Qumar is a fictional Middle Eastern country in the television show The West Wing. It is an amalgam of standard stereotypes about the Middle East including oil wealth, radical Islam, state-sponsored terrorists, and the oppression of women.

Qumar is a absolute monarchy, ruled by a dictatorial sultan and his family. The nation was first introduced in the third season where it was mentioned as a close ally of the United States, but one that badly mistreated women. Also mentioned was the fact that America has a military base there which has been there for quite a while. After the September 11th Attacks it became the main venue for the show's terrorism subplots. Qumar was described as being a home for and financial supporter of the fictional Bahji terrorist group. The end of the third season saw the President order the assassination of the Qumari defense minister, Abdul bin Shareef, on evidence he was a terrorist mastermind. Prior to that, Shareef had orchestrated a botched attempt to blow up the Golden Gate Bridge.

At the end of the fourth season, while President Bartlet had temporarily relinquished his presidential powers under the provisions of the 25th Amendment, the United States bombed several terrorist training camps in the country after the kidnapping of Zoey Bartlet. In addition the military also launched a limited ground invasion to detain and question suspects. President Bartlet, National Security Advisor Dr. Nancy McNally , Secretary of State Lewis Berryhill, White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry, the U.S. ambassador to Qumar, and the U.N. secretary-general, as well as perhaps Secretary of Defense Miles Hutchinson, vehemently opposed these acts, in light of the long-standing American-Qumari alliance.

Only a limited number of Qumari characters other than Shareef have appeared on the show, most notably Ali Nassir, the Qumari ambassador to the United Nations, and Prince Umar Usef, the Qumari ambassador to the United States.

Maps in the background of some scenes have shown Qumar to be occupying a section of the Persian Gulf coast, on the north side of the Strait of Hormuz opposite Oman, which in real life is Iranian territory. The nation of Iran, however, also exists in the show, as demonstrated most recently in The Wake-Up Call in season six.

Qumar is something of a compilation of the worst elements of Saudi Arabia and the Taliban. No country in real life has laws as harsh as those the show gives Qumar. No country allied with America is known by the public to harbor terrorist training camps.

Qumar continues on the show to be a U.S. ally, though the Sultan and other officials were extremely troubled by the assassination, bombing campaign, and invasion.

See also

• The West Wing
• Characters on The West Wing
• List of The West Wing episodes
• Equatorial Kundu