.com/maps/Maps_Of_Qatar.html
Links to a variety of standard and interactive maps of Qatar.

Qatar Info
http://www.qatar-info.com/
Online resource with general information in Qatar's history, politics, economy, and education. a link to Qatar Info Magazine, and the opportunity to subscribe to a newsletter.

Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs
http://www.mofa.gov.qa/
In English and Arabic. Information on Qatar's government, economy, social development, and tourism. Also links to various news resources.

Arab Net - Qatar
http://www.arab.net/qatar/qatar_contents.html
Information on Qatar's history, geography, business, culture, government, transportation, and tourist industry.

Lonely Planet
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/middle_east/qatar/
Traveler's information on Qatar, including sections on events, activities, culture, and history.

World Travel Guide
http://www.worldtravelguide.net/data/qat/qat.asp
Concise information on visas, money, health, holidays, transportation, climate, and important contact addresses in Qatar. Features a tool that enabling one to create and print a custom 'mini-guide' of chosen information.

U.S. Department of State
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/bgn/5437.htm
Background information on Qatar including political conditions, foreign relations, relations with the U.S., history, people, government, economy, and business.

University of Qatar
http://www.qu.edu.qa/

Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture, Doha
http://www.mmaa.gov.qa/ (in Arabic)
http://www.mmaa.gov.qa/english/default.htm (in English)

Qatar News Agency
http://www.qatarnewsagency.com/
In English and Arabic. News, events, photographs, and extensive Qatar-related links.

Qatar Globe
http://www.qatarglobe.com/
Collection of news stories pertaining to Qatar and the Middle East region. Links to Qatar-related websites.

Al Sharq
http://www.al-sharq.com/xml/topics/index.xml?cu_no=1
In Arabic.

The Gulf Times Newspaper
http://www.gulf-times.com/
In English. Sections on local and world news, finance, sports, opinions and viewpoints, as well as archives of back issues.

Al Shaab
http://alarabnews.com/alshaab/
In Arabic. Online newspaper covering regional news.

Asharq Al-Awsat
http://www.asharqalawsat.com/pcdaily/06-11-2001/
In Arabic. The Arabic international newspaper.

Arab Chat
http://chat.arab.net/
Chat server with public and private chat rooms for Online discussions in Arabic or English.

The Countries and Peoples of Arabia Message Boards
http://www.hejleh.com/countries/poll.html
Very active message boards and a link to Arabia Chat.

Arab Social Science Research
http://www.assr.org/
A collection of Online research sources for the Arab World indexed by country, sources, and topics. Includes virtual libraries and links to social science research centers throughout the world.

BBC Arabic Service
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/arabic/news/
In Arabic. BBC news with audio feed.

U.S. Department of State - Middle East and North Africa
http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/nea.htm
U.S. news, reports, and policy relating to the Middle East and North Africa. Also includes links to numerous Online journals.

The Countries and Peoples of Arabia
http://www.hejleh.com/countries/index.html
A huge list of links pertaining to the Arab world, including very active Message Boards.

Islamic Studies
http://www.uga.edu/islam
A well-balanced site with articles and resources pertaining to Islam, drawn primarily from scholarly research and regional Islamic sources. Contains information on Islam's history, sacred texts, art, architecture, and place in the modern world.