City (pop., 2004: 339,847), capital of Qatar. It is located on the east coast of the Qatar Peninsula and contains about three-fifths of the country's population. Long a centre of pirate activity in the Persian Gulf, Doha was a small village when it became the capital of newly independent Qatar in 1971. The city has been thoroughly modernized. Its Government House (1969) was built on reclaimed waterfront land; its water supply is obtained by distilling seawater. The deepwater port, built in the 1970s, accommodates oceangoing vessels.
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