Qatar » Maps and Geography

Qatar is located on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is approximately 160km long and 50km-80km wide with a total land area of 11,435 sq km. Varying in width between fifty-five and ninety kilometers, the land is mainly flat and rocky. Notable features include coastal salt pans, elevated limestone formations along the west coast under which lies the Dukhan oil field and massive sand dunes surrounding Khawr al Udayd, an inlet of the gulf in the southeast known to local English speakers as the Inland Sea. Of the islands belonging to Qatar, Halul is the most important. 

Lying about ninety kilometers east of Doha, it serves as a storage area and loading terminal for oil from the surrounding offshore fields. Hawar and the adjacent islands immediately off the west coast are the subject of a territorial dispute between Qatar and Bahrain.

The capital, Doha, is located on the central east coast on a sweeping harbor. Other ports include Said Al Khawr and Al Wakrah. Only Doha and Umm Said are capable of handling commercial shipping, although a large port and a terminal for loading natural gas are planned at Ras Laffan, north of Al Khawr. Coral reefs and shallow coastal waters make navigation difficult in areas where channels have not been dredged.

Qatar shares its land border with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with which in 1993 it continued to have a dispute in the Khawr al Udayd area. The boundary with Saudi Arabia was settled in 1965 but never demarcated. Qatar's northwest coast is fewer than thirty kilometers from Bahrain.

Land	Percentage (%)
Arable Land	1.64%
Permanent Crops	0.27%
Others	98.09%