The Asian country officially called the State of Qatar is Qatar.
Qatar is a peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, extending into the Persian Gulf. Its constitutional short form is Qatar, while its formal state name is the State of Qatar. Doha, on the eastern coast, is the country’s capital and largest urban center.
The country was ruled by the Al Thani family during the 19th century and became a British-protected state in 1916. Qatar gained full independence on September 3, 1971. Its modern history was transformed by petroleum and especially natural gas, including the enormous North Field, which it shares with Iran’s South Pars field.
Qatar’s name is sometimes confused with those of nearby Gulf monarchies such as Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain. Those are separate sovereign states with their own official names. Qatar is also distinctive geographically: unlike the island kingdom of Bahrain, it occupies a peninsula connected by land to Saudi Arabia.