History: How Qatar came into existence

Humans have likely lived in Qatar for at least 7,500 years. Early inhabitants, much like Qataris throughout recorded history, relied on the sea for their living. Archaeological finds include painted pottery traded from Mesopotamia, fish bones and traps, and flint tools.

In the 1700s, Arab migrants settled along the coast of Qatar to begin pearl diving. They were ruled by the Bani Khalid clan, who controlled the coast from what is now southern Iraq through Qatar. The port of Zubarah became the regional capital for the Bani Khalid and also a major transit port for goods.

The Bani Khalid lost the peninsula in 1783, when the Al Khalifa family from Bahrain captured Qatar. Bahrain was a center for piracy in the Persian Gulf, angering the officials of the British East India Company.

In 1821, the BEIC sent a ship to destroy Doha in revenge for Bahraini attacks on British shipping. The bewildered Qataris fled their ruined city, not knowing why the British were bombarding them; soon, they rose against Bahraini rule. A new local ruling family, the Thani clan, emerged.

In 1867, Qatar and Bahrain went to war. Once more, Doha was left in ruins. Britain intervened, recognizing Qatar as a separate entity from Bahrain in a settlement treaty. This was the first step in establishing a Qatari state, which took place on December 18, 1878.

In the intervening years, however, Qatar fell under Ottoman Turkish rule in 1871. It regained some measure of autonomy after an army led by Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammad Al Thani defeated an Ottoman force. Qatar was not fully independent, but it became an autonomous nation within the Ottoman Empire.

As the Ottoman Empire collapsed during the course of World War I, Qatar became a British protectorate. Britain, from November 3, 1916, would run Qatar's foreign relations in return for protecting the Gulf state from all other powers. In 1935, the sheikh got treaty protection against internal threats, as well.

Just four years later, oil was discovered in Qatar, but it would not play a major role in the economy until after World War II. Britain's hold on the Gulf, as well as its interest in empire, began to fade with the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947.

In 1968, Qatar joined a group of nine small Gulf nations, the nucleus of what would become the United Arab Emirates. However, Qatar soon resigned from the coalition due to territorial disputes, and became independent on its own on September 3, 1971.

Still under Al Thani clan rule, Qatar soon developed into an oil-rich and regionally influential country. Its military supported Saudi units against the Iraqi Army during the Persian Gulf War in 1991, and Qatar even hosted Canadian coalition troops on its soil.

In 1995, Qatar underwent a bloodless coup, when Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani ousted his father from power and began to modernize the country. He established the Al Jazeera television network in 1996, allowed the construction of a Roman Catholic church, and has encouraged women's suffrage.

In a sure sign of Qatar's closer ties with the west, the emir also allowed the US to base its Central Command on the peninsula during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. In 2013, the emir handed over power to his son, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Written for About.com by Kallie Szczepanski, an Asian history expert. Photo by DesertBlooms on QL Flickr Pool.