… for about 2 hours, you do not get to see much. Still, even before landing in Doha, you will be astonished by the amazingly illuminated cities, which look literally like a sea of lights.
First recommendations for sightseeing are being presented in the airplane upon landing, for example the already passed 20th World Petroleum Congress, which had taken place from December 4th to 8th 2011 in Doha and the New Museum of Islamic Art (www.mia.org.qa), where you can find beautiful Persian carpets and Moghul jewels.
Other than that, unfortunately you do not get the chance to learn much about the country or the city of Doha in the very modern International airport of Doha.
Luckily, you find in the airplane the Qatar Edition of the ORYX Magazine. Here you can read that the small peninsula of Qatar is “the only true desert country worldwide, with no natural surface water but featuring a 563km-long coastline with fine sandy beaches and majestic rolling dunes in the south” (Issue 105). You also may learn about the history of Qatar, about 400 years under the Ottoman Empire, about the founder of the modern Qatar, Sheik Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, the predecessor of the current ruler, His Highness The Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. About 60 years ago, when Qatar had about 25.000 inhabitants, oil production began, a phenomenon that contributed to fast expansion into areas of business, education, sports and leisure as well as a fast population growth to about 1,7 million Qatari citizens today.
Qatar celebrates on its National Day of December 18th the birth of its modern state. In 1876, Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani succeeded his father Sheikh Mohammed Bin Thani and became ruler of Qatar. When he opposed the Ottomans to increase their influence in Qatar, a battle broke out, which ended with the victory of the Qatari troops. Even if Ottomans withdrew only in 1915 completely, the day of December 18th 1878 is considered the turning point in the history of modern Qatar.
Today Qatar is one of the largest exporters of Liquefied Natural Gas (in 2011 the largest one). As a follow up of the fast expansion of sports and sports games, The Arab Games 2011 take place this year from December 9th to 23rd in Doha. Altogether 29 sports are being represented and over 6000 athletes from 22 countries will participate in the event. Furthermore, Qatar heads to the hosting of the Olympic Games in 2020 and the Football World Cup in 2022.
Qatar is a beautiful country, with lots of potential and eventually one of our holiday destinations, but now we’re up to discover incredible India.
Source of photo: http://www.qatarembassy.net
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