Flag of the Kingdom of Bahrain
Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Bahrain
Bahrain ( bah-RAYN , ; Arabic : البحرين , romanized : al-Baḥrayn , lit. 'Two Seas ', locally [æl bɑħˈreːn] ⓘ ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is an island country in West Asia . It is situated on the Persian Gulf , and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands , centered on Bahrain Island which makes up around 83 percent of the country's landmass. Bahrain is situated between Qatar and the northeastern coast of Saudi Arabia , to which it is connected by the King Fahd Causeway . The population of Bahrain is 1,501,635 as of May 14, 2023, based on elaborations of the United Nations data, of whom 712,362 are Bahraini nationals. Bahrain spans some 760 square kilometres (290 sq mi), and is the third-smallest nation in Asia after the Maldives and Singapore . The capital and largest city is Manama .
Bahrain is the site of the ancient Dilmun civilization . 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 AD. 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 and it has since been ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family , with Ahmed al Fateh as Bahrain's first hakim .
In the late 1800s, following successive treaties with the British , Bahrain became a protectorate of the United Kingdom. In 1971, it declared independence . Formerly an emirate , Bahrain was declared a constitutional monarchy in 2002, and Article 2 of the newly adopted constitution made Sharia a principal source for legislation.
Bahrain developed the first post-oil economy in the Persian Gulf , the result of decades of investing in the banking and tourism sectors; many of the world's largest financial institutions have a presence in the country's capital. It is recognized by the World Bank as a high-income economy . Bahrain is a member of the United Nations , Non-Aligned Movement , Arab League , Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Gulf Cooperation Council . Bahrain is a Dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization . (Full article... )
Skyline with roads, towers and harbour of
Manama , Bahrain
Religions in Bahrain
Arab states
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Health workers protest near Salmaniya Medical Complex following reports that paramedic crews and doctors were attacked in the 17 February raid at Pearl Roundabout .
The Bahrain health worker trials were a series of legal cases in which forty-eight doctors, nurses, and dentists faced charges for their actions during the Bahraini uprising of 2011 . In September 2011, twenty of the health workers were convicted by a military court of felonies including "stockpiling weapons" and "plotting to overthrow the government". The remaining twenty-eight were charged with misdemeanors and tried separately. The following month, the felony sentences were overturned, and it was announced that the defendants would be retried by a civilian court. Retrials began in March 2012, but were postponed until June 14. Convictions against nine of the defendants were quashed and reduced against another nine. The Court of Cassation upheld the sentences against the remaining nine on 1 October.
The case drew international attention and criticism, with organizations including the
United Nations , the
World Medical Association ,
Médecins Sans Frontières , the
International Council of Nurses ,
Amnesty International , and
Human Rights Watch expressing their concern over the health workers' military trials and sentences. An
independent commission organized by the
King of Bahrain concluded in November 2011 that many of the detained health workers had been subject to torture and abuse while in police detention. (
Full article... )
General images - show another The following are images from various Bahrain-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1 Location of the
Dilmun burial mounds in Bahrain. (from
History of Bahrain )
Image 2 The
Isa ibn Ali Al Khalifa house is an example of traditional architecture in Bahrain. (from
Bahrain )
Image 4 Facsimile of the letter written by
Muhammed to the ruler of Bahrain. (from
History of Bahrain )
Image 6 Mixed Martial Arts hosted by BRAVE Combat Federation event in Bahrain (from
Bahrain )
Image 8 Several people held a sit-in in solidarity with human rights activist
Nabeel Rajab (from
Bahrain )
Image 9 Female students at the
University of Bahrain dressed in traditional garb (from
Bahrain )
Image 10 This photograph shows the coronation of Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa as the Hakim of Bahrain in February 1933. (from
Bahrain )
Image 11 Overview of Manama, 1953. (from
Bahrain )
Image 12 Protesters at the Pearl Roundabout just before it was demolished. (from
Bahrain )
Image 13 A view of the Grand Avenue section of the Avenues (from
Bahrain )
Image 14 Purple –
Portuguese in the Persian Gulf in the 16th and 17th centuries. Main cities, ports and routes. (from
Bahrain )
Image 15 The Shrinathji temple in Manama (from
Bahrain )
Image 16 National Evangelical Church, Manama (from
Bahrain )
Image 17 The
Portuguese Fort of Barém , built by the
Portuguese Empire while it ruled Bahrain from 1521 to 1602. (from
Bahrain )
Image 18 Over 100,000 of Bahrainis taking part in the "
March of Loyalty to Martyrs ", honoring political dissidents killed by security forces, on 22 February. (from
History of Bahrain )
Image 19 A photograph of the First Oil Well in Bahrain, with oil first being extracted in 1931 (from
Bahrain )
Image 20 Phoenicians man their ships in service to
Assyrian king
Sennacherib , during his war against the
Chaldeans in the
Persian Gulf , ca. 700 BC (from
History of Bahrain )
Image 21 A 1745
Bellin map of the historical region of Bahrain (from
Bahrain )
Image 22 The proposed
federation of Arab emirates (from
History of Bahrain )
Image 23 Manama skyline as viewed from
Juffair (from
Bahrain )
Image 24 The
King Fahd Causeway as seen from space (from
Bahrain )
Image 25 The
Persian Empire in the Sassanid era on the eve of the Arab conquest, c. 600 AD. (from
Bahrain )
Image 26 Facsimile of a letter sent by
Muhammad to
Munzir ibn-Sawa al-Tamimi , governor of Bahrain, in AD 628 (from
Bahrain )
Image 27 King
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa meets former U.S. President
Donald Trump , May 2017 (from
Bahrain )
Image 28 The Khamis Mosque in 1956. (from
History of Bahrain )
Image 29 Al-Hidaya Al-Khalifia Boys school. (from
History of Bahrain )
Image 30 Bahrainis observing public prayers in Manama (from
Bahrain )
Image 31 GDP per capita development in Bahrain (from
Bahrain )
Image 32 Map of
Manama in 1926. (from
History of Bahrain )
Image 33 A view of Arad Fort (from
History of Bahrain )
Image 34 The cities of
Muharraq (
foreground ) and
Manama (background) (from
Bahrain )
Image 35 The new terminal of the Bahrain International Airport (from
Bahrain )
Image 36 The Sasanian Empire at its greatest extent c. 620, under
Khosrow II (from
History of Bahrain )
Image 37 Map showing the locations of the
ancient burial mounds . There are an estimated 350,000 burial mounds. (from
Bahrain )
Image 38 Map of Bahrain in 1825. (from
Bahrain )
Image 40 Bahrain is the eleventh most water stressed country in the world. (from
Bahrain )
Image 41 Greater flamingos (
Phoenicopterus roseus ) are native to Bahrain. (from
Bahrain )
Image 43 Manama Harbour, c. 1870 (from
Bahrain )
Image 44 The
Bahrain Fort , location of Dilmun artifacts. (from
History of Bahrain )
Image 45 The Bahrain national football team playing
Australia on June 10, 2009, in a World Cup qualifier (from
Bahrain )
Image 46 The view from outside one of the entrance gates at the Avenues (from
Bahrain )
Image 47 The emir
Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa heads the opening session of the first conference on the formation of a union of the Gulf emirates in February 1968. (from
History of Bahrain )
Image 49 Manama seen from
Muharraq (from
Bahrain )
Image 50 Topography (from
Bahrain )
Image 51 Manama Souq on Bahrain National Day (from
Bahrain )
Image 52 Inside Riffa Fort (from
History of Bahrain )
Image 53 Coronation of
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa as the Hakim of Bahrain in 1933. (from
History of Bahrain )
Image 55 An artisan making pottery using the traditional mud and water mixture on a revolving wheel. (from
Bahrain )
Image 56 Bahraini protests against the ruling Al Khalifa family in 2011 (from
Bahrain )
Image 57 The
Tree of Life , a 9.75 meter high
Prosopis cineraria tree that is over 400 years old (from
Bahrain )
Image 58 Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the King of Bahrain (from
Bahrain )
Image 59 The podium ceremony at the
2007 Bahrain Grand Prix (from
Bahrain )
Image 60 Manama souq in 1965 (from
Bahrain )
More Did you know (auto-generated)
... that Tala Bashmi played on the Bahrain women's national football team for seven years before opening a restaurant in a Manama hotel?
... that infectious diseases specialist Jameela Al Salman has supported the development of medical robots and called their use in Bahrain a "pioneering experiment"?
... that as part of Bahrainization , the Bahraini government prohibited foreigners from driving taxis?
... that the 2021 film West Side Story was banned in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain, likely due to the transgender character Anybodys?
... that Bahraini businesswoman Yara Salman founded a beauty salon, a medical center, an entertainment complex, and a restaurant in the past decade?
Early history 19th century 20th century 21st century
Settlements in
Sitra , Bahrain
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Summer Olympic Sports
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Bahrain AFC Asian Cup finalists
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