Pondering the wealth of information collected during the State of Qatar's 1997 national census, the Secretary General of the country's Planning Council was well aware of its value and importance and sought a method of disseminating this treasure trove to the general public. The GIS data had been residing in the country's extensive spatial databases and was really only available for analytical purposes to specialists in the GIS units of the country's various government ministries.

Conferring with the country's GIS and mapping experts, the Planning Council concluded the best method of presenting this huge amount of information would be in a not-so-traditional country atlas. The expertise of Dr. R.C.S. Taragi, GIS coordinator with vast experience in this field, and the efforts of Mansoor Al Malki, head of the GIS Unit for the Planning Council, have been the main guiding force behind this product. And so was born the Qatar Socio-Economic Atlas.

The atlas project got off to an exceptional start in the Statistical Department of the Planning Council with full support from the country's Centre for GIS and other government agencies. After nearly two years of work, the country's leaders and residents alike received the published book with great acclaim. Because the centre had long experience with the software, ArcInfo 7.2 and ArcView 3.x were used for the crucial job of producing the maps.

Comments Al Malki, "Because it is packed with valuable information of interest to people from many walks of life, including planners, government workers, scholars, students and, of course, the general public, the atlas has established itself as the definitive socioeconomic reference book in our country. It is well organized, easy to understand, and presents the underlying data in a concise manner."

The atlas has been widely distributed throughout the government agencies and ministries in Qatar as well as to the embassies of the different foreign countries represented there. It has also been distributed to the universities, colleges, and secondary schools in the country as well as many private companies and corporations. The atlas has been sent to all of Qatar's embassies as well as to many agencies and libraries throughout the world.

The atlas contains 110 map plates that are based on the Qatar National Grid and presented in a Transverse Mercator Projection. A sampling of the diverse information includes archaeological sites, births and deaths, clay loam soils, data users, electricity networks, population growth, maritime boundaries, mosques, population density by zone, mean monthly rainfall, tourism, and well fields.

Because of the comprehensive nature of the atlas, it has become the standard reference book for planning professionals seeking detailed information concerning the potential benefits and drawbacks for the development of a particular tract of land as well as for scholars and other professionals in need of up-to-date information for economic and sociological research.

Continues Al Malki, "In the Statistical Department of the Planning Council, we used to receive many requests for geographically related statistical information. When consultants and planners now come into our department and see the atlas, they often say, 'That's exactly what we are looking for' because it allows them to quickly and accurately perform their evaluations and analyses."

The atlas has been used as the basis for a number of studies and projects within the country including a study of Qatar's public transportation system, social and economic planning, the site selection of branch banks, commercial development such as malls and office blocks, and a variety of research projects instigated by the University of Qatar.

Regarding future versions of the atlas, Al Malki indicates that the State of Qatar is currently involved in collecting building and population statistics and will be publishing a second edition of the Qatar Socio-Economic Atlas that reflects this new information as soon as the data has been approved and finalized. It is anticipated that the data collection part of the process will be complete by June 2004.

The second edition will use a mapping approach for thematic mapping of socioeconomic data that will allow greater accuracy and realism. Two distinct atlases are planned, one exclusively about the country's economic statistics and the other devoted to its social statistics.

In addition, an online version will be deployed that will provide GIS capabilities to the user, allowing dynamic mapping capabilities including statistical analysis.

For more information or to purchase the Qatar Socio-Economic Atlas, contact Mansoor Al Malki, head of the GIS Unit for the Planning Council, State of Qatar (e-mail: mansoor@planning.gov.qa, tel.: 974-4381185, fax: 974-4445573).