10 Unique Facts You Didn't Know About Qatar, Host Of The 2022 World Cup

Qatar (Photo: Pixabay)

JAKARTA - The 2022 World Cup will be held in the Middle East for the first time. From November 21 to January 18, Qatar is ready to hold the biggest four-year football party on planet earth.

Here are 10 facts you didn't know about Qatar, summarized by VOI from various sources.

1. The safest country in the world

Visitors who value safety can rest assured that Qatar has a very low crime rate and security concerns. In 2022, consistent with recent years, the Numbeo Crime Index ranks Qatar as the safest country in the world. Numbeo also ranks Doha as the second safest city in the world.

2. The origin is ancient

While Qatar's current state is, in some ways, a modern creation, references to the peninsula date back to ancient history, when the Roman writer Pliny the Elder referred to its inhabitants as "Catharrei". Ptolemy, the ancient mathematician, astronomer, and geographer, later produced a map with the peninsula labeled "Catara", which is on display at the Qatar National Library. This spelling stuck for centuries before the first references to "Katara" and "Qatar" appeared in the journals of Portuguese explorers.

3. Charming heritage

The first evidence of sustainable human settlement in Qatar dates back to the sixth millennium BC. Bronze Age sites in Qatar are concentrated in the Al Khor region, where the island of Jazirat bin Ghannem, known as the "Purple Island", is a center for the purple dye trade.

The industry flourished in the second millennium BC when purple was a very expensive Roman royal color worn by emperors. The dye is extracted from sea slugs in large quantities. Today, visitors can kayak through the island's mangroves and stand on the rocks to view the beautiful sunsets.

4. Where the sand meets the sea

Qatar is one of the few places in the world where the desert meets the sea. The most spectacular of the sand dunes is Khor Al Adaid, also known as the Inland Sea, where a unique ecosystem has developed, with flamingos, turtles, foxes and the country's national animal, the Arabian Oryx.

Khor Al Adaid (Unsplash)

5. Liked by the biggest fish in the world

Qatar hosts one of the largest whale sharks on the planet. The shark appears from April to September off the northeast coast of the Al Shaheen restricted sea zone. This majestic aquatic creature, often referred to as the 'gentle giant', has been endangered since 2002. The world's largest fish, the whale shark can grow up to 20 meters.

6. Center for sustainable projects

Sustainability has been embedded in major new projects in Qatar since the FIFA World Cup bid was won more than a decade ago. In central Doha you'll find the cafe-lined streets of Msheireb, the world's first sustainable downtown regeneration project.

At the heart of the World Cup will be the city of the future worth $45 billion. The city of Lusail, the single largest sustainable development undertaken in Qatar with a number of interesting and innovative buildings with eco-friendly ideas.

Doha, Qatar (Unsplash)

A stadium built for football has sustainability at its core and it will be a carbon free event. Ras Abu Aboud Stadium, for example, is built from re-used ocean shipping containers and will be completely dismantled after the tournament ends.

7. The longest cycling path in the world

Sport and public health are top priorities in Qatar and there is even a national holiday every February to mark National Sports Day. The Olympic Cycling Track is proof of that, which earned a Guinness World Record in 2020 for the world's longest continuous bicycle path, at 33 kilometers long.

8. Easy to access

Thanks to a number of visa facilitation measures, Qatar is now one of the most accessible countries in the Middle East. Visitors from all over the world, from more than 95 countries, can enter Qatar either visa-free or by filling out a simple online application, depending on the passport they carry.

9. The world's best airlines and airports

The exceptional hospitality that visitors receive on their way to Qatar begins on their flight and continues on arrival at the airport. Qatar Airways was awarded 'World's best airline' and Hamad International Airport was awarded 'Best Airport in the world' at the 2021 Skytrax World Airport Awards. Travelers transiting through Qatar can take advantage of the world's best value stopover packages, launched by Qatar Airways and Discover Qatar, and supported by Qatar Tourism.

Illustration (Unsplash)

10. The world's tallest indoor rollercoaster

Adding to Qatar's ever-growing offering of amusement parks and families, Quest Doha – launching at the Doha Oasis in July 2021 – has set two Guinness World Records for 'Tallest Indoor Rollercoaster' and 'Tallest Indoor Drop Tower Ride'. The park is divided into three "time dimensions": Oryxville, exploring the ancient Arab past; City of Imagination, a reflection of the present; and Gravity, a state-of-the-art futuristic spaceport.