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 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 is known as 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...)

More about Bahrain...

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

The State of Bahrain (Arabic: دولة البحرين, romanized: Dawlat al-Baḥrayn) was the name of Bahrain from 1971 to 2002. On 15 August 1971, Bahrain declared independence and signed a new treaty of friendship with the United Kingdom. Bahrain joined the United Nations and the Arab League later in the year. The oil boom of the 1970s benefited Bahrain greatly, although the subsequent downturn hurt the economy. The country had already begun diversification of its economy and benefited further from Lebanese Civil War in the 1970s and 1980s, when Bahrain replaced Beirut as the Middle East's financial hub after Lebanon's large banking sector was driven out of the country by the war.

Following the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, in 1981 Bahraini Shī'a fundamentalists orchestrated a failed coup attempt under the auspices of a front organisation, 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. In December 1994, a group of youths threw stones at female runners during an international marathon for running bare-legged. The resulting clash with police soon grew into civil unrest. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

edit

Selected picture - show another

Muharraq Island

Muharraq Island (in the foreground), with Manama in the background

More selected pictures

edit

Related portals

Religions in Bahrain

Arab states

Other countries

edit

Things to do

Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Article requests : Request a new article about Bahrain
Photo : Request a new picture about Bahrain
Stubs : Expand stub articles listed at Category:Bahrain stubs
Join the Bahrain Wikiproject : and help us expanding our topics

Good article - show another

This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

Protesters fleeing after security forces fired tear gas on a march in Nuwaidrat.

The Day of Rage (Arabic: يوم الغضب, romanized: Yawm al-Ghaḍab) is the name given by protesters in Bahrain to 14 February 2011, the first day of the national uprising as part of the Arab Spring. Inspired by successful uprisings in Egypt and in Tunisia, Bahraini youth organised protests using social-media websites. They appealed to the Bahraini people "to take to the streets on Monday 14 February in a peaceful and orderly manner". The day had a symbolic value, being the ninth and tenth anniversaries of the country's 2002 constitution and the National Action Charter respectively.

Some opposition parties supported the protests' plans, while others did not explicitly call for demonstration. However, they demanded deep reforms and changes similar to those by the youth. Before the start of protests, the cabinet of Bahrain had introduced a number of economic and political concessions. The protests started with a sit-in in solidarity with the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 in the vicinity of the Egyptian embassy in the capital Manama ten days before the Day of Rage. On the eve of 14 February, security forces dispersed hundreds of protesters south of Manama. (Full article...)

List of Good articles

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

Image 1Bahrain 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 2The Isa ibn Ali Al Khalifa house is an example of traditional architecture in Bahrain. (from Bahrain)
Image 3Inside Riffa Fort (from History of Bahrain)
Image 4National Evangelical Church, Manama (from Bahrain)
Image 5GDP per capita development in Bahrain (from Bahrain)
Image 6Topography (from Bahrain)
Image 7Sidade de Baren depicted in Lázaro Luís' 1563 map of Arabia (from History of Bahrain)
Image 8Artistic depiction of Nasr Al-Madhkur in Bushehr (from History of Bahrain)
Image 9Location of the Dilmun burial mounds in Bahrain. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 10The Portuguese Fort of Barém, built by the Portuguese when they ruled Bahrain from 1521 to 1602. (from Bahrain)
Image 11The Persian Empire in the Sassanid era on the eve of the Arab conquest, c. 600 AD. (from Bahrain)
Image 12Dilmun burial mounds in 1918. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 13The Shrinathji temple in Manama (from Bahrain)
Image 14Female students at the University of Bahrain dressed in traditional garb (from Bahrain)
Image 15Al-Hidaya Al-Khalifia Boys school. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 16Over 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 17Facsimile of a letter sent by Muhammad to Munzir ibn-Sawa al-Tamimi, governor of Bahrain, in AD 628 (from Bahrain)
Image 18The 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 19Manama seen from Muharraq (from Bahrain)
Image 20King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa meets American president Donald Trump in May 2017 (from Bahrain)
Image 21Overview of Manama, 1953. (from Bahrain)
Image 22Facsimile of the letter written by Muhammed to the ruler of Bahrain. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 23A 1745 Bellin map of the historical region of Bahrain (from Bahrain)
Image 24The new terminal of the Bahrain International Airport (from Bahrain)
Image 25The cities of Muharraq (foreground) and Manama (background) (from Bahrain)
Image 26Manama skyline as viewed from Juffair (from Bahrain)
Image 27The King Fahd Causeway as seen from space (from Bahrain)
Image 28Bahraini protests against the ruling Al Khalifa family in 2011 (from Bahrain)
Image 29Manama Souq on Bahrain National Day (from Bahrain)
Image 30Bahrainis observing public prayers in Manama (from Bahrain)
Image 31Several people held a sit-in in solidarity with human rights activist Nabeel Rajab (from Bahrain)
Image 32National Library of Bahrain at Isa Cultural Centre (from Bahrain)
Image 33An artisan making pottery using the traditional mud and water mixture on a revolving wheel. (from Bahrain)
Image 34The Tree of Life, a 9.75 meter high Prosopis cineraria tree that is over 400 years old (from Bahrain)
Image 35Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the King of Bahrain (from Bahrain)
Image 36This photograph shows the coronation of Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa as the Hakim of Bahrain in February 1933. (from Bahrain)
Image 37A view of the Grand Avenue section of the Avenues (from Bahrain)
Image 38Map showing the locations of the ancient burial mounds. There are an estimated 350,000 burial mounds. (from Bahrain)
Image 39The Bahrain national football team playing Australia on 10 June 2009, in a World Cup qualifier (from Bahrain)
Image 40Bahrain is the eleventh most water stressed country in the world. (from Bahrain)
Image 41Protesters at the Pearl Roundabout just before it was demolished. (from Bahrain)
Image 42Map of Bahrain in 1825. (from Bahrain)
Image 43Phoenicians 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 44The proposed federation of Arab emirates (from History of Bahrain)
Image 45The Portuguese Fort in 1870. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 46A view of Arad Fort (from History of Bahrain)
Image 47The Sasanian Empire at its greatest extent c. 620, under Khosrow II (from History of Bahrain)
Image 48Greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) are native to Bahrain. (from Bahrain)
Image 49The view from outside one of the entrance gates at the Avenues (from Bahrain)
Image 50A photograph of the First Oil Well in Bahrain, with oil first being extracted in 1931 (from Bahrain)
Image 51The Bahrain Fort, location of Dilmun artifacts. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 52First Oil Well, Bahrain. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 53Purple – Portuguese in the Persian Gulf in the 16th and 17th centuries (modern boundaries shown). Main cities, ports and routes. (from Bahrain)
Image 54Manama souq in 1965 (from Bahrain)
Image 55Manama Harbour, c. 1870 (from Bahrain)
Image 56Coronation of Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa as the Hakim of Bahrain in 1933. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 57Map of Manama in 1926. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 58Ambulance in International Hospital of Bahrain (from Bahrain)
Image 59Mixed Martial Arts hosted by BRAVE Combat Federation event in Bahrain (from Bahrain)
Image 60The Khamis Mosque in 1956. (from History of Bahrain)
Image 61The podium ceremony at the 2007 Bahrain Grand Prix (from Bahrain)
Image 62The National Union Committee members in 1954 (from History of Bahrain)
Image 63The historical region of Bahrain on a 1745 Bellin map (from History of Bahrain)

edit

Did you know - show another

... that the Bahrain pearling trail is Bahrain's second UNESCO World Heritage Site after the Bahrain Fort?

More did you know...

More Did you know (auto-generated)

... that hurdler Ahmed Hamada was the Bahraini flagbearer for two Olympic Games – sixteen years apart?
... that between 2006 and 2007, Stacy Hollowell worked for basketball teams in Qatar, China, Bahrain and Lithuania?
... 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 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 the first Chinese driver to race in Formula One debuted at the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix?

edit

WikiProjects

WikiProject Bahrain

edit

Topics

edit

Recognized content

This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Bahrain}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.