Al Ghuwayriya

History

An entry for Al Ghuwariyah can be found in J. G. Lorimer's 1908 Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. He describes it as a nomadic camping ground south-west of Al Huwaila and mentions a nearby masonry well, 8 fathoms deep, that yields good water. Based on field work carried out by anthropologist Henry Field in the 1950s, the main tribe in the area of Al Ghuwariyah were the Al Jafali tribe. Starting in 1960, the government made a concerted effort to settle the country's nomadic tribes, relocating members of the Na'im tribe here as it sat on the boundary of their tribal territory. After Qatar started to receive substantial profits from its oil extraction activities in the 1960s and 1970s, the government launched several housing projects for its citizens. As part of this initiative, 55 houses were built in Al Ghuwariyah by 1976. In 1986, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs opened a municipal office in Al Ghuwariyah. According to the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, there were about 65 total households within the town limits in 2014.