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Location of Qatar on the globe

Qatar

QA

Western Asia

Qatar is home to 2 documented ethnic groups in Western Asia — led by Non Qatari Foreign (~88%), Qatari Arab (~12%). This page blends their phenotype and demographic data into one weighted reference: skin tone, facial features, hair texture and build, drawn from published census and ancestry sources.

Demographic Composition

Composition weights are derived from self-identification in published census and demographic surveys. Each row links to the source ethnic-group atlas page.

Ethnic groupWeightSource
Non Qatari ForeignNon Qatari Foreign88.0%Qatar 2020 Census; non-Qatari foreign workers and residents (~88%, ~2.4M+); predominantly migrant-worker populations from India (~700,000+), Nepal (~400,000+), Bangladesh (~280,000+), the Philippines (~250,000+), Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Egypt, plus other source populations. The 2010-2022 World Cup construction-period brought substantial additional foreign-worker population with documented human-rights concerns including Amnesty International and ILO documentation of worker abuse
Qatari ArabQatari Arab12.0%Planning and Statistics Authority Qatar 2020 Census; Qatari citizens (~12%, ~330,000+ of ~2.7M total). Predominantly Sunni Muslim (~90% of citizens, predominantly the Wahhabi Hanbali tradition). The Qatari citizen population is among the smallest citizen populations as a percentage of total resident population of any country globally

Qatar Phenotype Profile

Qatar has a distinctive demographic structure with Qatari citizens comprising only ~12% of the resident population — among the lowest citizen-population shares of any country globally. The non-citizen foreign-worker population (~88%) is predominantly South Asian and Filipino source populations. Skin tone Fitzpatrick III-V for Qatari population. Hair predominantly straight to wavy black.

A descriptive view, not a claim about individuals

This page shows a weighted aggregate of phenotype observations across the Qatar population, based on demographic composition from published census and ancestry sources. Phenotypes within any country are far more varied than the aggregate suggests; this is a descriptive reference, not a deterministic claim about any individual. For source-level detail on individual ethnic groups, see the constituent atlas pages linked below.

Methodology Notes

Composition weights derived from Planning and Statistics Authority Qatar 2020 Census. The kafala system has historically structured the foreign-worker labor regime with documented human-rights concerns.

See full project methodology →

Primary Sources

  1. 1.Planning and Statistics Authority Qatar. General Census of Population, Housing and Establishments 2020. Doha: PSA; 2021.
  2. 2.Fromherz AJ. Qatar: A Modern History. Georgetown University Press; 2012.
  3. 3.Kamrava M. Qatar: Small State, Big Politics. Cornell University Press; 2013.
  4. 4.Crystal J. Oil and Politics in the Gulf: Rulers and Merchants in Kuwait and Qatar. Cambridge University Press; 1990.
  5. 5.Amnesty International. Reality Check: Migrant Workers' Rights in Qatar. London: Amnesty; 2019.

Other countries in Western Asia

Aggregate phenotype references for neighbouring Western Asia nations, weighted by demographic composition.

Browse all Western Asiaethnic groups & countries →