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A country comprising an archipelago of low sandy islands in the Persian Gulf between Qatar and Saudi Arabia. It was the first Arabian country to strike oil (1932). A British protectorate after 1861, Bahrain became independent in 1971. Manama, on Bahrain Island, the largest in the archipelago, is the capital. Population: 709,000.
Bahraini Bah·rain'i adj. & n.
For more information on Bahrain, visit Britannica.com.
Land and People
The islands are flat and sandy, with a few low hills. The climate is hot and humid during the summer, mild and pleasant in the winter. The largely urban population is about 60% Bahraini; the balance of the inhabitants consist of nonnationals who are mainly other Arabs, Iranians, and South Asians. Islam (75% Shiite and 25% Sunni) is the religion of most of the population, and there are Christian and other minorities. Languages spoken other than Arabic (the official language) include English, Farsi, and Urdu.
Economy
Bahrain was once a chief center of pearling, but the industry declined in the 20th cent. Oil was found in 1931, and oil revenues have financed extensive modernization projects, particularly in health and education. Oil and petroleum products account for about 60% of Bahrain's export earnings. However, Bahrain is expected to be the first Persian Gulf nation to run dry of oil, and steps have been taken to diversify the nonagricultural sector of the economy. Aluminum-smelting, banking and financial-services, ship-repair, textile-manufacturing, and tourism industries have been established, as have oil refineries that largely process Saudi crude. Bahrain is home to numerous multinational firms, and the government actively encourages foreign investment. The U.S. navy's 5th Fleet, which patrols the Persian Gulf, is based in Bahrain. There is some fishing, and dates, fruits, and vegetables are grown, but the majority of Bahrain's food is imported. Machinery and chemicals are also imported. Saudi Arabia is the main trading partner.
Government
Bahrain is governed under the constitution of 2002. The king is the head of state. The government is headed by the prime minister, who is appointed by the king. The bicameral legislature consists of the 40-seat Consultative Council, whose members are appointed by the king, and the 40-member Council of Representatives, whose members are popularly elected to four-year terms. Administratively, the country is divided into five governorates.
History
During the 3d millennium B.C., Bahrain (known in Sumerian as Dilmun) was already an important trade center, functioning as a transshipment point between Arabia and India. In the ancient world it was also famous for the pearling conducted in the waters surrounding the islands. The Greeks knew the island as Tylos. The term Bahrain was used to describe the entire Persian Gulf coast of Arabia in the early Islamic era; the island was also known as Awal or Aval. Bahrain was ruled in the 16th cent. by Portugal and intermittently from 1602 to 1783 by Persia. The Persians were expelled by an Arabian family that established the present ruling dynasty, the al-Khalifas. In 1861, Bahrain became a British protectorate.
Nearly a century later, demonstrations and strikes in the 1950s and 60s demanded greater popular participation in government. Iran claimed the islands in 1970 after the United Nations reported that the inhabitants desired independence. In 1971, after Britain withdrew from the Persian Gulf area, Bahrain became independent. In 1973 a constitution that limited the sheikh's powers was adopted and an elected national assembly established, but in 1975 the sheikh suspended the constitution and dissolved the national assembly. Bahrain was a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in 1981, along with neighboring Persian Gulf countries, and it is also a member of the Arab League.
In the 1980s and 1990s relations with Qatar were strained by a dispute over the Hawar Islands and the large natural-gas resources of the Dome field (in the shallow sea between both countries). In the late 1980s a causeway was built connecting Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. After the end of the Iran-Iraq War (1988), attempts were made to improve relations with Iran; persistent irritants to Iran were the poverty among Bahrain's Shiite majority and the small Shiite representation in Bahrain's cabinet. During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, coalition forces were allowed extensive use of Bahraini territory. In 1993 a consultative council (Shura) was appointed to replace the long-dissolved national assembly. In the mid and late 1990s unrest among Bahrain's Shiites has led to opposition protests and violence; the restoration of an elected parliament was one of the main demands. In 1996 more than 50 people were arrested for involvement in what was said to be an Iranian-backed coup attempt.
Sheikh Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa, who had ruled since 1961, died in 1999; he was succeeded by his son, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. The new ruler moved gradually toward increased democracy for Bahrain. In 2000 he called for the establishment of a national committee to write a new national charter. The charter, which established a constitutional monarchy, was approved in Feb., 2001; the same month a general amnesty for political prisoners and exiles was declared.
Bahrain was proclaimed a kingdom in 2002, and the Shura was dissolved prior to the assembly elections. Because King Hamad had established an appointed upper house in the national parliament, which had not been part of the charter approved in 2001, a number of groups (including the largest Shiite association) called for an electoral boycott; turnout in the October elections was 53%. The elected deputies were largely moderate Sunnites and independents. The election marked the first time that women in a Arab Persian Gulf monarchy could vote or run for national office. Shiite-Sunni tensions in Bahrain increased again after the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
In Sept., 2006, a former government adviser of Sunni Sudanese descent accused a number of government officials (but not the king or prime minister) of conspiring to manipulate elections and use other means to maintain Sunni control of Bahrain's government and society. The detailed report was denounced by the head of Bahrain intelligence service, who was accused of being central to the conspiracy, and the adviser was deported and then accused of attempting to overthrow the government and other crimes. An investigation into the evidence and charges was sought by Shiite opposition groups. In the Nov.–Dec., 2006, parliamentary elections themselves, the Shiite opposition secured 18 seats while Sunnis won 22; conservatives and Islamists were dominant in both groups.
Bibliography
See F. Adamīyat, Bahrein Islands (1955); J. B. Nugent and T. Thomas, ed., Bahrain and the Gulf (1985); T. T. Farah, Protection and Politics in Bahrain (1986); F. Lawson, Bahrain: The Modernization of Autocracy (1988).
An independent state comprising an archipelago of thirty-three islands in the heart of the Persian Gulf.
The Bahrain islands lie some 15 miles off the northeast coast of Saudi Arabia and 13 miles to the northwest of the Qatar peninsula. Connected by causeway to Saudi Arabia, al-Awal, the largest, is 27 miles by 10 miles. The total land area of the country, 213 square miles, in 2001 supported a population of 650,600. Manama is the capital and largest city. The ruling family, the Al Khalifa, is a branch of the
Bani Utub confederation of the northern Gulf, which conquered the islands in 1782 and set up a commercial, estate-holding elite. Class distinctions between the new rulers and the indigenous population were reinforced by religious ones, since the Al Khalifa and their tribal allies were and remain adherents of Sunni Islam, while the local farmers, pearl divers, and fisherfolk remain Shiʿa. A British protectorate was imposed in 1880.
British Era: 1910s to 1973
Outbreaks of nationalist, labor, and religious unrest have been a recurrent feature of modern Bahraini politics. During the 1910s and 1920s, local merchants, tradespeople, and pearl divers rose in opposition to a number of innovative economic regulations imposed by the government of British India, which took charge of the islands' affairs at the end of the nineteenth century. From the 1930s to the 1950s, a broad coalition of merchants, intellectuals, and oil workers (petroleum was discovered in 1932) demonstrated against continued British domination, against the presence of large numbers of foreign workers, in favor of allowing local labor to unionize, and in favor of establishing an elected legislature.
After the 1950s, outbreaks became increasingly localized and intermittent. Some episodes, such as the March 1972 general strike by the construction, shipyard, and aluminum-factory workers remained class based, while others took on sectarian overtones, as when Shiʿa openly demonstrated support for the Iranian Revolution during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Shaykh Isa bin Sulman Al Khalifa became ruler of Bahrain in 1961, upon the death of his father, and took the title amir at independence in 1971. Since then, close relatives of the ruler have filled the most important posts in the country's cabinet. Ministers who are not members of the Khalifa family usually have been sons of the established wealthy merchant families and have received specialized training in Western universities. Bahrain's largest industrial concerns also are managed by this group of royal family members and influential civil servants.
Independent Bahrain: 1973 to Present
Political parties, like trade unions, were prohibited by the 1973 constitution. The constitution did, however, provide for an elected National Assembly, the first elections for which were held in December 1973. College-educated professionals, shopkeepers, middle-income merchants, and the country's intelligentsia were the strongest supporters of the electoral system. The commercial elite remained largely noncommittal and did not participate in the elections, either as candidates or as voters. Radical groups, most notably the local branch of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arab Gulf, tried to convince voters to boycott the proceedings and advocated more comprehensive freedoms of press and assembly, while agitating for the release of political prisoners and the adoption of laws permitting the formation of trade unions. Younger, comparatively radical delegates nevertheless emerged victorious from the balloting, although the government manipulated technicalities in the election law to block several newly elected delegates from taking their seats.
Although only empowered by the constitution to give advice and consent regarding laws initiated by the cabinet, the National Assembly began to debate three volatile issues during 1974. The first concerned a general labor law that would have authorized the formation of trade unions and reduced the number of expatriate workers in the country. The second was the renewal of the informal arrangement whereby the United States maintained a small naval facility at the port at al-Jufayr. The third was the continuation of the strict Public Security Law, which had been promulgated to suppress radical organizations during the early 1960s. By mid-1975, the two largest informal groupings of deputies, the People's Bloc and the Religious Bloc, could find no common ground on which to cooperate in overturning this statute. Consequently, the assembly became deadlocked and, in August 1975, the prime minister submitted the cabinet's resignation to the amir, who dissolved the assembly but reinstated the government, giving the cabinet "full legislative powers."
After the dissolution of the National Assembly, organized opposition to the regime came primarily from Bahrain's heterogeneous Islamist movement. Advocates of moderate reform could be found in the Sunni Social Reform Society and Supporters of the Call, as well as in the Shiʿite Party of the Islamic Call. Proponents of more profound social transformation belonged to the Islamic Action Organization (IAO) and the Islamic Guidance Society, both predominantly Shiʿite; demonstrations organized by these two associations erupted periodically during late 1979 and early 1980, culminating in a series of large marches in support of the new Islamic Republic of Iran during April and May of 1980. State security forces broke up these demonstrations by force, killing a number of marchers. In the wake of these events, underground groups, such as the IAO, changed tactics, abandoning mass popular demonstrations and turning instead to isolated acts of sabotage carried out by small groups of committed cadres. This shift was buttressed by the formation of the Islamic Front for the Liberation of
Bahrain (IFLB) in Tehran, Iran, at the end of 1979; the clandestine operations envisaged by the leaders of this organization were epitomized by the alleged December 1981 plot to overthrow the Al Khalifa and set up an Islamic republic on the islands. Sizable caches of small arms belonging to clandestine groups of radical Shiʿa continued to be uncovered in rural districts as late as the fall and winter of 1983-84.
Concerted efforts on the part of the authorities to expose and destroy militant Shiʿite cells disrupted the IAO and IFLB during the late 1980s. Some one hundred people were charged in December 1987 with conspiring to assassinate the ruler and seize the country's main oil facilities, the radio and television studios, the international airport, and the U.S.
embassy; this group may have been affiliated with the IFLB, but Bahraini officials refused to implicate Iran in the plot. Nevertheless, the government imposed strict curfews on Shiʿite residential districts and prohibited Bahraini Shiʿa from taking jobs in the armed forces. Police made further arrests in the days following the death of Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.
In late 1994, simmering popular discontent erupted into a series of mass demonstrations calling for the reinstatement of the National Assembly and the constitution. The government responded by ordering the police and security service to break up the protests, prompting a wave of violence and sabotage that crested in 1996 and 1997. When Hamad bin Isa became amir after the death of his father in 1999, the uprising had already subsided. The new ruler introduced a series of reforms in an attempt to restore the regime's legitimacy. In a 2001 referendum, voters approved the transformation of the emirate into a "constitutional, hereditary monarchy." The draconian penal code and state security court were subsequently terminated, and in October 2002 elections took place for a reconstituted advisory council.
Bibliography
Herb, Michael. All in the Family: Absolutism, Revolution, andDemocracy in the Middle Eastern Monarchies. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999.
Khalaf, Abd al-Hadi. Unfinished Business: Contentious Politics and State-Building in Bahrain. Lund, Sweden: University of Lund, 2000.
Khuri, Fuad I. Tribe and State in Bahrain: The Transformation ofSocial and Political Authority in an Arab State. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980.
Lawson, Fred H. Bahrain: The Modernization of Autocracy. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1989.
— FRED H. LAWSON
Island kingdom in the
Local Time: Jul 19, 10:13 PM
Introduction
| Background: | In 1782, the Al Khalifa family captured Bahrain from the Persians. In order to secure these holdings, it entered into a series of treaties with the UK during the 19th century that made Bahrain a British protectorate. The archipelago attained its independence in 1971. Bahrain's small size and central location among Persian Gulf countries require it to play a delicate balancing act in foreign affairs among its larger neighbors. Facing declining oil reserves, Bahrain has turned to petroleum processing and refining and has transformed itself into an international banking center. King HAMAD bin Isa Al Khalifa, after coming to power in 1999, pushed economic and political reforms to improve relations with the Shi'a community and Shi'a political societies participated in 2006 parliamentary and municipal elections. Al Wifaq, the largest Shi'a political society, won the largest number of seats in the elected chamber of the legislature. However, Shi'a discontent has resurfaced in recent years with street demonstrations and occasional low-level violence. |
Geography
| Location: | Middle East, archipelago in the Persian Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia |
| Geographic coordinates: | 26 00 N, 50 33 E |
| Map references: | Middle East |
| Area: | total: 665 sq km land: 665 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative: | 3.5 times the size of Washington, DC |
| Land boundaries: | 0 km |
| Coastline: | 161 km |
| Maritime claims: | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: extending to boundaries to be determined |
| Climate: | arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers |
| Terrain: | mostly low desert plain rising gently to low central escarpment |
| Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m highest point: Jabal ad Dukhan 122 m |
| Natural resources: | oil, associated and nonassociated natural gas, fish, pearls |
| Land use: | arable land: 2.82% permanent crops: 5.63% other: 91.55% (2005) |
| Irrigated land: | 40 sq km (2003) |
| Natural hazards: | periodic droughts; dust storms |
| Environment - current issues: | desertification resulting from the degradation of limited arable land, periods of drought, and dust storms; 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; lack of freshwater resources, groundwater and seawater are the only sources for all water needs |
| Environment - international agreements: | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Geography - note: | close to primary Middle Eastern petroleum sources; strategic location in Persian Gulf, through which much of the Western world's petroleum must transit to reach open ocean |
People
| Population: | 708,573 note: includes 235,108 non-nationals (July 2007 est.) |
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 26.9% (male 96,217/female 94,275) 15-64 years: 69.5% (male 284,662/female 207,555) 65 years and over: 3.7% (male 13,451/female 12,413) (2007 est.) |
| Median age: | total: 29.7 years male: 32.7 years female: 26.1 years (2007 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | 1.392% (2007 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 17.53 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Death rate: | 4.21 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | 0.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.021 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.372 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.084 male(s)/female total population: 1.255 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 16.18 deaths/1,000 live births male: 18.89 deaths/1,000 live births female: 13.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 74.68 years male: 72.18 years female: 77.25 years (2007 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 2.57 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.2% (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | less than 600 (2003 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | less than 200 (2003 est.) |
| Nationality: | noun: Bahraini(s) adjective: Bahraini |
| Ethnic groups: | Bahraini 62.4%, non-Bahraini 37.6% (2001 census) |
| Religions: | Muslim (Shi'a and Sunni) 81.2%, Christian 9%, other 9.8% (2001 census) |
| Languages: | Arabic, English, Farsi, Urdu |
| Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 86.5% male: 88.6% female: 83.6% (2001 census) |
Government
| Country name: | conventional long form: Kingdom of Bahrain conventional short form: Bahrain local long form: Mamlakat al Bahrayn local short form: Al Bahrayn former: Dilmun |
| Government type: | constitutional monarchy |
| Capital: | name: Manama geographic coordinates: 26 14 N, 50 34 E time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Administrative divisions: | 5 governorates; Asamah, Janubiyah, Muharraq, Shamaliyah, Wasat note: each governorate administered by an appointed governor |
| Independence: | 15 August 1971 (from UK) |
| National holiday: | National Day, 16 December (1971); note - 15 August 1971 was the date of independence from the UK, 16 December 1971 was the date of independence from British protection |
| Constitution: | adopted 14 February 2002 |
| Legal system: | based on Islamic law and English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Suffrage: | 20 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch: | chief of state: King HAMAD bin Isa al-Khalifa (since 6 March 1999); Heir Apparent Crown Prince SALMAN bin Hamad (son of the monarch, born 21 October 1969) head of government: Prime Minister KHALIFA bin Salman al-Khalifa (since 1971); Deputy Prime Ministers ALI bin Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, MUHAMMAD bin Mubarak al-Khalifa, Jawad al-ARAIDH cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the monarch elections: none; the monarchy is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch |
| Legislative branch: | bicameral legislature consists of the Consultative Council (40 members appointed by the King) and the Council of Representatives or Chamber of Deputies (40 seats; members directly elected to serve four-year terms) elections: Council of Representatives - last held November-December 2006 (next election to be held in 2010) election results: Council of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - al Wifaq (Shia) 17, al Asala (Sunni Salafi) 5, al Minbar (Sunni Muslim Brotherhood) 7, independents 11; note - seats by party as of February 2007 - al Wifaq 17, al Asala 8, al Minbar 7, al Mustaqbal (Moderate Sunni pro-government) 4, unassociated independents (all Sunni) 3, independent affiliated with al Wifaq (Sunni oppositionist) 1 |
| Judicial branch: | High Civil Appeals Court |
| Political parties and leaders: | political parties prohibited but political societies were legalized per a July 2005 law |
| Political pressure groups and leaders: | Shi'a activists fomented unrest sporadically in 1994-97 and have recently engaged in protests with occasional low-level violence; protests related to a host of issues, including the 2002 constitution, elections, unemployment, and release of detainees; Sunni Islamist legislators support a greater role for Shari'a in daily life; several small leftist and other groups are active |
| International organization participation: | ABEDA, AFESD, AMF, FAO, G-77, GCC, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Nasir bin Muhammad al-BALUSHI chancery: 3502 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 342-1111 FAX: [1] (202) 362-2192 consulate(s) general: New York |
| Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador J. Adam ERELI embassy: Building #979, Road 3119 (next to Al-Ahli Sports Club), Block 331, Zinj District, Manama mailing address: PSC 451, Box 660, FPO AE 09834-5100; international mail: American Embassy, Box 26431, Manama telephone: [973] 1724-2700 FAX: [973] 1727-0547 |
| Flag description: | red, the traditional color for flags of Persian Gulf states, with a white serrated band (five white points) on the hoist side; the five points represent the five pillars of Islam |
Economy
| Economy - overview: | With its highly developed communication and transport facilities, Bahrain is home to numerous multinational firms with business in the Gulf. Petroleum production and refining account for over 60% of Bahrain's export receipts, over 70% of government revenues, and 11% of GDP (exclusive of allied industries), underpinning Bahrain's strong economic growth in recent years. Other major segments of Bahrain's economy are the financial and construction sectors. Bahrain is actively pursuing the diversification and privatization of its economy to reduce the country's dependence on oil. As part of this effort, in August 2006 Bahrain and the US implemented a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the first FTA between the US and a Gulf state. Unemployment, especially among the young, and the depletion of oil and underground water resources are major long-term economic problems. |
| GDP (purchasing power parity): | $17.91 billion (2006 est.) |
| GDP (official exchange rate): | $12.07 billion (2006 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate: | 7.1% (2006 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 0.3% industry: 45% services: 54.6% (2006 est.) |
| Labor force: | 352,000 note: 44% of the population in the 15-64 age group is non-national (2006 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture: 1% industry: 79% services: 20% (1997 est.) |
| Unemployment rate: | 15% (2005 est.) |
| Population below poverty line: | NA% |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA% |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 2.1% (2006 est.) |
| Investment (gross fixed): | 17.5% of GDP (2006 est.) |
| Budget: | revenues: $4.894 billion expenditures: $4.516 billion (2006 est.) |
| Public debt: | 31% of GDP (2006 est.) |
| Agriculture - products: | fruit, vegetables; poultry, dairy products; shrimp, fish |
| Industries: | petroleum processing and refining, aluminum smelting, iron pelletization, fertilizers, offshore banking, insurance, ship repairing, tourism |
| Industrial production growth rate: | 2% (2000 est.) |
| Electricity - production: | 8.187 billion kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - consumption: | 7.614 billion kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - exports: | 0 kWh (2005) |
| Electricity - imports: | 0 kWh (2005) |
| Oil - production: | 188,300 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
| Oil - consumption: | 27,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Oil - exports: | NA bbl/day |
| Oil - imports: | NA bbl/day |
| Oil - proved reserves: | 121 million bbl (1 January 2006) |
| Current account balance: | $1.918 billion (2006 est.) |
| Exports: | $11.7 billion (2006 est.) |
| Exports - commodities: | petroleum and petroleum products, aluminum, textiles |
| Exports - partners: | Saudi Arabia 3.2%, US 3%, Japan 2.3% note: excludes oil exports (2006) |
| Imports: | $8.565 billion (2006 est.) |
| Imports - commodities: | crude oil, machinery, chemicals |
| Imports - partners: | Saudi Arabia 37.6%, Japan 6.8%, US 6.2%, UK 6.2%, Germany 5.1%, UAE 4.2% (2006) |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: | $2.818 billion (2006 est.) |
| Debt - external: | $7.159 billion (2006 est.) |
| Economic aid - recipient: | $103.9 million; note - $50 million annually since 1992 from the UAE and Kuwait (2004) |
| Currency (code): | Bahraini dinar (BHD) |
| Exchange rates: | Bahraini dinars per US dollar - 0.376 (2006), 0.376 (2005), 0.376 (2004), 0.376 (2003), 0.376 (2002) |
| Fiscal year: | calendar year |
Transportation
| Airports: | 3 (2007) |
| Airports - with paved runways: | total: 3 over 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007) |
| Heliports: | 1 (2007) |
| Pipelines: | gas 20 km; oil 52 km (2006) |
| Roadways: | total: 3,498 km paved: 2,768 km unpaved: 730 km (2003) |
| Merchant marine: | total: 7 ships (1000 GRT or over) 220,264 GRT/314,289 DWT by type: bulk carrier 3, cargo 1, container 2, petroleum tanker 1 foreign-owned: 3 (Kuwait 3) (2007) |
| Ports and terminals: | Mina' Salman, Sitrah |
Military
| Military branches: | Bahrain Defense Forces (BDF): Ground Force (includes Air Defense), Naval Force, Air Force, National Guard |
| Military service age and obligation: | 18 years of age for voluntary military service (2001) |
| Manpower available for military service: | males age 18-49: 202,126 females age 18-49: 151,734 (2005 est.) |
| Manpower fit for military service: | males age 18-49: 161,372 females age 18-49: 125,488 (2005 est.) |
| Manpower reaching military service age annually: | males age 18-49: 6,013 females age 18-49: 5,852 (2005 est.) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 4.5% (2006) |
Transnational Issues
| Disputes - international: | none |
| Trafficking in persons: | current situation: Bahrain is a destination country for men and women from South and Southeast Asia who migrate willingly to work as laborers or domestic servants, but may be subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude when faced with exorbitant recruitment and transportation fees, withholding of their passports, restrictions on their movement, non-payment of wages, and physical or sexual abuse; women from Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Morocco, and Thailand are also trafficked to Bahrain for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor tier rating: Tier 3 - Bahrain made no discernable progress in preventing trafficking in 2006; the government failed to enact a comprehensive anti-trafficking law and did not report any prosecutions or convictions for trafficking offenses, despite reports of a substantial problem of involutary servitude and trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation |
| مملكة
البحرين Mamlakat al-Baḥrayn Kingdom of Bahrain
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Anthem بحريننا Bahrainona Our Bahrain |
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| Capital (and largest city) |
Manama |
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| Official languages | Arabic | |||||
| Demonym | Bahraini | |||||
| Government | Constitutional monarchy | |||||
| - | King | Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | Khalifa ibn Salman Al Khalifa | ||||
| Independence | from UK | |||||
| - | Date | 15 August 1971 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | km² (189th) sq mi |
||||
| - | Water (%) | 0 | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2007 estimate | 708,573 1 (164th) | ||||
| - | Density | 987/km² (10th) /sq mi |
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| GDP (PPP) | estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $17,68 billion (118th) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $23,604 (32th) | ||||
| HDI (2004) | 
0.859 (high) (39th) |
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| Currency | Bahraini dinar (BHD) |
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| Time zone | (UTC+3) | |||||
| Internet TLD | .bh | |||||
| Calling code | [[+973]] | |||||
| 1 | Includes 235,108 non-nationals (July 2005 estimate). | |||||
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.
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, later under its Greek name Tylos (see Dilmun for more information), as Awal
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 two days of sailing that were needed to reach it from Iraq.
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, were called Bahārna after it. 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 invaded and captured the islands from their base in neighbouring Qatar. 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 bloody pogroms 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 independence from Britain and their Arab identity. Bahrain to this day remains a member of the Arab League and Gulf Cooperation Council.
The British withdrew from Bahrain on August 15 1971, making Bahrain an independent emirate. The oil boom of the 1980s 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.
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 Fundamentalists.
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."[1] The country was declared a kingdom in 2002. It formerly was considered an State and officially called a "Kingdom."
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Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy headed by the King, Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa; the head of government is the Prime Minister, Shaykh Khalīfa bin Salman al Khalifa, who presides over a cabinet of twenty-three members [2]. 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. 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" [3].
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 [4]. 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." [5]
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.
Bahrain is split into five governorates. Until July 3 2002, it was divided into twelve municipalities; see Municipalities of Bahrain. The governorates are:
For further information, see Decree-Law establishing governoratesPDF (732 KiB) from the Bahrain official website.
Among Bahrain's cities and towns are:
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Bahrain's many small towns and villages include:
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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 recently became the first Arab country to institute unemployment insurance.
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% [6]. 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.
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[7], 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[8], BBC[9], and the New York Times
