Bahrain

General Information

The Kingdom of Bahrain is an island state in the Persian Gulf consisted of two separate groups of 84 in total islands and island groups, which together extend about 49.4km from north to south and 16km from east to west. The island of Bahrain accounts for 7/8 of the country’s total land area and is surrounded by smaller islands.

The capital of the country is Manama located at the island of Bahrain. The country is a Constitutional Heraditery Monarchy ruled by the House of Khalifa since the 18^th century. The chief of the State is the King and the head of government is the Prime Minister. Since 1973 Bahrain has an elected legislative assembly, it consists of the Council of Representatives (the Lower House) and the Royally appointed members of the Consultive Council (the Upper House).    

History

The archipelago of Bahrain was habituated by people since the prehistoric time. The island of Bahrain was the seat of a prosperous trading center since the Sumerian time of the 2^rd millennium BCE connecting Sumer with the Indus valley. Persian, Greek and Roman geographers mentioned Bahrain.

The island has been Arab and Muslim since the 7^th century CE but has been under the rule of the Portuguese from 1521 to 1602 and the Persians from 1602 to 1783. Since 1783 the archipelago has been ruled by the Sheikhs of the Al Khalifa family. However the first 75 years of their rule the Al Khalifa family faced serious external and internal threats. Nonetheless by allying with their enemies against each other they managed to keep the island under their control.

Several times during the 19^th century Britain intervened to suppress war and piracy and to prevent the establishment of Egyptian, Persian, Ottoman, Wahhabi, German and Russian spheres of influence. In 1820 Britain then the dominant power in the region signed the “General Treaty of Peace” with tribal chiefs including the Al Khalifa. Britain recognized Al Khalifa with this treaty as “legitimate” rulers of Bahrain, although Britain gave to the Persians a claim over Bahrain which was kept until Bahrain’s independence in 1971.      

In 1861 Britain and Bahrain signed the “Perpetual Truce of Peace and Friendship” by which the ruler of Bahrain was not to engage in prosecution of war piracy and slavery at sea”. In return Britain was to provide protection to Bahrain and eliminated with military means and diplomacy all external threats against Bahrain.

In 1947 the protection of Bahrain became briefly the responsibility of the Government of British India but it reverted to Britain following India’s independence. Until 1970 the Government of Iran periodically declared its claims to sovereignty over Bahrain. In 1968 Britain announced its decision to withdraw all of its military forces from the Gulf region. This led the then ruler of Bahrain to proclaims Bahrain’s independence in August 1971. Following its declaration of independence Bahrain signed with Britain a treaty of friendship terminating Bahrain’s status as a British protectorate.     

Geography and Climate

The islands of the first group are Bagrain, Al-Muharraq Sitrah, Nabi Salih, Al-Muhammadiyyah, Umn al Na San and Jiddah. Two of these islands Al-Muharraq and Sitrah are joined to Bahrain island by causeways.

The second group of islands consists of Hawar islands located near the coast of Qatar 19 km southeast of Bahrain island. Bahrain does not share any land boundary with another country, but it is connected with Saudi Arabia with the Kinf Fahd Causeway which is 24 km long. The total land area of Bahrain is 780 km² and about 92% of Bahrain is desert with periodic droughts and dust storms.

The highest point of Bahrain is Mountain of Smoke (Jabal ad Dukhan) located in the Southern Governorate of Bahrain. At 134 m above mean sea level, it is the country's highest point. The climate of Bahrain is affected by the Zagros Mountains across the Persian Gulf in Iran and the dust storms from Saudi Arabia.

The Zagros Mountain cause low-level winds to Bahrain and the dust storms from Saudi Arabia reduce the visibility in the months of June and July. The Summers in Bahrain are very hot and the shallow waters around Bahrain produce very high humidity in the Summer. Rainfall is minimal and irregular. The average annual precipitation is 70.8mm of rainfall. Rain falls only about 10 days a year.      

The Ethnic Groups of the Population of Bahrain

According to the World Bank the total population of Bahrain in 2020 was 1,701,583 people. The male population was 1.1 million people, and the female was 601.109. The rate of population growth in 2020 was 3.6% and the population density (people per sq.km of land area) was 2,181.5. According to the World Bank, the foreigners that lived in Bahrain in 2015 reached 704.137 people. Most of the foreign residents are migrant workers from South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Arab countries.

Local government estimates report approximately 51% of foreign residents are Muslim, 31 percent Hindus, Buddhists, Baha’is, and Sikhs, 17% Christians (Roman Catholic, Protestant, Syrian Orthodox, and Mar Thoma from South India), and less than 1% Jewish.

The population of Bahrain is predominately Muslim and includes both the Sunni and Shia sects with the later in the majority. The Shia Bahrainis are divided into two ethnic groups, the Baharna and the Ajam. The Shia Bahrainis are Baharna (Arabs) and the Ajam are Persian Shia. Sunni Bahrainis is mainly divided into two main ethnic groups, the Arabs and the Huwala.

Although Sunni Arabs is the minority, they represent the most influential ethnic group in Bahrain. Sunni Bahrainis holds most of the Government positions and the Monarchy of the country are Sunni Arabs.

According to the “2018 on International Religious Freedom: Bahrain” of the U.S State Department NGOs estimate that Shia constitute a majority 55-60% of the citizen population.

The official language of the country is Arabic although Balochi is the second largest and widely spoken language in Bahrain and English is also used.

The capital of the country is Manama with 200,000 population (2020) located on the northeastern tip of Bahrain island. The second biggest city is Riffa with 195,606 population; the third biggest city is Muharraq with 176,583 population; the fourth biggest city is Sitra with 60,100 population; and the fifth biggest city is Hamad Town with 57,000 population.

According to the World Bank the average life expectancy is 77 years for males and 81 for females. The birth rate for 2020 was 2 per woman and the death rate per 1,000 people for the same year was 2.4. About 1/5 of the population is under the age of 15.

Foreign Relations of Bahrain

Bahrain became independent on 15 August 1971, when the country declared independence from the British marked by the signing of a friendship treaty with the British that terminated previous agreements between the two sides.

Bahrain is a member among others to the following international organisations:

• United Nations (UN)
• Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (ABEDA)\
• Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD)
• Arab Monetary Fund (AMF)
• Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC)
• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
• International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
• International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
• International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
• International Criminal Court (ICCt) (signatory)
• International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol)
• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS)
• International Finance Corporation (IFC)
• International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)
• International Labour Organization (ILO)
• International Maritime Organization (IMO)
• International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• International Olympic Committee (IOC)
• International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (ICRM)
• Islamic Development Bank (IDB)
• League of Arab States (LAS)
• Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
• Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC)
• Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
• United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• World Trade Organization (WTO)

Few after the declaration of its independence Bahrain had to deal with the results of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. Tensions mounted between the predominantly Shia population and the Sunni leadership.

The political unrest was fueled by economic and social grievances related to the fall in oil prices and production cutbacks in public spending and discrimination against the majority Shia population.

Two years later in 1981 the authorities of Bahrain discovered a planned Iran-sponsored coup. Bahraini suspicions of the Iranian role in local unrest in the mid-1990’s remain. The same year, 1981, Bahrain joined with 5 other Arab gulf states in forming the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

During the Gulf War (1990-1991) Bahrain made its ports and airfields available to the coalition forces that fought Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. After the liberation of Kuwait Bahrain and the U.S strengthened their already good ties by signing a ten-year agreement in October 1991 which granted American forces access to Bahraini facilities and allowed the U.S to pre-position war material for future cries. 

In December 1994 Bahrain agreed with the GCC decision to drop secondary and tertiary boycotts against Israel.  In July 1995 the U.S 5th Fleet was established in the Gulf with its HQ at NSA Bahrain in Manama.

Between 1994 and 2000 popular uprising occurred in Bahrain in which leftists, liberals and Islamists joined forces. In 1999 Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa became the Emir of Bahrain, adopting a number of reforms such as elections for parliament, right to vote for women and released all political prisoners.

Two years later on 14-15 of February 2001 a referendum supported the National Action Charter and on 14^th of February 2002, Bahrain changed its formal name from State of Bahrain to the Kingdom of Bahrain. The head of the State Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa changed its title from Emir to King with wide executive authority.

Six years later in 2001 Bahrain participated as an active member of the coalition that fought to remove the Taliban regime from Afghanistan.

Furthermore in 2001, Bahrain and Qatar solved their long-standing territorial dispute over the Hawar islands and the maritime boundary by a compromise decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

In 2002 King Hamad promulgated the “2002 Constitution”, without any public consultation.

As a result, the parliamentary elections due to be held later that year were boycotted by four political parties; “Al Wefaq”, a Shia Islamist group, the most popular political society in the country, “National Democratic Action”, the largest Leftist political society, “Islamic Action Society”, a marginal Shia Islamist society, and the “Nationalist Democratic Rally Society”, a marginal Arab Nationalist society.

Although Bahrain participated in the war against the Taliban, Manama opposed unilateral action against Iraq in 2003.       

In February 2011 the Shia majority of Bahrain started a large protest against its Suni rulers inspired by the regional Arab Spring. Unregistered opposition parties such as the “Haq Movement” and “Bahrain Freedom Movement” supported the demonstrations, while the “National Democratic Action Society” announced its support for "the principle of the right of the youth to demonstrate peacefully" one day before the protests.

“Al Wefaq”, Bahrain's main opposition party, did not call for or support protests, however its leader demanded political reforms.

Although the Government initially allowed protests a month later Manama requested security assistance from Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries and on the 15th of March 2011 the Government declared a 3 month state of emergency. The Government then tried to deal with the demonstration of the opposition. This included conducting arrests and clashes between protesters and security forces that caused the death to many people. Protests sometimes staged by opposition parties while Iran is alleged by the United States and others to have a hand in the arming of Bahraini militants.  

The demonstrations continued periodically during 2012, 2013 and 2014 when at this year the country held the first parliamentary elections since the beginning of the protests, despite boycotts held by the Shia-majority opposition.