Qatar offers fabulous beaches in Doha’s hotels as well as on the coast south and north of Doha. In addition many of the hotels have both indoor and outdoor pools ensuring all year round swimming. The Corniche that runs along the waterfront of Doha’s harbour offers a stunning skyline of contemporary architecture and natural beauty with parks and beaches lining the road.
Although only 187 km from north to south and 80 km from east to west, Qatar is home to 1.7 million residents coming from every country of the world.
Apart from dunes in the south and hills in the west, Qatar consists mainly of flat low-lying rocky desert and coastal salt flats or sabkha. The peninsula has a 563 km sandy coastline with numerous small islets, sand dunes and reefs.
The types of habitats found in Qatar include sand dunes, desert, of rocks and gravel, rocky ecosystems, mangroves, sabkha (salt flats), wadis and runnells, and depressions called rowdat that collect fine sand. Approximately 18% of the land surface is covered by sand dunes or sand.
The highest point in the country – at 103 m or 338 ft – is Qurayn Abu al Bawl (Tuwayyir Al Hamir), in the south at the ‘neck’ of the peninsula, close to the border with Saudi Arabia.
The shallow waters of the Arabian Gulf are both warm in summer and high in salinity. Qatar’s territorial waters encompass some 35,000 sq km surrounding the peninsula. Coastal waters are extremely shallow, averaging 30 m along the northern and eastern coastlines, and only 20 m along the western coastline.
The most prominent feature in the south is the spectacular Inland Sea (Khor Al Adaid) where crescent-shaped barchan sand dunes surround a body of salt water with a narrow inlet from the Gulf. This wilderness is a favourite spot for camping and picnics away from the hustle and bustle of Doha. The site is scheduled to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
On the west coast, the area between Umm Bab and Ras Abrouq is characterised by a range of eye-catching flat-topped limestone outcrops – which together with the sedimentary surface rocks are a reminder that 24 million years ago Qatar lay under the sea.
The shale hills in the west, together with a dry river bed in the centre of the country, are rich in fossils while the low salt flats near Al Shahaniya are collecting grounds for those willing to dig for the attractive gypsum formations known as ‘desert roses’.
The presence of numerous farm estates between Al Shahaniya and the north of the peninsula is evidence of the numerous underground water reservoirs, springs and wells in the area, while the northern and eastern deserts are flat and rocky.
Qatar’s onshore oil production is centered around Dukhan, while the natural gas field is located offshore from the East coast and accounts for the world’s third largest gas reserves.
