Al Utouriya ( ar, العطورية, Al Athārīyah) is a village in

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-Shahaniya Al Shahaniya ( ar, الشحانية, Ash Shīḩānīyah) is a municipality (3299 km2) in Qatar, with its municipal seat has a city of the same name (39 km2). Formerly in the municipality of Al Rayyan, but now an independent municipali ...

. The village is located about north of Al-Shahaniya City and the same distance south of

Al Jemailiya Al Jemailiya ( ar, الجميلية, Al Jumaylīyah) is a town in the municipality of Al-Shahaniya, Qatar. It used to be the seat of Al Jemailiya Municipality before it was incorporated into Al Rayyan Municipality in 2004. In 2014, the town was i ...

. It is connected to both places by road. It used to be part of the

municipality before the municipality was incorporated into Al Rayyan. In 2014, the village was incorporated into the newly-created Al-Shahaniya Municipality.

Etymology

Al Utouriya's name is derived from the

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 ...

word ''atar'', which translates to 'perfume' or 'aroma'. It was given this name due to the scent emanating from a nearby rawdat ( depression) which hosts a number of aromatic herbs. Various alternative

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

s of the name exist, such as ''Al `Aţūrīyah'', ''Al Atoriya'', ''Al Athārīyah'', ''Latariyah'', and ''Leatooriya''.

History

Settlers first came to the region in the 1960s, despite being cut off from many essential services. In the 1980s, the village was connected to Qatar's power grid system. Mixed-use farms comprise the livelihood of some residents, while others commute to the capital

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 ...

and elsewhere for work. As a result of poor living conditions, many of the original residents have migrated to Doha. In 2016, it was estimated that around 500 inhabitants occupied the village, with an overall 47 homes being recorded, all of which are resided in by more than one family.

Infrastructure

The village is primarily rural community centered on agriculture. No health care or educational facilities were recorded in the 2010 census. The village also lacks parks, schools, supermarkets and gas stations. For public services and food items, most residents travel to

Agriculture

An experimental farm was established here by the government in the early 1980s in an initiative to boost food self-sufficiency. The farm's greenhouses successfully extended the growing season of

cucumber Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated Vine#Horticultural climbing plants, creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical Fruit, fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.

s, resulting in a yield of 140 kg in 1982, and a pursuance to build similar greenhouses elsewhere in the country. There is a large government-owned plant nursery in the village which covers 2,500 sq meters. Plants from the nursery are used in research and also distributed to government ministries. It was established in 2003. Numerous privately-owned farms have also been established in the area, most of which are mixed-use and grow fodder crops in addition to raising livestock.

References

{{Al-Shahaniya Municipality Populated places in Al-Shahaniya