Doha

Doha, also Ad Dawḩah, eastern Qatar, capital and largest city of the country, on the Persian Gulf. It has a large, artificial deepwater port, which was opened in 1969 and serves as a major transshipment center for cargo of the Persian Gulf nations. The University of Qatar (1973) and the National Museum (1975) are here. The marketplace and the Government House (1969) are major landmarks.

Doha was a small fishing and pearling village, known to Persian Gulf pirates for the protection afforded by its old port of Al Bida, in the 19th century. The city became the administrative center of the British Qatar protectorate in 1916. It grew rapidly after petroleum exports, begun from Umm Sa‘īd (Musayid) in 1949, brought vast new revenue sources to the national government. In 1971 Doha became the capital of the independent state of Qatar. In subsequent decades the city experienced a construction and population boom. Population (2004) 339,847.