Portal:Bahrain

The Bahrain Portal

Flag of the Kingdom of Bahrain	Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Bahrain

Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago 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 is 1,501,635 as of 2023, of whom 712,362 (47% of the population) are Bahraini nationals and 789,273 are expatriates spanning 2,000 ethnicities (53% of the population). 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.

According to archeologist Geoffrey Bibby, 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. 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 19th century, 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 semi-constitutional monarchy in 2002, and Article 2 of the constitution made sharia a principal source for legislation. In 2011, the country experienced protests inspired by the regional Arab Spring. The ruling Sunni Muslim Al Khalifa royal family has been criticised for violating the human rights of groups including dissidents, political opposition figures, and its Shia Muslim population.

Bahrain has been called one of the first post-oil economies 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 Manama. Oil revenues still constitute a significant part of its government budget. 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. It is a Dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. (Full article...)

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Coat of arms of Bahrain

The House of Khalifa (Arabic: آل خليفة, romanized: Āl Khalīfah) is the ruling family of the Kingdom of Bahrain. They profess Sunni Islam and belong to the Anizah tribe. Some members of this tribe joined the Utub alliance which migrated from Najd in central Arabia to Kuwait, then ruled all of Qatar, more specifically Al Zubarah, which they built and ruled over before settling in Bahrain in the early 17th century. The current head of the family is King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, who became the Emir of Bahrain in 1999 and proclaimed himself King of Bahrain in 2002, in fact becoming a constitutional monarch.

As of 2010, roughly half of the serving cabinet ministers of Bahrain were members of the Al Khalifa royal family, while the country's Prime Minister, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, is also from the Al Khalifa family and is the son of the current King. (Full article...)

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Manama

Skyline with roads, towers and harbour of Manama, Bahrain

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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...)

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Qal'at al-Bahrain Mansoor al-Jamri Bahrain Bloody Thursday 2013 Bahrain GP2 Series round March of loyalty to martyrs Al Khawalid Abdul Amir al-Jamri Bahrain Tamarod Nabeel Rajab Matar Matar Death of Abdulredha Buhmaid Beit Al Quran Day of Rage (Bahrain) Bahrain Thirteen 2015 Bahrain GP2 Series round 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi 2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round

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The following are images from various Bahrain-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Bahraini protests against the ruling Al Khalifa family in 2011 (from Bahrain)
Image 2The Portuguese Fort in 1870. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 3Map of Bahrain in 1825. (from Bahrain)
Image 4Bahrain is the eleventh most water stressed country in the world. (from Bahrain)
Image 5Manama skyline as viewed from Juffair (from Bahrain)
Image 6A 1745 Bellin map of the historical region of Bahrain (from Bahrain)
Image 7The Persian Empire in the Sassanid era on the eve of the Arab conquest, c. 600 AD. (from Bahrain)
Image 8Dilmun burial mounds in 1918. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 9Al-Hidaya Al-Khalifia Boys school. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 10The Tree of Life, a 9.75 meter high Prosopis cineraria tree that is over 400 years old (from Bahrain)
Image 11Protesters at the Pearl Roundabout just before it was demolished. (from Bahrain)
Image 12Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the King of Bahrain (from Bahrain)
Image 13The podium ceremony at the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix (from Bahrain)
Image 14First Oil Well, Bahrain. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 15Manama Souq on Bahrain National Day (from Bahrain)
Image 16The National Union Committee members in 1954 (from History of Bahrain)
Image 17Facsimile of a letter sent by Muhammad to Munzir ibn-Sawa al-Tamimi, governor of Bahrain, in AD 628 (from Bahrain)
Image 18Facsimile of the letter written by Muhammed to the ruler of Bahrain. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 19Artistic depiction of Nasr Al-Madhkur in Bushehr (from History of Bahrain)
Image 20King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa meets American president Donald Trump in May 2017 (from Bahrain)
Image 21The Portuguese Fort of Barém, built by the Portuguese when they ruled Bahrain from 1521 to 1602. (from Bahrain)
Image 22The Shrinathji temple in Manama (from Bahrain)
Image 23A view of the Grand Avenue section of the Avenues (from Bahrain)
Image 24Manama souq in 1965 (from Bahrain)
Image 25Bahrain province before Independence, was simultaneously part of Iran, a British protectorate whilst at the same time it was ruled "locally" by the Al-Khalifa tribe. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 26Map of Manama in 1926. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 27Manama Harbour, c. 1870 (from Bahrain)
Image 28The historical region of Bahrain on a 1745 Bellin map (from History of Bahrain)
Image 29Coronation of Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa as the Hakim of Bahrain in 1933. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 30Manama seen from Muharraq (from Bahrain)
Image 31Topography (from Bahrain)
Image 32The Bahrain national football team playing Australia on 10 June 2009, in a World Cup qualifier (from Bahrain)
Image 33Overview of Manama, 1953. (from Bahrain)
Image 34This photograph shows the coronation of Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa as the Hakim of Bahrain in February 1933. (from Bahrain)
Image 35The Isa ibn Ali Al Khalifa house is an example of traditional architecture in Bahrain. (from Bahrain)
Image 36An artisan making pottery using the traditional mud and water mixture on a revolving wheel. (from Bahrain)
Image 37The new terminal of the Bahrain International Airport (from Bahrain)
Image 38The Sasanian Empire at its greatest extent c. 620, under Khosrow II (from History of Bahrain)
Image 39The Bahrain Fort, location of Dilmun artifacts. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 40Over 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 41National Library of Bahrain at Isa Cultural Centre (from Bahrain)
Image 42A view of Arad Fort (from History of Bahrain)
Image 43Map showing the locations of the ancient burial mounds. There are an estimated 350,000 burial mounds. (from Bahrain)
Image 44The Khamis Mosque in 1956. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 45A photograph of the First Oil Well in Bahrain, with oil first being extracted in 1931 (from Bahrain)
Image 46GDP per capita development in Bahrain (from Bahrain)
Image 47The cities of Muharraq (foreground) and Manama (background) (from Bahrain)
Image 48Location of the Dilmun burial mounds in Bahrain. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 49Inside Riffa Fort (from History of Bahrain)
Image 50Female students at the University of Bahrain dressed in traditional garb (from Bahrain)
Image 51The proposed federation of Arab emirates (from History of Bahrain)
Image 52Bahrainis observing public prayers in Manama (from Bahrain)
Image 53The King Fahd Causeway as seen from space (from Bahrain)
Image 54Purple – Portuguese in the Persian Gulf in the 16th and 17th centuries (modern boundaries shown). Main cities, ports and routes. (from Bahrain)
Image 55The 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 56National Evangelical Church, Manama (from Bahrain)
Image 57Greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) are native to Bahrain. (from Bahrain)
Image 58The view from outside one of the entrance gates at the Avenues (from Bahrain)
Image 59Phoenicians 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 60Ambulance in International Hospital of Bahrain (from Bahrain)
Image 61Several people held a sit-in in solidarity with human rights activist Nabeel Rajab (from Bahrain)
Image 62Mixed Martial Arts hosted by BRAVE Combat Federation event in Bahrain (from Bahrain)

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... that Tom Collins resigned the presidency of RCSI-Bahrain over the alleged government cancellation of an ethics conference?

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... 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 as part of Bahrainization, the Bahraini government prohibited foreigners from driving taxis?
... that Bahraini author Fatema Al Harbi, the first non-government Bahraini to visit Israel, faced death threats upon her return to Bahrain?
... that between 2006 and 2007, Stacy Hollowell worked for basketball teams in Qatar, China, Bahrain and Lithuania?
... that the first Chinese driver to race in Formula One debuted at the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix?
... that Tala Bashmi played on the Bahrain women's national football team for seven years before opening a restaurant in a Manama hotel?

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