Photos: Inside Qatar, Host of the 2022 World Cup

Qatari Goldfish

Photograph by Patrick Baz, AFP/Getty Images

Qatar is steeped in conservative Islam, a culture soon to be encountered by football fans from around the world.

"The official religion is Islam, of course, and it's the same strand of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia, Wahhabi Islam—although Qataris are much more moderate in their approach to Wahhabism," Belt said.

"It's still a conservative form of Islam, and I think 99 percent of the women wear the abaya," a traditional robe-like dress that covers the whole body except the face, feet, and hands.

"But because it's a more moderate place, they also do things like drive or go jogging or shopping and leave home without being accompanied by a male relative." (Related: "Muslim Athletic Wear Covers Skin Without Cramping Style.")

Published December 3, 2010

Qataris Bearing Torches

Photograph by Paul Gilham, Getty Images/DAGOC

While World Cup fans may express surprise, Qatar has hosted major international sporting events before: During opening ceremonies of the 2006 Asian Games, a welcoming host of Qataris hoisted torches at Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, as seen above.

Despite the conservative culture, the country's ruler, Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, has enacted social and political reforms considered revolutionary in the Arab world. The Emir has promoted sports, prompted women to vote and run for office, invited U.S. universities to open campuses in the country, and allowed the U.S. military to maintain a significant presence.

In 1996 the Emir launched the project for which Qatar is perhaps best known in the West—the Al Jazeera news organization.

Published December 3, 2010

Qatar's Offshore Wealth

Photograph by Behrouz Mehri, AFP/Getty Images

Roughly the size of Connecticut—4,400 square miles, or 11,400 square kilometers—Qatar juts into the Persian Gulf from its border with neighboring Saudi Arabia. The al-Thani family, who hailed from what is now Arabia's central desert, settled Qatar in the mid-1700s, ruling under British protection until they claimed independence in 1971.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the country's biggest export was Persian Gulf pearls. Today petroleum is top dog. An oil boom began in 1939, and much of Qatar's revenue comes from an offshore natural gas field that's one of the world's largest. Above, gas flares from Qatar's Balal offshore oil platform in 2004.

The North Field's 900 trillion cubic feet (25 trillion cubic meters) of gas is enough to heat every home in the United States for at least a century. Thanks to these resources, Qataris enjoy the second highest per capita income in the world, following Lichtenstein, and the second fastest growing economy, trailing only the Chinese administrative region of Macau.

Published December 3, 2010

Desert Cycle Race

Photograph by Franck Fife, AFP/Getty Images

Riders in the 2006 Tour of Qatar cycling race stream past metal pipes and through the country's dominant landscape—scorching hot desert.

"Qatar has one city: Doha is really the only population center," Belt said. "That's interesting, because the World Cup is typically spread out across a country in many different cities and stadiums."

Qatar has just 840,000 people, and only about a third of those are native Arabs. The rest are guest workers from countries such as India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan—and nearly everyone lives in or around Doha.

Published December 3, 2010

Doha Skyline

Photograph by Sean Gallup, Getty Images

Skyscrapers continue to sprout from the desert sands of Doha, a sign of the double-digit growth projected by the International Monetary Fund for the Qatari economy in 2011.

With the ongoing financial boom and Emir-driven cultural changes, visiting World Cup fans will likely find a unique experience in Qatar.

"It's going to be a very interesting encounter between the Muslim Arab world and the rest of the world," Belt said.

Published December 3, 2010