QATAR An Enchanting Fusion of Tradition and Modernity

“Qatar is a thriving metropolis that infuses the modernity of 21st-century Western architecture with its own cultural traditions”

In this age of Internet memes, anything distinctive and memorable can be repeated until it turns into a stereotype or common joke. Just as some people think of Singapore as one huge shopping mall made up mostly of the Marina Bay Sands, mere mention of Middle Eastern countries such as Qatar often conjure up visions of hot, dry deserts and camels. It couldn’t be further from the truth. Located in Western Asia on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, the State of Qatar is situated on the Qatar Peninsula, which extends out from the Arabian Peninsula approximately 160 kilometres north into the Arabian Gulf with its border with Saudi Arabia serving as its only land link to the Arabian Peninsula. Unlike its more landlocked cousins on the Arabian Peninsula, Qatar is a nation of sea-faring people who counted on fishing, pearl-hunting and trade for sustenance before the discovery of oil transformed the country into the nation with the highest per-capita income in the world. In fact, the sea appearing in it as well.