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The rich country of Qatar was
once a land of wandering
herders and small fishing
villages.
(See Qatar.)
Members of the Society of
Friends, a Christian group, are
called Quakers.
(See Quaker.)
Workers use machinery and
explosives to take stone from a
quarry. The stone may be taken
in big blocks or in small pieces.
(See Quarrying.)
More than 80 percent of the
people of Quebec, a Canadian
province, speak French as their
usual language.
(See Quebec.)
The Australian state of
Queensland is nicknamed the
Sunshine State.
(See Queensland.)
Qatar
Qatar is a small country in theMiddle
East. It is an emirate, a country ruled by a
leader called an emir. The capital isDoha.
Geography
Qatar sits on a small peninsula on the
eastern coast of Saudi Arabia. The Gulf
of Bahrain and the Persian Gulf lie to
the north, east, and west.
Qatar’s land is mainly a low, flat desert.
The weather is hot during the summer
and warm the rest of the year.
Plants and Animals
Desert grasses and shrubs grow in
Qatar’s dry environment. Animals
include geckos, desert hares, jumping
rodents called jerboas, and many birds.
People
Most of the people who live in Qatar are
immigrants. They came from other Arab
countries, as well as Pakistan, India, and
Iran. Arabic is the main language. Most
people are Muslims.
Economy
Qatar is a rich country because of its
reserves of oil and natural gas. The
country also produces chemicals and
steel. Banking is important to the
economy as well. Qatar’s few crops
include dates, melons, and tomatoes.
Herders raise sheep, goats, and camels.
History
For centuries Qatar was a land of
nomads (wandering herders) and small
fishing villages. In 1868 the al-Thani
family gained power.
In 1916 Great Britain took control of
Qatar’s foreign affairs. Qatar gained
independence from Britain in 1971.
Emirs from the al-Thani family ruled
Qatar into the 21st century.
..More to explore
Doha • Middle East
Most men in Qatar wear traditional clothing.
The long white shirt is called a thobe. A
gutra is a headdress made of cloth and
held in place with a black rope.
Facts About
QATAR
Population
(2008 estimate)
1,448,000
Area
4,412 sq mi
(11,427 sq km)
Capital
Doha
Form of
government
Constitutional
emirate, or
kingdom
Major cities
Ad-Dawhah
(Doha),
Ar-Rayyan,
Al-Wakrah, Umm
Salal
4 Qatar BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Quaker
Members of the Christian group known
as the Society of Friends are called
Quakers. They are dedicated to experiencing
God personally rather than
through clergy, such as priests or ministers.
Quakers call the presence of God
inside each person the “Inner Light.”
They believe that the Inner Light guides
them through life.
Practices
Quakers attend meetings to worship
God. These meetings are open to everyone.
The worshippers sit in silence, waiting
for a message from God.Worshippers
who hear a message share their
thoughts with the others.
Quakers have a long tradition of working
for peace and opposing war. They
also oppose slavery, cruel treatment of
prisoners, and unfair treatment of
women. Various Quaker groups organize
relief and service projects throughout
the world.
History
George Fox, an English preacher,
founded Quakerism in the mid-1600s.
He grew to believe that God could be
found inside people rather than in
church ceremonies. He and other
preachers established groups that shared
his beliefs. These groups later became
the Society of Friends. Its members were
called Quakers because many worshippers
quaked, or trembled, with emotion
during religious meetings.
The Quakers offended many Christian
leaders because they refused to honor
officials, take oaths, or pay for the
upkeep of English churches. Government
authorities fined some of the
Quakers, took their property, and put
them in prison. The Quakers flourished
nevertheless. A law passed in 1689
granted freedom of worship to the
Quakers and other groups in England.
At the same time some Quakers traveled
to the North American colonies. In
1681 King Charles II of England gave a
Quaker namedWilliam Penn land that
became the colony of Pennsylvania.
Many Quakers settled there. In the
1800s Quakers in the United States
founded several colleges and universities
that emphasized science. In the 1900s
Quakerism spread to Africa and Europe.
#More to explore
Christianity • Penn,William
Quaker service
groups in
the United
States and
Great Britain
shared the
Nobel peace
prize in 1947.
Quaker worship services are called meetings.
A drawing shows a meeting that took
place in the 1800s.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Quaker 5
Quapaw
The Quapaw are Native Americans who
once lived in eastern North America,
along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
They later moved westward along with
other related tribes, including the Osage,
the Kaw, the Omaha, and the Ponca.
The Quapaw eventually settled in what
is now Arkansas. The tribe itself is sometimes
