Ali and Cochrane Comparative Migration Studies (2024) 12:16 projects for the FIFA World Cup 2022), education, real estate, and tourism, with its 2030 National Vision aiming to transform into a knowledge-based economy. Despite facing some economic challenges in recent years, including a blockade by neighboring countries, Qatar’s economy has remained relatively stable, and the government has continued to invest in the country’s long-term development. The State of Qatar presents some unique challenges when it comes to its population, as has been explored by others (Cochrane & Al-Hababi, 2023). For example, the majority of the population (~ 87%) are non-nationals, there was a significant increase of workers in relation to the FIFA World Cup 2022, and due to atypical gender and age divisions of the entire resident population the application of normal population scenario models do not apply for the country (Abu-Ras et al., 2022). In 1990, the population of Qatar was around 0.5 million, however following the development of the natural gas industry in the mid and late 1990s, the population began to rise rapidly. By 2010, the number of people living in the country had risen fourfold and surpassed 2 million (World Bank, 2023). In the mid- to late-2010s, the population began to stabilize around 2.8 million (PSA, 2022). The United Nations scenario suggests the population will grow in the long-term and will stabilize around 4 million (UNSD, 2022). However, in the short-term, following the FIFA World Cup 2022, it is expected that population will decline. The country has a high level of urbanization, with almost all of its population living in urban areas. As of 2023, the population is young, with a median age of 33 years (World Economics, 2023) and is the important role of expatriates in the workforce is expected to continue into the long-term (Kenny, 2021). Citizenship and residency Citizenship in Qatar has evolved over time. Prior to the discovery of oil in the 1940s, Qatar was a small state with trade and pearl-fishing on the coasts and seasonal pastoralists in the interior with livestock-based livelihoods. The concept of ‘citizenship’ was not well-defined before independence, and the government relied on tribal affiliations and informal agreements to govern the population. With the discovery of oil in 1939, Qatar’s economy began to grow, and the government began a process that would eventually formalize its citizenship policies. In 1971, Qatar gained independence from Britain, and the government began to issue citizenship documents to those who could prove their ancestry in the country. Over time, the requirements for citizenship became tighter, with the government emphasizing the importance of Qatari heritage and culture. Some people have become naturalized citizens, however this was not a formalized process and it is not clear how many people of the current citizen population were naturalized after 1971. According to current Qatari nationality laws, citizenship is not automatically granted to individuals solely based on being born in Qatar (jus soli, birthright citizenship), but rather through jus sanguinis, which is based on parental or ancestral lineage. Only individuals who resided in Qatar before 1930 and can provide proof of such residency are granted automatic citizenship (Babar, 2014, p 441). The details of this are mentioned in Law No. 2 (Article 8) of 1961 and Law No. 38 (Article 16) of 2005, wherein the citizenship law was amended restricting the political rights of naturalized citizens (Zweiri and Qawasmi, 2021, p. 41). However, Qatar’s citizenship law underwent significant development with the introduction of Article 2 in the 2005 Act, which allows for naturalized Page 8 of 17