Bahrain

Kingdom of Bahrain مملكة البحرين Mamlakat al-Baḥrayn
Flag Emblem of Bahrain Emblem
Anthem:  بحريننا Bahrainona Our Bahrain
Capital and largest city	Manama
Official languages	Arabic
Government	Constitutional Monarchy
• King	Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah
• Prime Minister	Khalifah ibn Sulman Al Khalifah
Independence  from UK
• Date	15 August 1971
Area
• Total	665 km2 (257 sq mi) (189th)
• Water (%)	0
Population
• 2007 estimate	708,573 1 (164th)
• Density	987/km2 (2,556.3/sq mi) (10th)
GDP (PPP)	estimate
• Total	$17,68 billion (118th)
• Per capita	$23,604 (32nd)
HDI (2004)	0.859  (39th)
Currency	Bahraini dinar (BHD)
Time zone	UTC+3
Calling code	973
ISO 3166 code	BH
Internet TLD	.bh
Includes 235,108 non-nationals (July 2005 estimate).

Manama, Bahrain's capital.

Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain (Arabic: مملكة البحرين , Mamlakat al-Baḥrayn), is a borderless island country in the Persian Gulf and is the smallest Arab state. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway (officially opened on November 25, 1986), and Qatar is to the south across the Gulf of Bahrain. The Qatar–Bahrain Friendship Bridge being planned will link Bahrain to Qatar as the longest fixed link in the world.

History

Main article: History of Bahrain

For the historical region, see Bahrain (historical region).

Bahrain has been inhabited since ancient times and has even been proposed as the site of the Biblical Garden of Eden. Its strategic location in the Persian Gulf has brought rule and influence from the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, and finally the Arabs, under whom the island became Muslim. Bahrain was in the ancient times known as Dilmun (see Dilmun for more information), later under its Greek name Tylos, as Awal, as well as Persian name Mishmahig when it was a part of the Persian Empire.

The islands of Bahrain, positioned in the middle south of the Persian Gulf, have attracted the attention of invaders throughout history. Bahrain is Arabic for "two seas", referring to the sweet water springs that can be found within the salty sea surrounding it

A strategic position between East and West, fertile lands, fresh water, and pearl diving made Bahrain long a center of urban settlement. Pearl diving was the main economy until cultured pearls were invented in early twentieth century and more when oil was discovered in 1930s. About 2300 BC, Bahrain became a centre of one of the ancient empires trading between Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and the Indus Valley (now in Pakistan and India). This was the civilization of Dilmun (sometimes transliterated Telmun) that was linked to the Sumerian Civilization in the third millennium BC. Bahrain became part of the Babylonian empire about 600 BC. Historical records referred to Bahrain with names such as the "Life of Eternity", "Paradise", and Eden. Bahrain was also called the "Pearl of the Persian Gulf".

Until Bahrain adopted Islam in 629 AD, it was a centre for Nestorian Christianity. In 899, a millenarian Ismaili sect, the Qarmatians, seized hold of the country and sought to create a utopian society based on reason and the distribution of all property evenly among the initiates. The Qarmatians caused disruption throughout the Islamic world: they collected tribute from the caliph in Baghdad; and in 930 sacked Mecca and Medina, bringing the sacred Black Stone back to Bahrain where it was held to ransom. They were defeated in 976 by the Abbasids .

Until 1521, when the Portuguese conquered the Awal Islands, "Bahrain" referred to the larger historical region of Bahrain that included Ahsa, Qatif (both now constitute the eastern province of Saudi Arabia) and the Awal (now the Bahrain) Islands. The region stretched from Basrah to the Strait of Hormuz in Oman. This was Iqlīm al-Bahrayn "Bahrayn Province" and the Arab inhabitants of the province, descendants of the Arab tribe Banī 'Abdu l-Qays. Since the Portuguese conquest, "Bahrain" has referred to the area that is now the modern state of Bahrain.

From the sixteenth century to 1743, control of Bahrain drifted between the Portuguese and the Iranians.

In the late eighteenth century, the al-Khalifa family occupied Bahrain ending Persian control. In order to secure Bahrain from returning to Iranian control, the Emirate entered into a treaty relationship with the United Kingdom and became a British protectorate. The population of the island at the time was estimated to be less than 10,000 persons.

Oil was discovered in 1932 and brought rapid modernization to Bahrain. Bahrain was the first place to find oil in the whole region. It also made relations with the United Kingdom closer, evidenced by the British moving more bases there. British influence would continue to grow as the country developed, culminating with the appointment of Charles Belgrave as an advisor; Belgrave established modern education systems in Bahrain.

After World War II, increasing anti-British sentiment spread throughout the Arab World and in Bahrain led to riots. The riots focused on the Jewish community which counted among its members distinguished writers and singers, accountants, engineers and middle managers working for the Oil Company, textile merchants with business all over the peninsula [Jews were not allowed to settle permanently in Saudi Arabia], and free professionals. Following the events of 1947, most of the members of Bahrain's Jewish community abandoned their properties and evacuated to Bombay and later settled in Palestine (later Israel - Tel Aviv's Pardes Chana neighborhood) and the United Kingdom. As of 2007 there were 36 Jews remaining in the country. The issue of compensation was never settled.

In 1960, the United Kingdom put Bahrain's future to international arbitration and requested that the United Nations Secretary-General take on this responsibility. In 1970, Iran laid claim to Bahrain and the other Persian Gulf islands. However, in an agreement with the United Kingdom it agreed to "not pursue" its claims on Bahrain if its other claims were realized. The following plebiscite saw Bahrainis confirm their Arab identity and independence from Britain. Bahrain to this day remains a member of the Arab League and Arabian Gulf Cooperation Council.

The British withdrew from Bahrain on August 15 1971, making Bahrain an independent emirate. The oil boom of the 1970s greatly benefited Bahrain, but its downturn was felt badly. However, the country had already begun to diversify its economy, and had benefited from the Lebanese civil war that began in the 1970s; Bahrain replaced Beirut as the Middle East's financial hub as Lebanon's large banking sector was driven out of the country by the war.

Bahrain Royal Flight Boeing 747SP

After the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, Bahraini Shī'a fundamentalists in 1981 orchestrated a failed coup attempt under the auspices of a front organization, the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain. The coup would have installed a Shī'a cleric exiled in Iran, Hujjatu l-Islām Hādī al-Mudarrisī, as supreme leader heading a theocratic government.

In 1994, a wave of rioting by disaffected Shīa Islamists was sparked by women's participation in a sporting event. The Kingdom was badly affected by sporadic violence during the mid-1990s in which over forty people were killed in violence between the government and cleric-led opposition.

In March 1999, King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah succeeded his father as head of state and instituted elections for parliament, gave women the right to vote, and released all political prisoners. These moves were described by Amnesty International as representing an "historic period of human rights." The country was declared a kingdom in 2002. It formerly was considered an State and officially called a "Kingdom."

Politics

Main article: Politics of Bahrain

See also: Bahraini parliamentary election, 2006 and Human rights in Bahrain

Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy headed by the King, Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa; the head of government is the Prime Minister, Shaikh Khalīfa bin Salman al Khalifa, who presides over a cabinet of twenty-three members . Bahrain has a bicameral legislature with a lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, elected by universal suffrage and the upper house, the Shura Council, appointed by the king. Both houses have forty members. The inaugural elections were held in 2002, with parliamentarians serving four year terms; the first round of voting in the 2006 parliamentary election took place on 25 November 2006, and second round run-offs were decided on 2 December 2006.

The opening up of politics has seen big gains for both Shīa and Sunnī Islamists in elections, which has given them a parliamentary platform to pursue their policies. This has meant that what are termed "morality issues" have moved further up the political agenda with parties launching campaigns to impose bans on female mannequins displaying lingerie in shop windows, sorcery, and the hanging of underwear on washing lines, as well as change the building by laws to fit one-way glass to houses to prevent residents being able to see out. Analysts of democratization in the Middle East cite the Islamists' references to respect for human rights in their justification for these programmes as evidence that these groups can serve as a progressive force in the region.

Islamist parties have been particularly critical of the government's readiness to sign international treaties such as the United Nation's International Convention on Civil and Political Rights. At a parliamentary session in June 2006 to discuss ratification of the Convention, Sheikh Adel Mouwda, the former leader of salafist party, Asalah, explained the party's objections: "The convention has been tailored by our enemies, God kill them all, to serve their needs and protect their interests rather than ours. This why we have eyes from the American Embassy watching us during our sessions, to ensure things are swinging their way" .

Both Sunnī and Shī'a Islamists suffered a setback in March 2006 when 20 municipal councillors, most of whom represented religious parties, went missing in Bangkok on an unscheduled stopover when returning from a conference in Malaysia. After the missing councillors eventually arrived in Bahrain they defended their stay at the Radisson Hotel in Bangkok, telling journalists it was a "fact-finding mission", and explaining: "We benefited a lot from the trip to Thailand because we saw how they managed their transport, landscaping and roads." 

Bahraini liberals have responded to the growing power of religious parties by organizing themselves to campaign through civil society in order to defend basic personal freedoms from being legislated away. In November 2005, al Muntada, a grouping of liberal academics, launched "We Have A Right", a campaign to explain to the public why personal freedoms matter and why they need to be defended.

Women's political rights in Bahrain saw an important step forward when women were granted the right to vote and stand in national elections for the first time in the 2002 election. However, no women were elected to office in that year’s polls and instead Shī'a and Sunnī Islamists dominated the election, collectively winning a majority of seats. In response to the failure of women candidates, six were appointed to the Shura Council, which also includes representatives of the Kingdom’s indigenous Jewish and Christian communities. The country's first female cabinet minister was appointed in 2004 when Dr. Nada Haffadh became Minister of Health, while the quasi-governmental women's group, the Supreme Council for Women, trained female candidates to take part in the 2006 general election. When Bahrain was elected to head the United Nations General Assembly in 2006 it appointed lawyer and women's rights activist Haya bint Rashid Al Khalifa as the President of the United Nations General Assembly , only the third woman in history to head the world body.

The king recently created the Supreme Judicial Council to regulate the country's courts and institutionalize the separation of the administrative and judicial branches of government; the leader of this court is Mohammed Humaidan.

On 11–12 November 2005, Bahrain hosted the Forum for the Future bringing together leaders from the Middle East and G8 countries to discuss political and economic reform in the region.

The near total dominance of religious parties in elections has given a new prominence to clerics within the political system, with the most senior Shia religious leader, Sheikh Isa Qassim, playing what’s regarded as an extremely important role; according to one academic paper, “In fact, it seems that few decisions can be arrived at in Al Wefaq – and in the whole country, for that matter – without prior consultation with Isa Qassim, ranging from questions with regard to the planned codification of the personal status law to participation in elections.”

In 2007, Al Wefaq-backed parliamentary investigations are credited with forcing the government to remove ministers who had frequently clashed with MPs: the Minister of Health, Dr Nada Haffadh (who was also Bahrain’s first ever female cabinet minister) and the Minister of Information, Dr Mohammed Abdulghaffar.

Governorates

Governorates of Bahrain

Bahrain is split into five governorates. Until July 3 2002, it was divided into twelve municipalities; see Municipalities of Bahrain. The governorates are:

1. Capital
2. Central
3. Muharraq
4. Northern
5. Southern

For further information, see Template:PDFlink from the Bahrain official website.

Cities, towns and villages

Among Bahrain's cities and towns are:

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Bahrain's many small towns and villages include:

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Economy

Main article: Economy of Bahrain

In a region experiencing an oil boom, Bahrain has the fastest growing economy in the Arab world, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia found in January 2006. Bahrain also has the freest economy in the Middle East according to the 2006 Index of Economic Freedom published by the Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal, and is twenty-fifth freest overall in the world.

In Bahrain, petroleum production and processing account for about 60% of export receipts, 60% of government revenues, and 30% of GDP. Economic conditions have fluctuated with the changing fortunes of oil since 1985, for example, during and following the Persian Gulf crisis of 1990-91. With its highly developed communication and transport facilities, Bahrain is home to multinational firms. A large share of exports consists of petroleum products made from imported crude oil. Construction proceeds on several major industrial projects. Unemployment, especially among the young, and the depletion of both oil and underground water resources are major long-term economic problems.

In 2004, Bahrain signed the US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement, which will reduce certain barriers to trade between the two nations.

Bahrain in 2007 became the first Arab country to institute unemployment benefit as part of a series of labour reforms instigated under Minister of Labour, Majeed Al Alawi

Geography

Map of Bahrain.

Main article: Geography of Bahrain

Bahrain is a generally flat and arid archipelago, comprising of a low desert plain rising gently to a low central escarpment, in the Persian Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia. The highest point is the 122 m Jabal ad Dukhan.

Bahrain has a total area of 688 km² (266 mi²), which is slightly larger than the Isle of Man, though it is smaller than the nearby King Fahd International Airport near Dammam, Saudi Arabia (780 km² or 301 mi²). As an archipelago of thirty-three islands, Bahrain does not share a land boundary with another country but does have a 161-kilometre (100 mi) coastline and claims a further twelve nautical miles (22 km) of territorial sea and a twenty-four nautical mile (44 km) contiguous zone. Bahrain has mild winters and very hot, humid summers.

Bahrain's natural resources include large quantities of oil and natural gas as well as fish stocks. Arable land constitutes only 2.82% of the total area. Desert constitutes 92% of Bahrain and periodic droughts and dust storms are the main natural hazards for Bahrainis.

Environmental issues facing Bahrain include desertification resulting from the degradation of limited arable land and coastal degradation (damage to coastlines, coral reefs, and sea vegetation) resulting from oil spills and other discharges from large tankers, oil refineries, and distribution stations. The agricultural and domestic sectors' over-utilization of the Dammam Aquifer, the principle aquifer in Bahrain, has led to its salinization by adjacent brackish and saline water bodies.

Demographics

Bahrain from space, by NASA.

Main article: Demographics of Bahrain

Ethnic, Cultural and Religious Groups of Bahrain

The official religion of Bahrain is Islam, which the majority of the population practices. However, due to an influx of immigrants and guest workers from non-Muslim countries, such as India, Philippines and Sri Lanka , the overall percentage of Muslims in the country has declined in recent years. According to the 2001 census, 80% of Bahrain's population was Muslim, 10% were Christian, and 10% practiced other Asian religions.

There are no official figures for the proportion of Shia and Sunni among the Muslims of Bahrain. Unofficial sources, such as the Library of Congress Country Studies, BBC, and the New York Times, estimate it to be approximately 45% Sunni and 55% Shia. The last official census (in 1941) which included sectarian identification reported 53% as Shia.

Bahrain has transformed into a cosmopolitan society with mixed communities: two thirds of Bahrain's population consists of Arabs. A Large contingency of people of Iranian descent as well as immigrants and guest workers from, South Asia and Southeast Asia are present. A Financial Times published on 31 May 1983 found that "Bahrain is a polyglot state, both religiously and racially. Leaving aside the temporary immigrants of the past ten years, there are at least eight or nine communities on the island."

The present communities may be classified as: tribals, Arab tribes allied to Al-Khalifa including the Utoob tribes, Dawasir, etc; Bahranis, indigenous Shia Arabs; the Howala, Arabs that migrated to the eastern shores of Iran, only to return generations later; Ajam ethnic Persian Shia; Najdis, non-tribal urban Sunni Arabs from Najd in central Arabia; Indians who traded with Bahrain and settled before the age of oil (formerly known as the Hunood or Banyan, Template:ArB); a tiny Jewish community; and a miscellaneous grouping.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Bahrain

Bahrain is sometimes described as the "Middle East lite" a country that mixes modern infrastructure with a Gulf identity, but unlike other countries in the region its prosperity is not solely a reflection of the size of its oil wealth, but also related to the creation of an indigenous middle class. This unique socioeconomic development in the Persian Gulf has meant that Bahrain is generally more liberal than its neighbours. While Islam is the main religion, Bahrainis have been known for their tolerance, and alongside mosques can be found churches, a Hindu temple, a Sikh Gurdwara and a Jewish synagogue. The country is home to several communities that have faced persecution elsewhere.

It is too early to say whether political liberalisation under King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has augmented or undermined Bahrain's traditional pluralism. The new political space for Shia and Sunni Islamists has meant that they are now in a much stronger position to pursue programmes that often seek to directly confront this pluralism, yet at the same time political reforms have encouraged an opposite trend for society to become more self critical with a greater willingness in general to examine previous social taboos. It is now common to find public seminars on once unheard of subjects such as marital problems and sex and child abuse. Another facet of the new openness is Bahrain's status as the most prolific book publisher in the Arab world, with 132 books published in 2005 for a population of 700,000. In comparison, the average for the entire Arab world is seven books published per one million people in 2005, according to the United Nations Development Programme. 

Ali Bahar is the most famous singer in Bahrain. He performs his music with his Band Al-Ekhwa ( The Brothers ).

On October 20 2005, it was revealed that Michael Jackson intended to leave the United States permanently in order to seek a new life in Bahrain. Jackson has reportedly told friends that he feels "increasingly Bahraini"after buying a former PM's mansion in Sanad, and is now seeking another property by the seashore. Jackson reportedly moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2006. Other celebrities associated with the Kingdom include singer Shakira and Grand Prix driver Jenson Button, who owns property there.

In Manama lies the new district of Juffair, predominantly built on reclaimed land. This is the location of the U.S.Naval Support Activity. The concentration of restaurants, bars and nightlife make this area a magnet for U.S. service members and Saudi weekend visitors.

Language

Arabic is the official language of Bahrain. Other languages widely spoken in Bahrain include, English, Persian, Hindi, and Urdu.

Formula One and other motorsports events

Bahrain has a Formula One race-track, hosting the Gulf Air Grand Prix on 4 April 2004, the first for an Arab country. The race was won by Michael Schumacher of Scuderia Ferrari. This was followed by the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2005. Bahrain has successfully hosted the opening Grand Prix of the 2006 season on 12 March. Both the above races were won by Fernando Alonso of Renault. The 2007 event took place on April 13th, 14th and 15th resulting in victory of Ferrari's Felipe Massa

In 2006, Bahrain also hosted its inaugural Australian V8 Supercar event dubbed the "Desert 400". The V8s will return every November to the Sakhir circuit. The inaugural round was won by Ford Performance Racing's Jason Bright.

The Bahrain International Circuit also features a full length drag strip, and the Bahrain Drag Racing Club has organised invitational events featuring some of Europe's top drag racing teams to try and raise the profile of the sport in the Middle East. There has been much speculation about Bahrain hosting a round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship, but as yet this has not come to fruition due to problems with the track gaining the necessary licence .

Holidays

Date	English name	Local name
January 1	New Year's Day	رأس السنة الميلادية
May 1	Labour Day	عيد العمال
December 16	National Day	العيد الوطني
December 17	Accession Day	عيد الجلوس
10th Zilhajjah	Feast of the Sacrifice (4 days)	Eid ul-Adha	Commemorates Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismial; occurs at the 10th day of the month of hajj. i.e. the month of Dhu al-Hijjah
1st Shawal	Little Feast (3 days)	Eid ul-Fitr	Commemorates end of Ramadan
1st Moharram	Hijri New Year	Muharram	Islamic New Year
9th & 10th Moharram	Ashura Day	Muharram
varies		Al-Isra' ul-Miraj	Commemorates Muhammad's journey to the Heavens
12th Rabiul Awal	Prophet Muhammad's birthday	Mawlid al-Nabi
9th-10th Moharram	Ashoura (2 days)		Commemorates the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali at the Battle of Karbala

On 1 September 2006 Bahrain changed its weekend from being Thursdays and Fridays to Fridays and Saturdays, in order to have a day of the weekend shared with the rest of the world.

Military

The kingdom has a small, but well equipped military called the Bahrain Defense Force. They have a cooperative agreement with the United States Military and have provided the United States a base in Juffair since the early 1990s. This is the home of the United States Navy Central Command (COMUSNAVCENT) and about 1500 U.S. and coalition military .

Education

Main article: Education in Bahrain

See also: Boy Scouts of Bahrain

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Quranic schools (Kuttab) were the only form of education in Bahrain. They were traditional schools aimed at teaching children and youth the reading of the Qur'an. After the First World War, Bahrain became open to western influences and a demand for modern educational institutions appeared.

1919 marked the beginning of modern public school system in Bahrain when Al-Hidaya Al-Khalifia School for boys was opened in Muharraq. In 1926, the Education Committee opened the second public school for boys in Manama and in 1928 the first public school for girls was opened in Muharraq.

In 2004 King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa introduced a project that uses information communication technology (ICT) to support K-12 education in Bahrain. This project is named King Hamad Schools of Future. The objective of this project is to connect and link all schools within the kingdom with the internet and introduce the idea of education everywhere.

In addition to British intermediate schools, the island is served by the Bahrain School (BS). The BS is a United States Department of Defense school that provides a K-12 curriculum including International Baccalaureate offerings.

Private schools also exist that offer either the IB Diploma Programme or UK A-Levels. In 2007, St Christopher's School Bahrain became the first school in Bahrain to offer a choice of IB or A-Levels for students. Numerous international educational institutions and schools have established links to Bahrain. A few prominent institutions are DePaul University and Bentley College of the United States.

Schooling is paid for by the government, and, although not compulsory, primary and secondary attendance rates are high. Bahrain also encourages institutions of higher learning, drawing on expatriate talent and the increasing pool of Bahrain Nationals returning from abroad with advanced degrees. The University of Bahrain has been established for standard undergraduate and graduate study, and the College of Health Sciences – operating under the direction of the Ministry of Health – trains physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and paramedics. The national action charter, passed in 2001, paved the way for the formation of private universities. The first private university was Ahlia University, situated in Manama. The University of London External has appointed MCG as the regional representative office in Bahrain for distance learning programs. MCG is one of the oldest private institutes in the country.

Asian institutes have also been opened which guarantee good quality education to Asian students such as the Pakistan Urdu School. The Indian School, Bahrain and the New Indian School, Bahrain is an Indian institution for children whose parents are expatriates in Bahrain from India.

St Christopher's School Bahrain was listed by The Times newspaper as being one of the top 10 schools outside the United Kingdom

Ibn Khaldoon National School is one of the most popular and prestigious private school in the kingdom of Bahrain. It is mostly attended by the royal and the hight class people from the society. IKNS also has one of the hardest academic curriculums in the GCC area.

See also: List of universities in Bahrain

Tourism

Al Bander Resort in Bahrain.

Main article: Tourism in Bahrain

Bahrain is a popular tourist destination in the Arab World with over eight million tourists a year. Most of the visitors are from the surrounding Arab states but there is an increasing number of tourists from outside the region thanks to a growing awareness of the kingdom’s rich heritage and its higher profile with regards to the Bahrain Formula One Race Track.

The Lonely Planet describes Bahrain as "an excellent introduction to the Persian Gulf" because of its authentic Arab heritage and reputation as relatively liberal and modern. The kingdom combines Arab culture, Gulf glitz and the archaeological legacy of five thousand years of civilization. The island is home to castles including Qalat Al Bahrain which has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

The Bahrain National Museum has artefacts from the country's history dating back to the island's first human inhabitation 9000 years ago.

See also

• Human rights in Bahrain
• Women in Arab societies
• 1990s Uprising in Bahrain
• Torture in Bahrain

External links

• BBC Country profile: Bahrain
• "Bahrain". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency.
• Lonely Planet Destination Guide
• Bahrain Brief
• Bahrain Expatriate Community

References

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