Key facts about Qatar

Population: About 1.7 million (with Qatari nationals accounting for less than 300,000).
Independence: September 3, 1971.
Economy: With huge oil and gas resources, Qatar has emerged as one of the richest countries in the world, with a GDP per capita of $102,700.

The Emir: Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani

He was born in Doha in 1952, into a family that has dominated Qatar since the 18th century. In 1995, Shaikh Hamad, who was then the Crown Prince, deposed his father to become Emir. Elections in 1999 for a 29-member municipal council were the first in which the Emir allowed Qatari women to vote and stand for office. A constitution providing for limited democratic reforms came into force in 2005. The new basic law provided for a legislature — the Advisory Council — that would have 30 elected members and 15 members appointed by the Emir. Shaikh Hamad used his country's wealth, and ‘soft power' in the form of Al Jazeera, to garner tremendous support and goodwill among people in the region. But under him, Qatar has also managed to antagonise more than a few. In 2011, the Emir announced that Qatar would hold its first national legislative elections in 2013.

The Prime Minister: Shaikh Hamad Bin Jasem Al Thani

Born in Doha in 1959, Shaikh Hamad Bin Jasem Al Thani is also the Foreign Minister and the second most powerful man in Qatar. He is seen as the ‘peacemaker', having worked on solving conflicts in Africa and the Middle East. He played a key role in Qatar's mediation efforts in the Darfur conflict. He appeared before the Security Council on January 31, to urge the UN to act on Syria, in order to end the government's suppression of the uprising.

Al Jazeera

If there is one thing that unites autocrats in the region, it is their deep dislike of Al Jazeera, the news channel that has seldom stayed out of the news since being launched from Doha in 1996. It is owned by the Qatari government. The station so infuriated the George W. Bush administration with its tell-it-like-it-is coverage of the American wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that he seriously considered bombing it. It has seen its correspondents being killed, and being detained at Guantanamo. With hard-hitting shows like Opposite Direction, hosted by Faisal Al Qasim, Al Jazeera has emerged as the most watched and most talked about TV station in the Arab world and beyond.

TIMELINE

2001 - The Doha Development Round of trade negotiations begin.
2006 - Qatar becomes the first Arab country to commit troops to the UN international peacekeeping operation in Lebanon. It also engages in the huge reconstruction effort following Israel's war on Lebanon.
2008 -The Lebanese National Dialogue Conference is held in Qatar, resulting in the Doha Agreement.
2010 - Representatives of the Liberation and Justice Movement, an umbrella organisation of rebel groups in Darfur, start fresh round of talks with the Sudanese government in Doha.