At this time in his previous life, Qatar's population had been around sixteen thousand. Of course, Ernst could not possibly have known that—who would bother paying attention to the population of a tiny country like Qatar?
Qatar's population was nearly three thousand lower than in his previous life, also due to East Africa's influence. The main reason was the early emergence of cultured pearl technology, which had dealt a severe blow to Qatar's pillar industry.
In his previous life, at the beginning of the twentieth century, Qatar's population had been close to thirty thousand. It was only after advances in Japanese cultured pearl technology that it fell back to just over sixteen thousand.
Later, Qatar would not truly strike it rich through oil until the 1930s. In 1935, Qatar formally signed an oil concession agreement with Britain, began official exploration two years later, and finally discovered oil fields in western Qatar in 1939.
So even without East Africa's interference, Qatar would have needed to endure another dozen-odd years before enjoying better days. Now, they could head to Batavia early to "enjoy themselves."
It was worth mentioning that present-day Doha was far from the metropolis of over 1.5 million people it had been in his previous life. It was merely a tiny settlement in the Gulf region, with only a little over two hundred residents in normal times.
"Everyone, board in an orderly manner." East African officers and soldiers directed them from the shore.
Qataris of all ages and both sexes had basically been gathered temporarily in Doha. To maintain order, the 37th Brigade had taken the initiative to help.
This stood in stark contrast to how East Africa had once shouted for blood against the Arabs of the Pirate Coast, or the UAE. Some East African officers and soldiers had