Bahrain

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The area that straddles the present-day territory of Bahrain was once the site of the ancient Dilmun civilisation. It has been famed since antiquity for its pearl fisheries, which were considered the best in the world into the 19th century. Bahrain was one of the earliest areas to be influenced by Islam, during the lifetime of Muhammad in 628. Following a period of Arab rule, Bahrain was ruled by the Portuguese Empire from 1521 until 1602, when they were expelled by Shah Abbas the Great of the Safavid Iran. In 1783, the Bani Utbah and allied tribes captured Bahrain from Nasr Al-Madhkur.

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Etymology

Bahrain is the dual form of the Arabic word Bahr (meaning "sea"), so al-Bahrayn originally means "the two seas". However, the name has been lexicalised as a feminine proper noun and does not follow the grammatical rules for duals; thus its form is always Bahrayn and never Bahrān, the expected nominative form. Endings are added to the word with no changes, as in the name of the national anthem Bahraynunā ("our Bahrain") or the demonym Bahraynī. The medieval grammarian al-Jawahari commented on this, saying that the more formally correct term Bahrī (lit. 'belonging to the sea') would have been misunderstood and so was unused.

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History

Bahrain was home to Dilmun, an important Bronze Age trade centre linking Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. Bahrain was later ruled by the Sumerians and Babylonians. From the 6th to 3rd century BC, Bahrain was part of the Achaemenid Empire. By about 250 BC, Parthia brought the Persian Gulf under its control and extended its influence as far as Oman. The Parthians established garrisons along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf to control trade routes.

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Geography

Bahrain is a generally flat and arid archipelago in the Persian Gulf. It consists of a low desert plain rising gently to a low central escarpment with the highest point the 134 m (440 ft) Mountain of Smoke (Jabal ad Dukhan). Bahrain had a total area of 665 km2 (257 sq mi) but due to land reclamation, the area increased to 780 km2 (300 sq mi).

Often described as an archipelago of 33 islands, extensive land reclamation projects have changed this; by August 2008 the number of islands and island groups had increased to 84.

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Government and politics

Bahrain is a semi-constitutional monarchy headed by King Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. King Hamad enjoys wide executive powers which include appointing the prime minister and his ministers, commanding the Bahrain Defence Force, chairing the Higher Judicial Council, appointing the parliament's upper house and dissolving its elected lower house. The head of government is the prime minister. In 2010, about half of the cabinet was composed of the Al Khalifa family.

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Economy

According to a January 2006 report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, Bahrain has the fastest-growing economy in the Arab world. Bahrain's economy is ranked the 55th freest in the 2025 Index of Economic Freedom and 4th out of 14 countries in the Middle East/North Africa region.

In 2008, Bahrain was named the world's fastest-growing financial centre by the City of London's Global Financial Centres Index. Bahrain's banking and financial services sector, particularly Muslim banking, have benefited from the regional boom driven by demand for oil.

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Infrastructure

Bahrain has one main international airport, the Bahrain International Airport (BAH) which is located on the island of Muharraq, in the north-east. The airport handled almost 100,000 flights and more than 9.5 million passengers in 2019. On 28 January 2021, Bahrain opened its new airport terminal as part of its economic vision 2030. The new airport terminal is capable of handling 14 million passengers and is a big boost to the country's aviation sector. Bahrain's national carrier, Gulf Air operates and bases itself in the BIA.

Bahrain has a well-developed road network, particularly in Manama.

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Science and technology

The Bahraini Economic Vision 2030 published in 2008 does not indicate how the stated goal of shifting from an economy built on oil wealth to a productive, globally competitive economy will be attained. Bahrain has already diversified its exports to some extent, out of necessity. It has the smallest hydrocarbon reserves of any Persian Gulf state, producing 48,000 barrels per day from its one onshore field. The bulk of the country's revenue comes from its share in the offshore field administered by Saudi Arabia.

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Demographics

In 2010, Bahrain's population was 1.2 million, of which 568,399 were Bahraini and 666,172 were non-nationals. It had risen from 1.05 million (517,368 non-nationals) in 2007, the year when Bahrain's population crossed the one million mark. Though a majority of the population is Middle Eastern, a sizeable number of people from South Asia live in the country. In 2008, approximately 290,000 Indian nationals lived in Bahrain, making them the single largest expatriate community in the country, the majority from the south Indian state of Kerala.

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