The sovereign state of Qatar is currently at the centre of a storm1at the centre of the storm直譯為“處在風(fēng)暴中心”，這里意譯為“處在風(fēng)口浪尖”。,with its neighbours cutting off diplomatic relations. But this is not a country which often finds itself dominating the headlines.

[2] So what do people actually know about Qatar, apart from it hosting the football World Cup in 2022?

Here are five facts to get you started.

Men outnumber women—hugely

[3] In a country of about 2.5 million people, there are fewer than 700,000 women.

This imbalance can be attributed to Qatar’s sudden population explosion:this is a state built by immigrants, who are overwhelmingly young and male.

[4] The promise2promise前景；指望。of a job has meant people have flooded into Qatar—which is about the same size as Yorkshire—in recent years, taking its population from less than 700,000 in 2003, to an estimated 2.5 million in 2016.

隨著鄰國(guó)紛紛與其斷交，卡塔爾被推到了輿論的風(fēng)口浪尖。其實(shí)這個(gè)國(guó)家并不經(jīng)常上頭條。

[2]那么，關(guān)于卡塔爾，除了它將主辦2022年的世界杯之外，我們對(duì)它又了解多少呢？

讓我們通過(guò)以下五個(gè)事實(shí)開始了解這個(gè)國(guó)家。

男女比例嚴(yán)重失調(diào)

[3]卡塔爾的總?cè)丝诩s為250萬(wàn)，女性人口不足70萬(wàn)。

性別失衡的原因在于突然的人口激增：卡塔爾是一個(gè)由移民構(gòu)成的國(guó)家，而移民中青年男性占絕大多數(shù)。

[4] 2003年，卡塔爾人口不到70萬(wàn)。近幾年，這個(gè)只有英國(guó)約克郡大小的國(guó)家因工作機(jī)會(huì)多，吸引了大量的移民涌入。2016年，卡塔爾總?cè)丝跀?shù)已達(dá)250萬(wàn)左右。

[5] While there are female migrants,the vast majority are men building the infrastructure needed for the upcoming World Cup. They come from all over the world, although the largest numbers come from India and Nepal, making Hindus3Hindu印度教教徒。the third largest religious group in the country, after Muslims and Christians, according to the CIA’s World Factbook4《世界各國(guó)紀(jì)實(shí)年鑒》，由美國(guó)中央情報(bào)局出版，每年一期，內(nèi)容主要包括國(guó)家社會(huì)、地理、政治、軍事、人口、交通等概況。.

London’s biggest landlords?

[6] Qatar has been busy over the last decade or so buying up large swathes of London. Its portfolio includes, but is not limited to, the Shard5碎片大廈，位于倫敦泰晤士河南岸，高達(dá)1017英尺（309.6米），是全歐洲第二高的大廈。, Harrods, Chelsea Barracks6切爾西營(yíng)，原為倫敦威斯敏斯特市一軍事營(yíng)地，近年來(lái)被重建開發(fā)成豪宅區(qū)。and the Olympic Village, as well having a stake in Canary Wharf7金絲雀碼頭位于倫敦市中心的東部，倫敦的主要金融中心之一。.

[7] In 2017, Ali Shareef al-Emadi, the country’s finance minister, estimated the country had “more than ￡35bn to￡40bn ($45bn to $51bn) of investments already in the UK”. What’s more, Mr Emadi said the country was planning to invest another ￡5bn in the UK over the next three to five years—including more property.

[5]雖然移民中也有女性，但絕大部分是興建世界杯場(chǎng)館及配套設(shè)施的男建筑工人。他們來(lái)自世界各地，但大部分是印度人及尼泊爾人。據(jù)中情局《世界各國(guó)紀(jì)實(shí)年鑒》所載，在卡塔爾，印度教教眾已成為該國(guó)繼穆斯林和基督徒之后第三大宗教團(tuán)體。

倫敦最大的“地主”？

[6]過(guò)去十年間，卡塔爾一直大量購(gòu)入倫敦的土地，其投資包括但不限于碎片大廈、哈羅德百貨、切爾西營(yíng)以及奧運(yùn)村，同時(shí)還持有金絲雀碼頭的地產(chǎn)股份。

[7]據(jù)卡塔爾財(cái)政部長(zhǎng)阿里·謝里夫·埃馬迪估計(jì)，2017年卡塔爾在英國(guó)的投資已超過(guò)350億到400億英鎊（約合450億到510億美元）。此外，埃馬迪先生還表示，未來(lái)三到五年間，該國(guó)將在英國(guó)再投資50億英鎊，包括收購(gòu)更多房產(chǎn)。

Qatar really loves art

[8] Qatar is known as a conservative country, yet, in the last few years it has sponsored a number of exhibitions—including hosting the somewhat controversial artist Damien Hirst8英國(guó)最具影響力的藝術(shù)家，爭(zhēng)議在于其作品：《母親與孩子分離》是浸泡在甲醛中的奶牛和小牛；《脫離羊群》是甲醛溶液中的綿羊；《看在上帝的份上》采用嬰兒頭顱作為藝術(shù)品的模子，并在表面鑲滿8000顆粉色和白色的鉆石?！痵 first solo retrospective9soloretrospective個(gè)人回顧展。in the Middle East,in 2013.

[9] The country also boasts the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, which opened in 2008. It is said to house one of the most comprehensive collections of Islamic art in the world, exhibiting works from across three continents and 1,400 years.

A rather large teddy bear

[10瑞士藝術(shù)家，其作品平衡失調(diào)，無(wú)論是創(chuàng)作手法還是創(chuàng)作目的都流露出模糊感和殘缺美。] Qatar’s love of art has spilled over from the museums and into its public spaces. Indeed, anyone who has ever been through Doha’s Hamad International Airport could not have missed the 23-foot yellow teddy sitting in the middle of the terminal.

[11] Lamp/Bear was created by Swiss artist Urs Fischer10瑞士藝術(shù)家，其作品平衡失調(diào)，無(wú)論是創(chuàng)作手法還是創(chuàng)作目的都流露出模糊感和殘缺美。more than a decade ago, is cast from bronze and weighs almost 20 tonnes. According to Hamad International Airport’s official description, the bear is a “playful piece that humanises the space around it and reminds travellers of childhood or precious objects from home”.

卡塔爾人著實(shí)熱愛藝術(shù)

[8]眾所周知，卡塔爾是一個(gè)相對(duì)保守的國(guó)家。然而，過(guò)去幾年，它贊助了許多展覽，其中包括2013年頗具爭(zhēng)議的藝術(shù)家達(dá)明·赫斯特在中東舉辦的首個(gè)個(gè)人回顧展。

[9]卡塔爾還擁有2008年開館的多哈伊斯蘭藝術(shù)博物館。據(jù)說(shuō)，該館收藏了世界上最全面的伊斯蘭藝術(shù)作品，展品來(lái)自三大洲的不同文化，橫跨1400年的歷史長(zhǎng)河。

超大泰迪熊坐鎮(zhèn)機(jī)場(chǎng)

[10]卡塔爾人對(duì)藝術(shù)的熱愛已不止于博物館，公共地域也有所體現(xiàn)。事實(shí)上，任何來(lái)過(guò)多哈哈馬德國(guó)際機(jī)場(chǎng)的人，都不會(huì)看不到那只坐在航站樓中央、高達(dá)23英尺的泰迪熊。

[11]這個(gè)名為“燈下泰迪熊”的雕塑是十多年前瑞士藝術(shù)家烏爾斯·費(fèi)舍爾創(chuàng)造的作品，它由青銅鑄造，重達(dá)20噸。據(jù)哈馬德國(guó)際機(jī)場(chǎng)官方描述，這只巨型泰迪熊“童趣滿滿，賦予周圍濃濃的人情味，也讓旅客憶起童年或是家里的珍貴之物”。

[12] The cast bronze sculpture was bought at auction in New York for $6.8m(￡5.3m) back in 2011.

Qatar has record riches—for some

[13] How does such a small country pay for all this? Well, thanks to its oil and gas reserves, as well as some good investments, Qatar has the highest GDP per capita in the world.

[14] In 2016, it was $129,700(￡100,500)—more than $20,000 higher than the next closest country, Luxembourg, the CIA’s World Factbook said.

At the other end of the scale, Somalia’s GDP was estimated to be just $400 per head.

[15] However, Qatar’s wealth is in no way equally spread. The former Emir11埃米爾，某些穆斯林國(guó)家的酋長(zhǎng)或王子、長(zhǎng)官。,Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, is reportedly worth $2.4bn. But migrants interviewed by the BBC in 2015 revealed they were earning as little as$350 a month. ■

[12]這座銅鑄的雕塑是2011年以680萬(wàn)美元（約合530萬(wàn)英鎊）從紐約拍賣會(huì)上購(gòu)得。

卡塔爾富得流油——但貧富懸殊

[13]如此小的一個(gè)國(guó)家如何付得起這筆巨款呢？這得歸功于其豐富的石油和天然氣儲(chǔ)量，以及一些優(yōu)質(zhì)投資?？ㄋ柕娜司鵊DP（國(guó)民生產(chǎn)總值）是世界上最高的。

[14]據(jù)中情局《世界各國(guó)紀(jì)實(shí)年鑒》描述，2016年，該國(guó)人均GDP為129700美元（約合100500英鎊），比排名第二的盧森堡高出2萬(wàn)多美元。

排在最后的是索馬里，據(jù)估計(jì)，其人均GDP只有400美元。

[15]然而，卡塔爾的財(cái)富分配極不均衡。前元首謝赫·哈馬德·本·哈利法·阿勒薩尼據(jù)稱坐擁24億美元身家。但2015年BBC采訪的移民們透露，他們每月收入少得可憐，僅350美元。 □