The population of Qatar before freedom must be around because, until oil revenues created a reason to stay on the peninsula, individuals and whole tribes migrated when the economic or security situation became intolerable. Some sought work elsewhere; others joined neighboring branches of their tribe. In 1908 a British observer around there were 27,000 inhabitants; 6,000 were described as foreign slaves and 425 as Iranian boatbuilders. The population likely remained fairly stable until the 1930s and 1940s, when economic hardship and regional insecurity caused people to migrate to other areas, leaving Qatar with a population of only 16,000 in 1949, according to one estimate.

Qatar was originally settled by nomads from the central part of the Arabian Peninsula. Immigrant workers, now form the majority of the Qatari population, and most of the population is urban. The ethnic divisions include: 20 % native Qatari, 25 % other Arab, 34 % South Asian, 16 % Iranian, and 5 % other. The ratio of men to women stands at around 2 to 1. Arabic is spoken by the majority of the population, while English is commonly used as a second language. Though most Qataris, indigenous and migrant alike, follow the dictates of the Wahhabi interpretation of Sunnite Islam, Qatar is not as strict as neighbouring Saudi Arabia. Economic necessity and the comparatively small number of native Qatari workers has resulted in relative freedom for women.