Al Shamal Municipality
Al Shamal: northernmost, least populous (16,730, 2020), rural fishing/agriculture. Carrying-capacity demonstration—Qatar's desert supports minimal settlement without hydrocarbon infrastructure. Population <1% of national total.
Al Shamal is Qatar's periphery made municipal: northernmost, least populous (16,730 people, 2020), lowest density (19.4 persons/km²). Established 1972 to govern fishing villages and the UNESCO World Heritage site of Al Zubarah, it remains the closest Qatar gets to rural—Al Shamal Industrial Area processes materials, not people. Population doubled 2010-2020 (7,975 → 16,730) but still represents less than 1% of Qatar's total. This is carrying-capacity demonstration: absent oil/gas infrastructure or metro proximity, Qatar's desert supports minimal permanent settlement. By 2026, Al Shamal persists as Qatar's reminder of what the peninsula was before hydrocarbons—sparse, coastal-dependent, and peripheral to wherever wealth concentrates.