Abu Dhalouf ( ar, أبو ظلوف, Abū Ḑalūf) is a town on the north coast of

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

, located in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Al Shamal Al Shamal ( ar, ٱلشَّمَال, Ash Shamāl) is a municipality in the state of Qatar. Its seat is called ''Madinat ash Shamal'' and it is considered to be one of the major cities in Qatar, although the population is barely over 8,000. The se ...

. It was demarcated in 1988 and is bounded by

Madinat ash Shamal Madinat ash Shamal ( ar, الشمال) is the capital city of the municipality of Al Shamal in Qatar. Located more than north of Qatar's capital Doha, the city was delimited in 1988 and shares its boundaries with Ar Ru'ays to the east and Abu D ...

to the immediate east, with

Ar Ru'ays AR, Ar, or A&R may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Artists and repertoire Periodicals * ''Absolute Return + Alpha'', a hedge fund publication *''The Adelaide Review'', an Australian arts magazine * ''American Renaissance'' ( ...

located to the immediate east of Madinat ash Shamal.

Etymology

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, 'abu' means 'father' and in this context is used to describe an area with a distinct feature. 'Dhalouf' is derived from the Arabic term 'dhalfa', which is the name given to the curved ends of saddles used for

camel riding Camel racing is a popular sport in Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Pakistan, Mongolia and Australia. Professional camel racing, like horse racing, is an event for betting and tourist attraction. Camels can run at speeds up to ...

. It was so-named because of a prominent hill that resembled the end of a saddle. Alternative transliterations of the name are Abu Dhaluf, Abū Ḑalūf, Abu Dhuluf, and Abū Z̧ulūf.

History

In the 1820s, George Barnes Brucks was tasked with preparing the first British survey of the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

. He wrote down the following notes about Abu Dhalouf, which he referred to as ''Boodeshoof'': Map of Qatar Peninsula in 1824 - Abu Dhalouf.jpg, Abu Dhalouf as ''Boodeshoof'' in an 1824 map of the Qatar Peninsula based upon Brucks' research. J.G. Lorimer's ''

Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf The ''Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia'' (nicknamed ''Lorimer'') is a two-volume encyclopedia compiled by John Gordon Lorimer. The ''Gazetteer'' was published in secret by the British government in India in 1908 and 1915 an ...

'' gives an account of Abu Dhalouf in 1908: Reiterating details present in G.B. Brucks' earlier report, Lorimer also stated that prior to 1856, the village was inhabited by about 50 men of the Bu Kuwara (Kuwari) tribe.

Landmarks

Many historic mosques exist in the town. One of the most popular attractions in the town is Abu Dhalouf Park. It is situated along the Abu Dhalouf Beach, providing a vantage point of the

, and is also near the town center. The park draws in thousands of visitors every year from elsewhere in the north and from

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

. In 2016, it was reported that several locals had lodged complaints stating that the park had fallen into disrepair. They claimed that the landscaping and children's playground equipment were deteriorating, and that the park lacked suitable lighting at night. Thus, in April 2016, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment began a QR 12.5 million renovation that spanned the park's 17,000 m² area.

Education

The settlement's first formal school was opened in 1957.

References

Populated places in Al Shamal Populated coastal places in Qatar {{Qatar-geo-stub