The 2010 census recorded the total population at 1,699,435. In January 2013, the Qatar Statistics Authority estimated the country's population at 1,903,447, of which 1,405,164 are males and 498,283 females. At the time of the first census, held in 1970, the population was 111,133. The population has tripled in the decade to 2011, up from just over 600,000 people in 2001, leaving Qatari nationals as less than 15% of the total population. The influx of male labourers has skewed the gender balance, and women are now just one-quarter of the population.
The make up of ethnic groups is as follows: Qatari (Arab) 15%; other Arab 13%; Indian 24%; Nepali 16%; Filipino 11%; Sri Lankan 5%; Bangladesh: 5%; Pakistani 4%; other: 7%. In 2010, there were 250,000 Filipinos in Qatar, making them the third largest among expatriates.
Projections released by Qatar Statistical Authourity indicates that the total population of Qatar could reach 2.8 million by 2020. Qatar’s National Development Strategy (2011-16) had estimated that the country’s population would reach 1.78m in 2013, 1.81m in 2014, 1.84m in 2015 and 1.86m in 2016 — the yearly growth rate being merely 2.1 percent. But the country’s population have soared to 1.83 million by the end of 2012, showing 7.5 percent growth over the previous year.
Religion Main article: Religion in QatarSunni Islam is the predominant religion. According to the 2004 census, 71.5% of the population are Sunni Muslim and about 10% Shi'a Muslim, 8.5% are Christian and 10% are "Other". Most Qatari citizens practice Wahhabism.
In 2010, the religious affiliation in the country was estimated by the Pew Forum as 67.7% Muslim, 13.8% Christian, 13.8% Hindu, 3.1% Buddhist. Other religions and religiously unaffiliated people accounted for the remaining 1.6%.
In March 2008, a Roman Catholic church, Our Lady of the Rosary, was consecrated in Doha. No missionaries are allowed in the community. The church displays no Christian symbols like crosses, bells, or a steeple on its exterior.
The Christian population is composed almost entirely of foreigners. Active churches are Mar Thoma Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church from Southern India, Arab Evangelicals from Syria and Palestine, and Anglicans, about 50,000 Catholics and Copts from Egypt. No foreign missionary groups operate openly in the country, but the government allows churches to conduct Mass. Since 2008 Christians have been allowed to build churches on ground donated by the government.
LanguagesArabic is the official language of Qatar. English is also widely spoken. Reflecting the multicultural make-up of the country, many other languages are also spoken, including French, Hindi, Malayalam, Urdu, Tamil, and Tagalog.
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