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Doha Travel

Doha is the capital and the largest city of Qatar. It is a modern and rapidly developing city and, considering the money being poured into construction, Doha looks set to become one of the premier cities in the Gulf within a few years. 80% of the population of Qatar lives in Doha or in its suburbs. Doha is also the center of economy of Qatar. To date, Doha is the city where the largest ASEAN Games was held.

Doha was formerly known as Al Bida in 1850. Doha came from the Arabic word Ad-Dawha, which means "the big tree". It is believed "the big tree" that is being referred to was a prominent tree which has stood at the site where the original fishing village was located, that of which is located on the eastern part of the Qatar peninsula.

In the early 20th century, Qatar’s economy leaned on its fishing and pearling industry, and at that time, Doha had more or less, 350 pearling boats. Qatar and its entire town suffered a major depression in their economy when Japan had started its own pearl culture industry.

Doha has rebounded to have a stable economy when oil was found in their land. Nowadays, the natural gas wealth is visible in Doha. 800,000 barrels of oil are being produced daily. Doha is home to the headquarters of the country's largest oil and gas companies, which includes Qatar Petroleum, Qatargas and RasGas.

Currently, Doha is experiencing a real estate boom, as a result of the city development. Doha is also eyeing be the region’s sports capital.

Simple Doha Facts:
- Population - 339,847
- Doha is about 132 km² (51 sq mi)
- The telephone code in Doha is +974
- The timezone in Doha is AST (UTC+3)
- The major religion in Doha is Islam.
- The main language in Doha is Arabic
- The currency in Doha is the Qatar Riyal (QAR)
- Doha’s electricity voltage is the European standard.