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Qatar occupies a mitten-shaped peninsula that extends about 105 miles into the Persian Gulf roughly midway along its western coast. About 50 miles across at its widest point, it has an area of 4,400 square miles. Qatar shares a land border with Saudi Arabia and is separated from Bahrain to the west by about 30 miles of water. It consists largely of desert sand and gravel with occasional limestone outcrops and sabkhas (salt flats). A lack of water made the establishment of permanent settlements in Qatar's interior impossible until the post-oil era....
