Portal:Bahrain
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The Bahrain Portal
Bahrain , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in the eastern part of Arabian Peninsula in West Asia. Situated near the western shore of the Persian Gulf, the country comprises a small archipelago of 33 natural islands and an additional 50 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which makes up around 80 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 1,588,670 as of 2024, of whom 739,736 (46.6% of the population) are Bahraini nationals, and 848,934 are expatriates (53.4% 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.
The area that straddles the present-day territory of Bahrain was once the site of the ancient Dilmun civilisation. 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. 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, but oil revenues still constitute a significant part of its government budget. It is recognised by the World Bank as a high-income economy. Bahrain is a member of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Arab League, the 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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The Cabinet of Bahrain is the chief executive body of the Kingdom of Bahrain. According to Article 32 (b) of the 2002 Constitution, "executive authority is vested in the King together with the Council of Ministers and Ministers". The Council of Ministers (Cabinet) is appointed directly by the King (Article 33d). Bahrain has had two Prime Ministers since the country's independence in 1971, Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the uncle of the reigning King Hamad ibn Isa al-Khalifah. Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa died on 11 November 2020, and was succeeded by the King's son, Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. (Full article... )
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Al Khawalid (Arabic: الخوالد the Khawālid; literally "the Khālids"), also spelled Al Khawaled, is a branch of the House of Khalifa, the ruling family of Bahrain. Al Khawalid is most often used to refer collectively to descendants of Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, which they are named after. The term also refers to brothers Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, the Royal Court Minister and Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa the Commander in Chief of the Bahrain Defence Force. For the purpose of this article, immediate descendants of Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa will be referred to as "the Khalids", the aforementioned two brothers will be referred to as "the Khawalid brothers" and the family branch collectively as "Al Khawalid".
The history of Al Khawalid dates to the 1920s, when the Khalids opposed the British-led administrative reforms and launched a military crackdown on the Shia who supported the reforms. The perpetrators were later put before a court that sentenced them to exile. They gradually returned to Bahrain, where they were kept outside government despite developing personal relations with those in power. They regained some influence since the late 1960s, but remained outside the inner decision-making circle. During this period, senior members of the Khalids were critical of the ruling family, opposed political reforms and held a grudge against the British. (Full article... )
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The following are images from various Bahrain-related articles on Wikipedia.
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Image 1Bahrainis observing public prayers in Manama (from Bahrain )
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Image 3The Manama Souq on Bahrain National Day (from Bahrain )
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Image 6The Tree of Life, a 9.75 metre high Prosopis cineraria tree that is over 400 years old (from Bahrain )
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Image 7The Khamis Mosque in 1956. (from History of Bahrain )
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Image 10Protesters at the Pearl Roundabout just before it was demolished (from Bahrain )
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Image 11The view from outside one of the entrance gates at the Avenues (from Bahrain )
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Image 16Purple – Portuguese Empire in the Persian Gulf in the 16th and 17th centuries (modern boundaries shown). Main cities, ports and routes. (from Bahrain )
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Image 17The Isa ibn Ali Al Khalifa house is an example of traditional architecture in Bahrain. (from Bahrain )
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Image 18A view of the Grand Avenue section of the Avenues (from Bahrain )
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Image 19Manama Harbour, c. 1870 (from Bahrain )
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Image 22The coronation of Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa as the Hakim of Bahrain in February 1933 (from Bahrain )
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Image 23The Portuguese Fort of Barém, built by the Portuguese when they ruled Bahrain from 1521 to 1602 (from Bahrain )
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Image 24Inside Riffa Fort (from History of Bahrain )
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Image 25King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa meets American president Donald Trump in May 2017. (from Bahrain )
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Image 27A facsimile of a letter sent by Muhammad to Munzir ibn-Sawa al-Tamimi, governor of Bahrain, in AD 628 (from Bahrain )
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Image 28Topography (from Bahrain )
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Image 30The Sasanian Empire at its greatest extent c. 620, under Khosrow II (from History of Bahrain )
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Image 31Al-Hidaya Al-Khalifia Boys school. (from History of Bahrain )
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Image 32Bahrain 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 )
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Image 33National Evangelical Church, Manama (from Bahrain )
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Image 36An artisan making pottery using the traditional mud and water mixture on a revolving wheel (from Bahrain )
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Image 37Overview of Manama, 1953 (from Bahrain )
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Image 38Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the King of Bahrain (from Bahrain )
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Image 39GDP per capita development in Bahrain (from Bahrain )
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Image 40A map showing the locations of Bahrain's ancient burial mounds. There are an estimated 350,000 burial mounds. (from Bahrain )
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Image 41The Persian Empire in the Sassanid era on the eve of the Arab conquest, c. 600 AD (from Bahrain )
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Image 42A map of Bahrain in 1825 (from Bahrain )
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Image 45Several people held a sit-in in solidarity with human rights activist Nabeel Rajab. (from Bahrain )
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Image 46Sidade de Baren depicted in Lázaro Luís' 1563 map of Arabia (from History of Bahrain )
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Image 47Bahrain was the tenth most water-stressed country in the world in 2022. (from Bahrain )
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Image 48Phoenicians 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 )
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Image 49The Shrinathji temple in Manama (from Bahrain )
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Did you know - show another
- ... that Tom Collins resigned the presidency of RCSI-Bahrain over the alleged government cancellation of an ethics conference?
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 the first Chinese driver to race in Formula One debuted at the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix ?
- ... that Bahraini author Fatema Al Harbi , the first non-government Bahraini to visit Israel, faced death threats upon her return to Bahrain?
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Categories
Recognized content
Featured articles
Good articles
- 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix
- 2013 Bahrain GP2 Series round
- 2014 Bahrain GP2 Series round
- 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix
- 2015 Bahrain GP2 Series round
- 2015 Bahrain Grand Prix
- 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix
- Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi
- Al Khawalid
- Bahrain Tamarod
- Bahrain Thirteen
- Bahrain at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Bahrain health worker trials
- Beit Al Quran
- Bloody Thursday (Bahrain)
- Death of Abdulredha Buhmaid
- Day of Rage (Bahrain)
- Abdul Amir al-Jamri
- March of loyalty to martyrs
- Matar Matar
- Qal'at al-Bahrain
- Nabeel Rajab
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Stielers Handatlas 1891 59
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Western reef egret (Egretta gularis schistacea) dark morph
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