Besides ethnic Arabs, much of the population is made up of expatriates taking up employment in various sectors of the Qatari economy. Arabic serves as the official language. However, English as well as many other languages like Hindi, Tamil, Pashto, Malayalam, Punjabi, Urdu, Sindhi, Balochi, Telugu, Bengali, and Persian are widely spoken in Qatar.

Expatriates form the majority of Qatar’s residents. The petrochemical industry has attracted people from all around the world. Most of the expatriates come from South Asia and from non-oil-rich Arab states.