Lots of countries have fossil fuels, but few have done as well as Qatar to take advantage of them.
While Venezuela, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, and others have fallen victim to the resource curse, when an abundance of resources leads to economic distortions and limited growth, Qatar has done much to reinvest energy money and diversify its economy. Support from the U.S. as well as decades of proven reserves have also fostered stability.
The tiny peninsula has the highest per-capita GDP in the world at $98,800 — and even that number may vastly understate the actual wealth of Qatar's 280,000 citizens. Qatar has enough money to build a huge metropolis in the desert and to win the right to host the 2022 World Cup, allegedly through millions of dollars in bribes.
We've gathered photos to tell the incredible story of Qatar.
Qatar has been ruled by the Al-Thani family since the early 1900s when it became a British protectorate. On July 17, 1913, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Qassim Al-Thani (center-left) became the ruler of Qatar.
At the time, Qatar’s primary industry was pearling and fishing. The country was marked by widespread poverty, malnutrition, and disease from the collapse of the pearl trade in the 1920s.
In 1939, oil was discovered at Dukhan. Development on the field was slow until 1949, because of World War II. While the oil discovery was significant, it was nothing compared to the natural gas reserves found 30 years later.
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