Season 30, Day 13 - "Without U"
It's Peninsula week, and today's quiz is inspired by Qatar.
Qatar
Qatar is a peninsular country that juts into the Persian Gulf. Located on the Arabian Peninsula (the world’s largest peninsula), its only land border is with Saudi Arabia. Its capital and largest city of Doha is home to the Museum of Islamic Art (designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei) and Education City, which hosts campuses of Georgetown, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, and other universities. Al Jazeera, an influential news organization, is based in Qatar. Qatar is also home to the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East, Al Udeid Air Base. Qatar’s official language is Arabic, its state religion is Islam, and its currency is the riyal. As of 2024, Qatar ranks fifth in the world in per capita GDP, mostly due to having the world’s third-largest oil and natural gas reserves. Since 1868, the emirate/sheikdom has been ruled by the Al Thani Dynasty. It was a British protectorate from 1916 until 1971, when it gained full independence. In 2022, Qatar hosted the FIFA World Cup. The Qatari government is one of the world’s largest buyers of art, spending at least $1 billion in the last 20 years.