Matt Bevan

If you've got one you're trying to unload, send it to me.

I'll take it.

The one I've got here at the moment is from 1961, and it's not only full of extremely dated maps, but it's got fascinating statistical information about every country.

For example,

In 1961 there were significantly more cars in Australia than there were in all of Asia.

That's a fun fact.

I went looking through the atlas for fun facts about Qatar and there is none.

Qatar is drawn on a map of the Middle East but apart from its roughly sketched border, fun facts are very much lacking.

Apparently, Encyclopedia Britannica knew nothing about it, not even its population.

And that's because... The Sheikhdom of Qatar is geographically prominent, but otherwise one of the least known of the Arab Gulf states.

It was essentially famous for not being famous.

But perhaps more than any Gulf state, Qatar's history is shrouded in obscurity.

And look, to a certain extent, that is understandable.

Qatar is a barren, flat, horrifically hot, windswept peninsula on the edge of Saudi Arabia.

It had very little connection with the outside world.

In fact, in one of the country's museums, it's noted that it wasn't until the 1960s that football was first introduced to the country.

If Britannica had checked, they'd have found that Qatar's population in 1961 was just 36,000, and yet it had its own royal family.

There's no question that Sheikh Khalifa and his family rule the Emirate in every respect.

Now, usually royal families are ripe for scandal and intrigue, but the royal family of Qatar, the Altanis, are almost bizarrely boring, apart from the fact that they have a fondness for conducting coups while the Emir, the leader of the country, is on holiday.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, who's just celebrated 10 years as ruler after deposing his cousin in a bloodless royal coup.