The State of Qatar is the world's eleventh richest county per capita and is hosting the fifteenth Asian Games this month. Read on to find out more about this emirate country.
卡達是平均國民富裕指數全球第十一高的國家，本月更舉辦第十五屆亞洲運動會，繼續往下讀，深入了解這個埃米爾酋長國。
A closer look 說古論今
PHOTO: EPA
Qatar is mainly filled with sand-dunes and salt flats, and water is very scarce. As such, it was originally home to nomadic tribes. Once famed for its pearls, Qatar's livelihood was threatened by the arrival of Japanese cultured pearls on the world market. However, fortunately for Qataris, vast supplies of oil and the third largest source of known natural gas resources turned out to concentrated in the country. As a result, Qataris enjoy a generous welfare state — with free healthcare and education from kindergarten to university level. Since the current Emir staged a non-violent coup in 1995 against his own father (who was on vacation in Switzerland at the time), several major changes have occurred. Women were granted suffrage in 1999 and may stand for council positions. While there are elections and some movement is being made towards a democratic government, the ruling Emir still has the final say. Emir Hanad bin Khalifa Al-Thani's family have been ruling Qatar for 150 years (some of it as a British colony — independence was declared in 1971). In 1995, restrictions on the press were lifted, and as a result the independent news channel Al Jazeera was founded in late 1996. Al Jazeera has a reputation for screening uncensored news from a part of the world notorious for media censorship. However, it is thought that they practice self-censorship toward Qatar and their powerful neighbor — Saudi Arabia. Interestingly, only 25 percent of the population are native Qataris. The rest are foriegn workers attracted by the huge natural resources industry.
卡達境內主要為沙丘和鹽灘，水資源非常少，游牧民族曾以此為家。卡達曾以珍珠聞名，日本養殖珍珠出現後，威脅到卡達的國際市場佔有率，不過，卡達得天獨厚，龐大的石油蘊藏，以及世界第三大天然氣資源均匯聚在此。
卡達的社會福利因而非常健全，涵蓋面也廣︰醫療費以及從幼稚園到大學的教育費用全免。自從現任埃米爾在一九九五年發動非暴力政變推翻自己父親（當時人在瑞士度假）的政權後，帶來了幾項重大改變，一九九九年賦予婦女投票權，並且能爭取議會席次。儘管國內舉行選舉，也興起不少推動民主政體的運動，當政的埃米爾仍擁有最後決定權。阿勒薩尼家族已經統治卡達逾一百五十年（其中一段時間為英國殖民地，一九七一年宣布獨立）。
一九九五年解除媒體禁令後，獨立頻道半島電視台在一九九六年末開播。半島電視台以播放一刀未剪的新聞著稱，這些新聞來自對媒體惡質審查的國家，不過一般據信，他們對卡達以及強盛的鄰國沙烏地阿拉伯進行自我審查。有趣的是，本土卡達人只占25%人口，其餘都是被龐大的自然資源工業所吸引而來的外籍工作者。
（翻譯：鄭湘儀）
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