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| Conventional Long Form: | French Republic |
| Conventional Short Form: | France |
| Location: | Western Europe |
| Capital City: | Paris |
| Government Type: | Republic |
| Population: | 59,551,227 (July 2001 est.) |
| Area [sq.km]: | 547,030 (slightly smaller than Connecticut) |
| Currency: | French Franc (FRF); Euro (EUR) |
| Languages: | French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) |
| National Holiday: | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) |
| Background: | Ruled by the Al Thani family since the mid-1800s, Qatar transformed itself from a poor British protectorate noted mainly for pearling into an independent state with significant oil and natural gas revenues. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Qatari economy was crippled by a continuous siphoning off of petroleum revenues by the amir who had ruled the country since 1972. He was overthrown by his son, the current Amir HAMAD bin Khalifa Al Thani, in a bloodless coup in 1995. In 2001, Qatar resolved its longstanding border disputes with both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Oil and natural gas revenues enable Qatar to have a per capita income not far below the leading industrial countries of Western Europe. |
