Doha

Doha was founded in the 1820s as an offshoot of Al Bidda. It was officially declared as the country's capital in 1971, when Qatar gained independence from being a British protectorate. As the commercial capital of Qatar and one of the emergent financial centers in the Middle East, Doha is ranked "Beta+" on the Globalization and World Cities Research Network scale of "integration into the world city network". Metropolitan Doha includes parts of Al Rayyan such as Education City, an area devoted to research and education, and Hamad Medical City, an administrative area of medical care. It also includes Doha Sports City, or Aspire Zone, an international sports destination that includes Khalifa International Stadium, Hamad Aquatic Centre and the Aspire Dome.

The city was host to the first ministerial-level meeting of the Doha Development Round of World Trade Organization negotiations.