Sandy beaches stretch beneath elegant skyscrapers, bustling boulevards are surrounded by sprawling shopping malls and Star Wars movies were filmed here. Welcome to Doha, the capital of Qatar, which houses a number of tourist magnets led by the Royal Palace, the Old Market, the port, the horse market and much more.

The large city of Doha (around 1.5 million inhabitants) lies in the east of Qatar on the shores of the Persian Gulf. It covers an area of 132 square kilometers (excluding suburbs). A large portion of it is occupied by the very busy Matar amad al-Duwali International Airport.

The original settlement became famous under the name of Al-Bida for its pearl hunting; it became the capital in 1971 as Doha (a derivative of the Arabic ad-dawha, meaning big tree). Today, you can admire a wide variety of Arab architectural styles, from traditional patterns to bold modern lines of the future. The man-made Pearl Archipelago, the hypermodern Lusail district and the Museum of Islamic Art are set to become symbols of the coming decades.