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Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Qatar, The Host Of The 2022 World Cup

Earlier today, FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced that Qatar (Qatar!) will host the 2022 World Cup. Simultaneously, everyone who watched the announcement asked: where and what is a Qatar?

Hopefully, we can help shed some light on this. Here’s what we know about the teeny, tiny country that will host the biggest sporting event in the world ever.

- First of all, it’s here.

- It’s the smallest country ever to host the World Cup, and the first Middle Eastern country to do so (thanks, SportsCenter!).

- It’s currently 73 degrees in Qatar. The average temperature during the summer months? 104 degrees. Sticky.

- Thankfully, Qatar has promised to install air conditioning in all 10 of their Wold Cup stadiums. Breezy!

- How can they afford to install air conditioning in 10 full-size soccer stadiums? They’re rich, bitch. Qatar has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, thanks largely to oil and gas, and recently passed Liechenstein for the world’s top spot in per-capita income.

- The money, in fact, is reported to be the main reason that Qatar won their bid in the first place. Thanks to their super duper fast-growing economy, Qatar has promised to pour tons of money into the 2022 Cup and will complete a new, ultra-modern stadium by 2019. It’s even surrounded by water.

- Relative to other Middle Eastern countries, Qatar has pretty liberal laws. This, of course, means that they’re insanely strict. From the U.S. Bureau of Consular Affairs:

Incidents involving insults or obscene language/gestures often result in arrest, overnight imprisonment, and/or fines whether the incident occurs between private parties or involves officers of the law. Insulting someone in public is considered a punishable offense.

Homosexual activity is considered to be a criminal offense, and those convicted may be sentenced to lashings, a prison sentence, and/or deportation.

Book your tickets now!