Bahrain

مملكة البحرين Mamlakat al-Bahrayn Kingdom of Bahrain
Emblem of Bahrain Flag Emblem
Motto: Bahrainona
Anthem: بحريننا  (Bahrainona) "Our Bahrain"
Capital	Manama 26°13′N 50°35′E
Largest city	capital
Official languages	Arabic
Government	Constitutional monarchy
- King	Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa
- Prime Minister	Khalifah ibn Sulman Al Khalifah
- Crown Prince	Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa
Independence	from the United Kingdom
- Date	15 August 1971
Area
- Total	665 km² (189th) 253 sq mi
- Water (%)	0
Population
- 2005 estimate	698,585a
- Density	987/km² 2,556/sq mi
GDP (PPP)	estimate
- Total	$14.08 billion
- Per capita	$20,500
HDI  (2004)	0.859 (high)
Currency	Bahraini Dinar (BHD)
Internet TLD	.bh
Calling code	+973
a Includes 235,108 non-nationals (July 2005 estimate).

Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain (Arabic: مملكة البحرين Mamlakat al-Baḥrayn), is an island country in the Persian Gulf and is the smallest Arab nation.

Bahrain was the first place to find oil in the whole region.

The Qatar–Bahrain Friendship Bridge currently being planned will link Bahrain to Qatar as the longest fixed link in the world.

Geography

Bahrain, from the Arabic word for "two seas", is a generally flat, arid archipelago, comprising of a low desert plain rising gently to a low central escarpment, in the Persian Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia, and north of Qatar.

The "two seas" word is thought to either refer to the fact that the islands contain two sources of water, sweet water springs and salty water in the surrounding seas, or to the south and north waters of the Persian Gulf, separating it from the Arabian coast and Iran, respectively. A much older, non-Semitic term, Bahran; according to some scholars, originates from Varahrdn, the later form of the old Avestan Verethragna — a Zoroastrian divinity that represents victory.

Considered to be one of the 15 states that comprise the "Cradle of Humanity" in the Middle East, Bahrain has a total area of 266 square miles (688 square kilometers), which is about four times the size of the District of Columbia in the United States, although smaller than the nearby King Fahd Airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

The largest island, accounting for 83 percent of the area, is Bahrain (also known as Al Bahrayn), which has an extent of 220 square miles (572 square kilometres). From north to south, Bahrain is 29 miles long (48km); at its widest point in the north, it is 10 miles (16km) from east to west.

As an archipelago of thirty-three islands, Bahrain does not share a land boundary with another country but does have a 100-mile (161-kilometer) coastline and claims a further 12 nautical miles (22km) of territorial sea and a 24 nautical mile (44km) contiguous zone.

Around most of Bahrain is a relatively shallow inlet of the Persian Gulf known as the Gulf of Bahrain. The seabed adjacent to Bahrain is rocky and, mainly off the northern part of the island, covered by extensive coral reefs.

Most of the island is low-lying and barren desert. Outcroppings of limestone form low rolling hills, stubby cliffs, and shallow ravines. The limestone is covered by saline sand, capable of supporting only the hardiest desert vegetation—chiefly thorn trees and scrub.

There is a fertile strip three miles (5km) wide along the northern coast on which date, almond, fig, and pomegranate trees grow. The interior contains an escarpment that rises to 400-feet (122-meters), the highest point on the island, to form Jabal ad Dukhan (Mountain of Smoke), named for the mists that often wreathe the summit.

Most of the country's oil wells are situated in the vicinity of Jabal ad Dukhan.

Bahrain has two seasons: an extremely hot, humid, summer and a relatively mild winter. During the summer, from April to October, afternoon temperatures average 104°F (40°C). A hot, dry south-west wind blows sand clouds. Temperatures moderate in the winter, from November to March, when the range is between 50°F (10°C) and 68°F (20°C). However, humidity often rises above 90 percent in the winter.

Bahrain receives little precipitation. The average annual rainfall is 2.8 inches (72mm), usually confined to winter.

No permanent rivers or streams exist on any of the islands. The winter rains tend to fall in brief, torrential bursts, flooding the shallow wadis that are dry the rest of the year

Little of the rainwater is saved for irrigation or drinking. However, there are numerous natural springs in the northern part of Bahrain and on adjacent islands. Underground freshwater deposits also extend beneath the Gulf of Bahrain to the Saudi Arabian coast. Since the early 1980s, desalination plants, which render seawater suitable for domestic and industrial use, have provided about 60 percent of daily water consumption needs.

Bahrain's natural resources include large quantities of oil and associated and non-associated natural gas as well as fish stocks, which is perhaps fortunate as arable land constitutes only 2.82 percent. Desert constitutes 92 percent of Bahrain and periodic droughts and dust storms are the main natural hazards for Bahrainis.

Exhibition Avenue, Hoora, Manama.

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.

'Manama' (Arabic: المنامة Al-Manāmah) is the capital city of Bahrain and is the country's largest city with a population of approximately 155,000, roughly a quarter of the country's entire population.

The main port, Mina Salman, is located on the island, as are the major petroleum refining facilities and commercial centers. Causeways and bridges connect Bahrain to adjacent islands and the mainland of Saudi Arabia.

History

File:KhamisMosque.jpg

Khamis Mosque, believed to have been built in the seventh century C.E.

A strategic position between East and West, fertile lands, fresh water, and pearl diving made Bahrain long a center of urban settlement.

About 2300 B.C.E., 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 B.C.E. Dilmun developed into one of the greatest entrepôts of trade of the ancient world.

Bahrain became part of the Babylonian empire about 600 B.C.E. Bahrain was also called the "Pearl of the Persian Gulf".

Bahrain was referred to by the Greeks as "Tylos", the centre of pearl trading, when Nearchus (c. 360 - 300 B.C.E.) came to discover it serving under Alexander the Great. The town of Muharraq was referred to as "Arados."

The Middle-Persian/Pahlavi name for the island was Mishmahig, meaning "ewe-fish". Mishmahig or Mashmahig is attested to in the Babylonian Talmud as a port where pearls are found (c. 250 B.C.E. and 550 C.E.).

In Nestorian sources, Mashmahig is mentioned for the first time in the year 410 C.E., when Batai, Bishop of Mashmahig, was excommunicated by Mar Isaac, and Elias was put in his place. According to Nestorian sources, Mashmahig seems always to have been a centre of heresy and revolt.

Until Bahrain embraced Islam in 629 C.E., it was a centre for Nestorian Christianity.

In 899, a millenarian Ismaili sect, the Qarmatians, seized the country and sought to create a utopian society and distribute 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.

Bahrain up until 1521 referred to the larger historical region of Bahrain including Ahsa, Qatif (both are now the eastern province of Saudi Arabia) as well as Awal (now 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.

File:BahrainFort.jpg

A View of Bahrain Fort

In 1521, a Portuguese force invaded Bahrain to take control of the wealth created by its pearl industry. The defeated King Muqrin was beheaded after Correia defeated his forces near present day Karbabad and took control of the fort "Qala'at Al-Bahrain".

The Portuguese ruled through brutal force against the inhabitants for 80 years, until they were driven out in 1602, when an uprising was sparked by the governor's order of the execution of the island's richest traders. The uprising coincided with regional disputes between the Portuguese and rival European powers.

From the sixteenth century to 1743, control of Bahrain drifted between the Portuguese and the Persians. Ultimately, the Persian Afsharid king, Nadir Shah, invaded and took control of Bahrain, and for reasons of political control supported the Shī'a majority.

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 Persian control, the Emirate entered into a treaty with the United Kingdom and became a British protectorate.

File:FirstOilWellBahrain.jpg

First Oil Well, Bahrain

Oil was discovered in Bahrain1932, the first place in the region to find oil. This brought rapid modernization to Bahrain, and made relations with the United Kingdom closer. British influence continued to grow, culminating with the appointment of advisor Charles Belgrave, who established a modern education system there.

After World War II, increasing anti-British sentiment spread throughout the Arab world leading to riots in Bahrain. 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 simultaneously laid claim to both Bahrain and the other Persian Gulf islands. However, it agreed with the United Kingdom to "not pursue" its irredentist claims on Bahrain if its other claims were realised. A plebiscite saw Bahrainis confirm their independence from Britain and their Arab identity. Bahrain remained 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. The Lebanese civil war, which began in the 1970s, meant that Bahrain replaced Beirut as the Middle East's financial hub.

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

Hamad ibn Isa al-Khalifah

In 1994 a wave of rioting by disaffected Shīa Islamists was sparked by women's participation in a sporting event. Sporadic violence between the government and Islamists during the mid-1990s left over 40 people dead.

In March 1999, 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; moves described by Amnesty International as representing an “historic period for human rights.” The country was declared a kingdom in 2002, formerly being an emirate, formerly officially called a "state."

Government and politics

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 is appointed by the monarch, and who presides over a cabinet of 23 members, who are also appointed by the monarch.

Bahrain has a bicameral legislature with a lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, elected by universal suffrage for four years, and the upper house, the Shura Council, appointed by the King. Both houses have 40 members. All aged 20 years of age and over may vote.

Political parties prohibited but political societies were legalized in 2005.

Al Wefaq National Islamic Society (جمعية الوفاق الوطني الإسلامية Jam'iyat al-Wifaq al-Watany al-Islamiyah) is Bahrain's largest and most popular political society. Al Wefaq's political orientation is Shia Islamist and is led by a cleric, Sheikh Ali Salman. The party is close to a Shia clerical body in Bahrain, the Islamic Scholars Council, which describes Al Wefaq as the 'Bloc of Believers'. The party has 1500 active members and has the support of the majority of Bahrainis as shown from the results of the 2006 parliamentary election, in which it received the backing of the Islamic Scholars Council and Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, which helped it win all but one of the eighteen seats it contested.

A National Action Charter created a bicameral legislature in December, 2000, which was approved by referendum in February, 2001. The first legislative term was held from December 2002 to December 2006, and the second term opened on 15 December 2006.

The King created a Supreme Judicial Council to regulate the country's courts and separate the administrative and judicial branches of government. The legal system is based on Islamic law and English common law. Bahrain has a low crime rate.

Shi'a activists fomented unrest sporadically from 1994 to 97 and have engaged in protests with occasional low-level violence, relating 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 law in daily life. Several small leftist and other groups are active.

Women's political rights in Bahrain progressed when women were granted the right to vote and stand in national elections for the first time in 2002. No women were elected to office in that year’s polls, but 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 has been training female candidates to take part in 2006's 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.

Bahrain does not face threats from foreign nations, and is not involved in any international disputes. Relations with Iran were strained over Bahrain’s 1981 discovery of an Iranian-sponsored plot to stage a coup. Hostile relations with Qatar stemmed from a longstanding territorial dispute. A 2001 ruling by the International Court of Justice granted sovereignty over the Hawar Islands and Qit’at Jaradah to Bahrain and sovereignty over Zubarah (part of the Qatar Peninsula), Janan Island and Fasht ad Dibal to Qatar.

Governorates of Bahrain

Bahrain is split into five governorates. Until July 3, 2002, it was divided into 12 municipalities. The governorates are:

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

Bahrain's cities and towns include: Al Muharraq, Isa Town, Hamad Town, Jidhafs, Sitrah, Al Riffa, and Um Al Hassam.

Economy

Manama, Bahrain's wealthy capital.

In a region currently experiencing an unprecedented 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 numerous multinational firms with business in the Persian Gulf. A large share of exports consists of petroleum products made from imported crude. 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.

Demographics

Bahrain from space, June 1996;

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 the India,Philippines and Sri Lanka[[1]], 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 or Middle Eastern religions.

There are no official figures for the proportion of Shia and Sunni among the Muslims of Bahrain, however unofficial sources, such as the Library of Congress Country Studies[2], BBC[3], and the New York Times[4], estimate it to be approximately 70 percent Shia and 30 per cent Sunni. The last official census which included sectarian identification was taken in 1941, which reported 53 percent as Shia.

Recently, Bahrain has transformed into a cosmopolitan society with mixed communities: two thirds of Bahrain's population consists of Arabs, while the rest are immigrants and guest workers largely from Iran, South Asia and Southeast Asia. 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 10 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, indigienous Shia Arabs; the Howilla, mainly Sunni Persians with some claims of Arab ancestry; 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, Arabic: البونيان); a tiny Jewish community; and a miscellaneous grouping.

Culture

Bahrain is sometimes described as the "Middle East lite"^{[citation needed]}: a country that mixes thoroughly modern infrastructure with a definite Persian 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 Gurudwara and a Jewish synagogue. The country is home to several communities that have faced persecution elsewhere.^{[citation needed]}

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. [5]

The middle classes tend to have a very cosmopolitan outlook, and with mainstream hip hop music very popular among Bahrain's youth. Of DJing in Bahrain, DJ Whoo Kid said:

"Growing up in Queens Village, New York, I really didn't know what to expect upon my arrival in a Muslim country. I expected to see camels, sand homes and vehicles that could handle sand, like Jeep Wranglers or Land Cruisers. To my surprise, I was greeted by teenagers blasting music by Mobb Deep, Jay Z, 2Pac, Biggie Smalls, Eminem and 50 Cent. When I turned on the radio I heard a variety of music that included the Black Eyed Peas, Sean Paul and the Pussycat Dolls. The hottest music – and I hear a lot as a DJ for Eminem's Shade 45 channel on Sirius Satellite Radio – was the Arabic hip-hop remixes and beats I heard on the radio. It made me realize why many producers in the U.S. are sampling them like crazy."

[6]

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.

Further information: List of famous people connected with Bahrain

Language

Arabic is the official language of Bahrain. The two main dialects are Baharna Arabic, spoken by the indigenous Baharna Shia, and Bahraini Arabic spoken by the indigenous Sunnis. Persian, Urdu/Hindi, English and Malayalam are also spoken by sections of the population.

Formula One

Bahrain is the home of Formula One racing in the Middle East. It started 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 Marlboro. 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 F1. Bahrain will be hosting the 2007 Gulf Air Grand Prix on April 13th, 14th and 15th.

Holidays

Date	English name	Local name	Remarks
January 1	New Year's Day	رأس السنة الميلادية
May 1	Labour Day	عيد العمال
December 16	National Day	Eid al-Watani
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; 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
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

Bahrain recently changed their 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. The change took effect from 1 September 2006.

Education

Template:Cleanup

Numerous international educational institutions and schools have established links to Bahrain. One prominent institution is DePaul University of the United States.

Quranic schools (Kuttab) were the only form of education in Bahrain at the beginning of the twentieth century. They were traditional schools aimed at teaching children and youth the reading of the Qur'an. Many people of Bahrain had felt that this type of education did not fulfil the academic efficiency that match with the spirit of age. After the First World War, things changed and Bahrain became widely open upon the modern western renaissance. Political and social changes have occurred in the country that caused the rise of social and cultural awareness among people.

Due to all these, a demand for modern educational institutions different from Kuttab has appeared in terms of system, curricula and objectives.

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

In 1928 the first public school for girls was opened in Muharraq.

Currently, Bahrain boasts an advanced educational system. In 2004 King Hamad bin khalifa Al-Khalifa introduced a new project that uses information communication technology (ICT) to support K-12 education in Bahrain. This project is named King Hamad Schools of Future. The main objective of this project is to connect and link all schools within the kingdom with the internet and introduce the idea of education everywhere, every time.

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

There are many private schools as well that offer either the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, or the A levels.

Schooling and related costs are entirely 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 Bahrainis returning from abroad with advanced degrees. 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 many 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 institute in the country.

Many Asian institutes have also been opened which guarantee good quality education to Asian students. The Pakistan Urdu School is one the best and highly recognized Asian schools in all of Bahrain and is the leading school in the Asian community. The Indian School Bahrain is also a highly recognized Indian institution and is one of the leading schools in sports and extracurricular activities in Bahrain. There are also some Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan schools in Bahrain which are also highly reputed.

Tourism

Bahrain is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Middle East with over two million tourists a year. Most of the visitors are from the Arab, Persian Gulf 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"[1] because of its authentic Arab heritage and reputation as relatively liberal and modern. The Kingdom combines authentic Arab culture, contemporary Gulf glitz and the archaeological legacy of five thousand years of civilisation. The ancient civilisation of Dilmun, which dominated trade between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley Civilization, was centred in Bahrain. The inhabitants of Dilmun left behind settlements and temples and tens of thousands of burial mounds which dot the landscape.

Dilmun prospered because it had fresh water, and it is this resource which has meant that Bahrain has long fought over by regional powers in a predominantly arid region. As a result, the island is home to many castles including the impressive Qalat Al Bahrain which was recently listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

The Bahrain National Museum has a wide-varied collection of artifacts from the Kingdom's history dating back to the island's first human inhabitation 9000 years ago.

See also

• Human rights in Bahrain
• Women in Arab societies
• Men in Arab societies
• Bahraini Hezbollah

External links

• Economic Development Board
• CIA World Factbook entry on Bahrain
• A Bahrain Travel and living Guide
• Independent Bahrain Travel Guide
• The Bahrain Expat Community
• (Arabic) Official website for Bahrain government
• Gulf Daily News
• Bahrain Tribune
• International Crisis Group Report on Bahrain
• International maritime dispute with Qtar
• Bahrain Air Force - Royal Bahraini Air Force (RBAF)

Geographic locale

Countries and territories of the Middle East Bahrain · Egypt · Iran · Iraq · Israel · Jordan · Kuwait · Lebanon · Oman · Palestinian territories · Qatar · Saudi Arabia · Syria · United Arab Emirates · Yemen Sometimes included: Afghanistan • Algeria • Libya • Morocco • Tunisia • Cyprus • Turkey Countries of Southwest Asia Armenia · Azerbaijan · Bahrain · Cyprus · Georgia · Iran · Iraq · Israel · Jordan · Kuwait · Lebanon · Oman · Qatar · Saudi Arabia · Syria · Turkey · United Arab Emirates · Yemen Countries of Asia Afghanistan · Armenia · Azerbaijan1 · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Bhutan · Brunei · Cambodia · China, People's Republic of · China, Republic of (Taiwan)2 · Cyprus · Egypt3 · Georgia1 · India · Indonesia4 · Iran · Iraq · Israel · Japan · Jordan · Kazakhstan1 · Korea, Democratic People's Republic of · Korea, Republic of · Kuwait · Kyrgyzstan · Laos · Lebanon · Malaysia · Maldives · Mongolia · Myanmar · Nepal · Oman · Pakistan · Philippines · Qatar · Russia1 · Saudi Arabia · Singapore · Sri Lanka · Syria · Tajikistan · Thailand · Timor-Leste (East Timor)4 · Turkey1 · Turkmenistan · United Arab Emirates · Uzbekistan · Vietnam · Yemen3 For dependent and other territories, see Dependent territory and List of unrecognized countries. 1 Partly or significantly in Europe.  2 The Republic of China (Taiwan) is not officially recognized by the United Nations; see Political status of Taiwan. 3 Partly or significantly in Africa.  4 Partly or wholly reckoned in Oceania. Template:Persian Gulf Template:Indian Ocean

International membership and history

Template:Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Template:Arab League Template:Semitic-speaking

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