Qatar also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar is an Arab emirate in the Middle East 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 of the Gulf separates Qatar from the nearby island state of Bahrain. Qatar has been ruled as an absolute monarchy by the Al Thani family since the mid-19th century.
