Qatar has a population of over 2.5 million, but only about 12% are actually Qatari citizens, with the remainder expatriates from a large number of backgrounds, including South Asians, Filipinos, Egyptians and Europeans, drawn to the service and finance industries. While Arabic is the official language, English is the most common second language, and is often used as the language of commerce. Since the late twentieth century, Qatar has had a lively literature movement and, unusually for the region, a large number of published women authors.
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