Qatari Community in Birmingham

Where they come from

Qatar is a small peninsula nation on the Arabian Gulf, whose capital, Doha, has grown into a modern city built on natural gas. Qatar hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Qataris in Birmingham include students and professionals.

The community in numbers

At the 2021 Census, out of a city population of 1,144,919, 9,495 people living in the city had been born in Middle Eastern countries other than Iran and Iraq, a group that includes Qatar; and 19,996 Birmingham residents described their ethnic group as Arab.

Working for Birmingham

Qatari students in Birmingham study engineering, business, medicine and law, and return home to careers in government and industry. Qatari investment in British property and business supports jobs across the country, and educational links help to strengthen friendship between the two nations.

The city's future rests on the same things as its past: skills, enterprise and people willing to put in the hours. Whether in a hospital, a classroom, a lecture theatre, a van full of tools or a shop on a busy high street, Qatari residents are helping to build that future, and to make Birmingham a stronger, fairer and more welcoming city.

Culture and community life

Qatar National Day on 18 December is marked with flags and celebrations, and Ramadan and Eid are times of family and generosity. Machboos and harees are traditional dishes, and Qatari heritage includes pearl diving, falconry and the sadu weaving of the desert.

In a city where scores of languages are spoken, the Qatari community adds another voice to the conversation. Its members, old and new, are helping to make Birmingham the confident, outward-looking city it wants to be.