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Projecting north from the Arabian peninsula into the Gulf, Qatar is mostly flat, semiarid desert. Oil production began in the late 1940s and quickly transformed Qatar from an impoverished pearl producer into a prosperous shaikhdom and a founder member of OPEC. Plentiful oil and gas reserves have made it one of the wealthiest states in the region. Politics is being democratized gradually under the ruling al-Thani clan.