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.
In 1951, Qatar produced 46,500 barrels of oil per day, amounting to $4.2 million in revenue. The discovery of off-shore oil fields and their development by Shell led to an increase in Qatar's production to 233,000 barrels per day.
New revenue from oil exports flooded the pockets of the ruling family and Qatar began a slow modernization process. The country’s first school, hospital, power plant, desalination plant, and telephone exchange all opened in the 1950s.
Oil revenues steadily increased through the 1960s as the Al-Thani family strengthened its grip on power by installing relatives in high government positions. All Al-Thani family members were granted extravagant allowances.
Qatar gained its independence in 1971 after Great Britain announced that it was removing all of its military obligations east of the Suez Canal.
On Feb. 22, 1972, Khalifa ibn Hamad deposed his father Emir Ahmad ibn Ali, who was hunting with his falcons in Iran. Khalifa ibn Hamad cut the expenditures of the royal family and increased spending on social programs, housing, health, education, and pensions.
In 1971, the world's largest natural gas field, the South Pars/North Dome Gas-Condensate field, was discovered off the coast of Qatar. Petroleum production was still running high at the time, so the field was not developed.
Thanks to the North Field, Qatar has the largest natural gas reserves in the world after Russia and Iran. Qatar's reserves are estimated to be 896 trillion cubic feet.
The crash of oil prices in the 1980s, along with the emir siphoning off oil revenues, stalled the Qatari economy. The crisis led Qatar finally to develop the North Field in 1989, though even then production was slow.
By 1995, the situation in Qatar had not improved. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani took the throne in a bloodless coup from Emir Khalifa bin Hamad, while the emir was in Switzerland. Sheikh Hamad set a whole new direction for the country.
One of Sheikh Hamad's first moves was to fast-track the development of the North Dome field. Production was ramped up and Qatar began exporting liquid natural gas for the first time.
To accommodate increased production and demand, Qatar began building new liquid natural gas plants. Over the last 15 years, 14 liquid natural gas plants have been built in partnership with international oil companies.
Source: Bloomberg
In the late 1990s, Qatar entered into production sharing agreements with numerous international oil companies. The new companies began using horizontal drilling methods to reverse declines in oil production. Qatar's partnership with Maersk Oil resulted in the world's longest horizontal well.
In 1996, Qatar built the gigantic, billion-dollar al-Udeid air base, which has served as a logistics and command facility for the U.S. Military. The partnership with the U.S. military has given Qatar an unprecedented level of security.
In 1997, Qatar began long-term agreements to provide massive amounts of natural gas to Spain and Japan. Over time, Qatar further diversified its clients.
Thanks to steady oil production and high natural gas production, Qatar's GDP has skyrocketed over the last 15 years.
Hoping to avoid the dreaded resource curse, Qatar has taken measures to diversify its economy. In 1998, the government built Education City, a massive campus that supports six American and two European universities, as well as research centers and think tanks.
Qatar has amassed a sovereign wealth fund of $170 billion dollars thanks to revenues from oil and natural gas. It has begun to invest it like a hedge fund.
Source: SWF Institute
In 2003, Qatar established the Qatar Investment Authority to recycle oil and gas income into other income streams. QIA has made big investments in Barclays Bank, Credit Suisse, Harrods, Porsche, Volkswagen, and a majority stake in the Paris Saint-Germain football team.
Qatar has become one of the largest holders of real estate in London through the QIA. Qatar owns The Shard, western Europe's largest skyscraper, as well as large parts of Canary Wharf and other parts of the city.
The Qatar Financial Centre was built in 2005 to develop Qatar's financial services industry. The country believes that it can become a financial services leader for Gulf states thanks to its relative stability and large base of capital.
In 2006, Qatar passed Indonesia to become the largest exporter of liquid natural gas in the world with revenues from oil and natural gas amounting to 60% of Qatar’s GDP. But more competition was coming, with liquid natural gas production booming in places like the U.S. and Australia.
In December 2010, Qatar was selected as host for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Qatar promised to build 12 state-of-the-art stadiums that would employ cooling technology so players could escape the heat. Qatar has positioned itself as a sporting hub for the region, hosting or planning to host numerous global sporting events.
Here's what it looks like now. Since 2000, 58 skyscrapers have been built, planned, or are under construction in Doha, along with museums, stadiums, giant infrastructure projects, and more.
Source: Emporis