Bahrain

Bahrain

For the historical region, see Bahrain (historical region). مملكة البحرينMamlakat al-Bahrayn Kingdom of Bahrain Flag Coat of Arms Anthem: بحرينناBahrainonaOur Bahrain Capital(and largest city) Manama26°13′N, 50°35′E Official languages Arabic[1] Demonym Bahraini Government Constitutional Monarchy - King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah - Prime Minister Khalifah ibn Sulman Al Khalifah Independence from United Kingdom[2][3] - Date 16 December 1971 Area - Total 665 km² (189th)253 sq mi - Water (%) 0 Population - 2007 estimate 1,046,814 1 (155th) - Density 1454/km² (7th)2,556/sq mi GDP (PPP) estimate - Total $19.75 billion (118th) - Per capita $23,604 (32nd) HDI (2007) ▲ 0.866 (high) (41st) Currency Bahraini dinar (BHD) Time zone (UTC+3) Internet TLD .bh Calling code +973 1 Includes 517,368 non-nationals (September 2007 estimate). Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain (Arabic: مملكة البحرين ‎, Mamlakat al-Baḥrayn), is a borderless island country in the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway (officially opened on November 25, 1986), and Qatar is to the south across the Gulf of Bahrain. The Qatar–Bahrain Friendship Bridge being planned will link Bahrain to Qatar as the longest fixed link in the world.

History History of Bahrain The neutrality of this section is disputed.Please see the discussion on the talk page.(April 2008)Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. For the historical region, see Bahrain (historical region). Bahrain has been inhabited since ancient times. Its strategic location in the Persian Gulf has brought rule and influence from the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, and finally the Arabs, under whom the island became Muslim. Bahrain was in ancient times known as Dilmun, later under its Greek name Tylos[5], then as Awal, and then by the Persian name Mishmahig, when it was a part of the Persian Empire. The islands of Bahrain, positioned in the middle south of the Persian Gulf, have attracted the attention of invaders throughout history. Bahrain is Arabic for "two seas", referring to the sweet water springs that can be found within the salty sea surrounding it[6] A strategic position between East and West, fertile lands, fresh water, and pearl diving made Bahrain historically a center of urban settlement. Pearl diving was the main economy until cultured pearls were invented in early twentieth century and more when oil was discovered in 1930s. About 2300 BC, 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 BC. Bahrain became part of the Babylonian empire about 600 BC. Historical records referred to Bahrain with names such as the "Life of Eternity", "Paradise", and Eden. Bahrain was also called the "Pearl of the Persian Gulf". Bahrain has many trade partners". Until Bahrain adopted Islam in 629 AD, it was a centre for Nestorian Christianity[7]. Early Islamic sources describe it as being inhabited by members of the Abdul Qays, Tamim, and Bakr tribes, worshiping the idol "Awal". In 899, a millenarian Ismaili sect, the Qarmatians, seized hold of the country and sought to create a utopian society based on reason and the distribution of 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.[8] The final end of the Qarmatians came at the hand of the Arab Uyunid dynasty of al-Hasa, who took over the entire Bahrain region in 1076.[9] They controlled the Bahrain islands until 1235, when the islands were briefly occupied by the ruler of Fars. In 1253, the bedouin Usfurids brought down the Uyunid dynasty and gained control over eastern Arabia, including the islands of Bahrain. In 1330, the islands became tributary to the rulers of Hormuz,[10] though locally the islands were controlled by the Shi'ite Jarwanid dynasty of Qatif.[11] Until the late Middle Ages, "Bahrain" referred to the larger historical region of Bahrain that included Ahsa, Qatif (both now within the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia) and the Awal (now the Bahrain) Islands. The region stretched from Basrah to the Strait of Hormuz in Oman. This was Iqlīm al-Bahrayn "Bahrayn Province." The exact date at which the term "Bahrain" began to refer solely to the Awal archipeligo is unknown.[12] Bahrain World Trade Centre Sunset at King Fahd Causeway Bahrain Word Trade Centre Bahrain Financial Harbor In the mid-15th century, the islands came under the rule of the Jabrids, a bedouin dynasty that was also based in al-Ahsa and ruled most of eastern Arabia. The Portuguese invaded Bahrain in 1521 in alliance with Hormuz, seizing it from the Jabrid ruler Migrin ibn Zamil, who was killed in battle. Portuguese rule lasted for nearly 80 years, during which they depended mostly on Sunni Persian governors.[13] The Portuguese were expelled from the islands in 1602 by Abbas I of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, who instituted Shi'ism as the official religion in Bahrain.[14] The Iranian rulers retained sovereignty over the islands, with some interruptions, for nearly two centuries. For most of that period, they resorted to governing Bahrain indirectly, either through Hormuz or through local Sunni Arab clans, such as the Huwala.[15][16][17] During this period, the islands suffered two serious invasions by the Ibadhis of Oman in 1717 and 1738.[18][19] In 1753, the Huwala clan of Al Madhkur invaded Bahrain on behalf of the Iranians, restoring direct Iranian rule.[20] In 1783, an alliance of Sunni Arab clans from the Arabian coast, led by the Al Khalifa, invaded and took control of Bahrain from the Persians and their Huwala allies, establishing an independent emirate.[21][22][23][disputed] The Al Khalifa, however, had to weather a series of Omani invasions between 1799 and 1828.[24][25] It was under the Al Khalifa's rule, in 1845, that a section of the Dawasir tribe from southern Nejd settled in Bahrain.[26] The Al Khalifa at times extended their authority to the northern shores of Qatar and the fort of Dammam on the Arabian coast. For more details on this topic, see 1783 Al Khalifa invasion of Bahrain. After the Saudis conquered al-Hasa and Qatif in 1796, the Al Khalifa briefly became their tributaries.[27] When the Saudis re-established their power in the region in the 19th century, they attempted again to bring the emirate of Bahrain under their control, resulting in many battles and skirmishes between the two dynasties.[28] This, however, was opposed by the British, who by that time had become highly influential in the Gulf, viewing it as essential to their control of India.[29] Britain's policy in the Gulf at this time stipulated "uncompromising opposition" to the Saudis in Bahrain. In 1859, a British naval squadron was sent to protect the islands, and the British resident in the Persian Gulf notified the Saudi ruler Faisal ibn Turki Al Saud that it viewed Bahrain as an "independent emirate." In 1861, the British imposed a protection treaty on the emir of Bahrain, ending Saudi efforts to bring the islands under their sphere of influence.[30] The treaty was the culmination of a series of treaties with the British, beginning in 1820.[31] The country remained a British protectorate until 1971. The population of the island at the time was estimated to be around 70,000 persons.[32] In the early 1920s the islands were rocked by disturbances between the Dawasir and the Shi'ite Baharna of Bahrain. As a result, most of the Dawasir were compelled to leave Bahrain and settle on the Arabian mainland as subjects of Ibn Saud.[33] Oil was discovered in 1932 and brought rapid modernization to Bahrain. Bahrain was the first place to find oil in the whole region. It also made relations with the United Kingdom closer, evidenced by the British moving more bases there. British influence would continue to grow as the country developed, culminating with the appointment of Charles Belgrave as an advisor[34]; Belgrave established modern education systems in Bahrain[35]. After World War II, increasing anti-British sentiment spread throughout the Arab World and in Bahrain led to riots. The riots focused on the Jewish community which counted among its members distinguished writers and singers, accountants, engineers and middle managers working for the Oil Company, textile merchants with business all over the peninsula [Jews were not allowed to settle permanently in Saudi Arabia], and free professionals. Following the events of 1947, most of the members of Bahrain's Jewish community abandoned their properties and evacuated to Bombay and later settled in Palestine (later Israel - Tel Aviv's Pardes Chana neighborhood) and the United Kingdom. As of 2007 there were 36 Jews remaining in the country. The issue of compensation was never settled. 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 laid claim to Bahrain and the other Persian Gulf islands. However, in an agreement with the United Kingdom it agreed to "not pursue" its claims on Bahrain if its other claims were realized. The following plebiscite saw Bahrainis confirm their Arab identity and independence from Britain. Bahrain to this day remains a member of the Arab League and Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf. The British withdrew from Bahrain on December 16, 1971, making Bahrain an independent emirate[36]. The oil boom of the 1970s greatly benefited Bahrain, but its downturn was felt badly. However, the country had already begun to diversify its economy, and had benefited from the Lebanese civil war that began in the 1970s; Bahrain replaced Beirut as the Middle East's financial hub as Lebanon's large banking sector was driven out of the country by the war[37]. Bahrain Royal Flight Boeing 747SP After the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, Bahraini Shī'a fundamentalists in 1981 orchestrated a failed coup attempt under the auspices of a front organization, the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain. The coup would have installed a Shī'a cleric exiled in Iran, Hujjatu l-Islām Hādī al-Mudarrisī, as supreme leader heading a theocratic government. [38] In 1994, a wave of rioting by disaffected Shīa Islamists was sparked by women's participation in a sporting event. The Kingdom was badly affected by sporadic violence during the mid-1990s in which over forty people were killed in violence between the government and cleric-led opposition[39]. Manama, the capital of Bahrain In March 1999, King 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. These moves were described by Amnesty International as representing an "historic period of human rights."[40] The country was declared a kingdom in 2002. It formerly was considered a State and officially called a "Kingdom."