Natives of the Arabian Peninsula, many Qataris are descended from a number of migratory Arab tribes that came to Qatar in the 18th century from mainly the neighboring areas of Nejd and Al-Hasa. Some are descended from Omani tribes. Qatar has about 2.6 million inhabitants as of early 2017, the vast majority of whom live in Doha, the capital. Foreign workers amount to around 88% of the population, with Indians being the largest community numbering around 1,230,000. The treatment of these foreign workers has been heavily criticized in recent years, with living conditions suggested to be exploitative and abusive. The Qataris are mainly Sunni Muslims. Islam is the official religion, and Islamic jurisprudence is the basis of Qatar's legal system. A significant minority of the population is Hindu. Arabic is the official language and English is the lingua franca of business. Hindi and Urdu are also widely spoken, especially by the South Asian foreign workers. Education is compulsory and free for all citizens 6–16 years old. Qatar has an increasingly high literacy rate.
Ethnicity
Qataris can be divided into three ethnic groups: Bedouins, Hadar, and African-origin. Bedouins are descended from the nomads of the Arabian Peninsula. 115,000 Westerners live in Qatar.
Population
By nationality
A 2011–2014 report by the International Organization for Migration recorded 176,748 Nepali Citizens of Madhesi ethnicity living in Qatar as migrant workers. In 2012 about 7,000 Turkish nationals lived in Qatar and in 2016 about 1,000 Colombian nationals and descendants lived in Qatar.
is the official language of Qatar according to Article 1 of the Constitution. English is the de facto second language of Qatar, and is very commonly used in business. Because of Qatar's varied ethnic landscape, English has been recognized as the most convenient medium for people of different backgrounds to communicate with each other. The history of English use in the country dates back to the mid-19th and early 20th centuries when the British Empire would frequently draft treaties and agreements with the emirates of the Persian Gulf. One such treaty was the 1916 protectorate treaty signed between Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani and the British representative Percy Cox, under which Qatar would be placed under British administration in exchange for protection. Another agreement drafted in English came in 1932 and was signed between the Qatari government and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. These agreements were mainly facilitated by foreign interpreters due to neither party possessing the required language skills for such complex arrangements. For instance, a translator and native Arabic speaker named A. A. Hilmy interpreted the 1932 agreement for Qatar. Hindi, Urdu, Tagalog, Bengali, Tamil and Malayalam are commonly used among Asian migrants. In 2015, there were more newspapers being printed by the government in Malayalam than in Arabic or English.
Y-Chromosome DNA Y-DNA represents the male lineage, The Qatari Y-chromosome in large belongs tohaplogroup J which comprises two thirds of the total chromosomes
represents the female lineage The Qatari mitochondrial DNA shows much more diversity than the Y-DNA lineages, with more than 35% of the lineages showing African ancestry & the rest of the lineages being Eurasian.
