Qatar is living large despite monthlong Arab siege

It's been more than a month since four Arab nations cut land, sea and air routes to Qatar, but in the gas-rich Gulf nation's glimmering malls and luxury hotels there is little sign of hardship.

High-end clothing stores hawk the latest summer trends. Grocery stores are brimming with meats and cheeses from Europe and Turkey, and just last month the country's main port received 4,300 cars and sheep from Australia.

luxury hotels like the W and St. Regis serve lavish meals around the clock and alcohol flows for visitors. Famous Barcelona soccer players Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba met with fans last week at a mall in the capital, Doha, which will host the 2022 World Cup tournament.

"We don't feel any difference. It's a celebration everywhere," Qatari Badr Jeran said as he shopped at the mall.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt moved to isolate Qatar in early June, severing diplomatic ties and closing off their air space and shipping lanes over Doha's support for Islamist groups across the region, many of which are viewed as terror groups by its rivals. Qatar denies supporting extremism and has condemned the closures as an attack on its sovereignty.

Worried residents rushed to grocery stores, emptying shelves of dairy products and other food imports after Saudi Arabia sealed Qatar's only land border, but they were quickly restocked.

If the Arab nations intended to bring about a change in government, those hopes appear to have been dashed by an outpouring of popular support for Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the 37-year-old emir. Signs on cars and billboards read "We are all Tamim. We are all Qatar".

Here's a look at how Qatar has weathered the crisis:

Money - lots of it

Shortly after the crisis began, a Twitter account called DohaUnderSiege began documenting life under the blockade. One post showed a fully stocked hotel buffet and said: "Breadlines have begun. Personally saw several middle-aged men at breakfast scuffling over the last baguette."

The tongue-in-cheek posts point to the fact that Qatar is fantastically wealthy. It is one of the world's richest nations per capita, making its citizens on average wealthier than even those in neighboring Gulf states.

Qatar has a population of around 2 million, but only a little more than a quarter-million are citizens, meaning the government has a lot of wealth it can spread around.

Qatar has some $340 billion in reserves. Around $40 billion of that is in cash plus gold, and $300 billion is in reserves with the Qatar Investment Authority, according to central bank governor Sheikh Abdullah Bin Saoud Al Thani. Qatar's sovereign wealth fund has invested strategically over the years in international luxury brands and real estate in major cities like New York and london.