The Gulf Times newspaper was founded in 1978 as the first publication of the Gulf Publishing and Printing Company in the capital city of Qatar, Doha (or ad-Dawhah). It is one of four English language newspapers in the country (the others being The Peninsula [1995], the Qatar Tribune [2006] and the Qatar Chronicle [2012]). It is published by Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, the former deputy prime minister and the former head of the Emir's court.

History

The Gulf Times, Qatar, (the first publication of the Gulf Publishing and Printing Organisation) was founded on 1 June 1978. Its contract was signed and the required license was issued on 5 August 1978, in accordance with the laws of Qatar. The first edition of Gulf Times was published on 10 December 1978, as a black-and-white tabloid, under the leadership of Yousef Jassim Darwish, the editor-in-chief of both Gulf Times and later the sister Arabic-language paper Al Raya.

On 1 January 1993, Gulf Publishing & Printing Company—encompassing both the Gulf Times and Al Raya—moved to new headquarters in the Al Hilal Area, on the C Ring Road, with a larger printing press, more up-to-date facilities and more office space. The newspaper could now grow both in physical size and publishing figures.