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Bahrain

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Countries; Middle Eastern
Countries

                 مملكة البحرين
   Mamlakat al-Bahrayn
   Kingdom of Bahrain

   Flag of Bahrain Emblem of Bahrain
   Flag            Emblem
   Motto: Bahrainona
   Anthem: بحريننا  ( Bahrainona)
   "Our Bahrain"
   Location of Bahrain
   Capital
   (and largest city) Manama
                      26°13′N 50°35′W
   Official languages Arabic
   Government         Constitutional monarchy
    - King            Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa
    - Prime Minister  Khalifah Bin Sulman Al Khalifa
    - Crown Prince    Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa
      Independence    from the United Kingdom
    - Date            15 August 1971
                            Area
    - Total           665 km² ( 189th)
                      253 sq mi
    - Water (%)       0
                         Population
    - 2005 estimate   698,585^a ( 163rd)
    - Density         987/km² ( 10th)
                      2,556/sq mi
       GDP ( PPP)     estimate
    - Total           $14.08 billion ( 120th)
    - Per capita      $20,500 ( 35th)
      HDI  (2003)     0.846 (high) ( 43rd)
        Currency      Bahraini Dinar ( BHD)
       Time zone      ( UTC+3)
      Internet TLD    .bh
      Calling code    +973
   ^a Includes 235,108 non-nationals (July 2005 estimate).

   Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain (Arabic: مملكة البحرين ), is
   a borderless island country in the Persian Gulf ( Southwest Asia/Middle
   East, Asia). 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 Persian Gulf. The Qatar–Bahrain
   Friendship Bridge, currently being planned, will link Bahrain to Qatar
   as the longest fixed link in the world.

   Bahrain is the smallest, in terms of population, Arab country in the
   world, and the smallest Arab member of the United Nations. It is also
   the least populous country in mainland Asia (but not of Asia overall,
   because Maldives and Brunei are smaller).

History

   Bahrain has been inhabited by humans since ancient times and has even
   been proposed as the site of the Biblical Garden of Eden.

   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
   the ancient times known as Dilmun, later under its Greek name Tylos
   (see Dilmun for more information), as Awal as well as under the Persian
   name Mishmahig when it came under the imperial rule of the Persian
   Empire.

   The islands of Bahrain, positioned in the middle south of the Persian
   Gulf, have attracted the attention of many invaders throughout history,
   such as the Al-Khalifas. Bahrain is an Arabic word meaning "Two Seas",
   and is thought to either refer to the fact that the islands contain two
   sources of water, sweet water springs and salty water in the
   surrounding seas, or to the south and north waters of the Persian Gulf,
   separating it from the Arabian coast and Iran, respectively.

   A strategic position between East and West, fertile lands, fresh water,
   and pearl diving made Bahrain long a centre of urban settlement. 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 as the "Life of
   Eternity", "Paradise", etc. Bahrain was also called the "Pearl of the
   Persian Gulf".

   Until Bahrain embraced Islam in 629 AD, it was a centre for Nestorian
   Christainity. 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 widespread 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.

   Bahrain up until 1521 referred to the larger historical region of
   Bahrain including Ahsa, Qatif (both are now the eastern province of
   Saudi Arabia) as well as Awal (now Bahrain Islands). The region
   stretched from Basrah to the Strait of Hormuz in Oman. This was Iqlīm
   al-Bahrayn "Bahrayn Province" and the Arab inhabitants of the province,
   descendants of the Arab tribe Banī ˤAbdu l-Qays, were called Bahārna
   after it.

   In 1521, the Portuguese conquered the Awal islands and, since then,
   "Bahrain" has specifically referred to the area that is modern state of
   Bahrain.

   From the sixteenth century to 1743, control of Bahrain drifted between
   the Portuguese and the Persians. Ultimately, the Persian Afsharid king,
   Nadir Shah, invaded and took control of Bahrain and for reasons of
   political control supported the Shīˤa majority.

   In the late eighteenth century, the al-Khalifa family invaded and
   captured the islands from their base in neighbouring Qatar. In order to
   secure Bahrain from returning to Persian control, the Emirate entered
   into a treaty relationship with the United Kingdom and became a British
   protectorate.

   Oil was discovered in 1932 and brought rapid modernization and
   improvements to Bahrain. It also made relations with the United Kingdom
   closer, evidenced by the British moving more bases to the island
   nation. British influence would continue to grow as the country
   developed, culminating with the appointment of Charles Belgrave as an
   advisor; Belgrave established modern education systems in Bahrain.

   After World War II, increasing anti-British sentiment spread throughout
   the Arab world and led to riots in Bahrain. 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 simultaneously laid claim to both Bahrain and the other
   Persian Gulf islands. However in an agreement with the United Kingdom
   it agreed to "not pursue" its irredentist claims on Bahrain if its
   other claims were realised. The following plebiscite saw Bahrainis
   confirm their independence from Britain and their Arab identity.
   Bahrain to this day remains a member of the Arab League and Gulf
   Cooperation Council.

   The British withdrew from Bahrain on August 15, 1971, making Bahrain an
   independent emirate. The oil boom of the 1980s 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.

   After the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, Bahraini Shīˤa
   fundamentalists in 1981 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 Shīˤa cleric exiled in
   Iran, Hujjatu l-Islām Hādī al-Mudarrisī, as supreme leader heading a
   theocratic government.

   In 1994 a wave of rioting by disaffected Shīˤa 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 Islamists
   (see 1990s uprising in Bahrain and Torture in Bahrain).

   In March 1999, 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; moves described by
   Amnesty International as representing an 'historic period for human
   rights'.

Politics

   Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy headed by the King, Shaikh Hamad
   bin Isa Al Khalifa; the head of government is the Prime Minister,
   Shaykh Khalīfa bin Salman al Khalifa, who presides over a cabinet of
   fifteen members. Bahrain has a bicameral legislature with a lower
   house, the Chamber of Deputies, elected by universal suffrage and the
   upper house, the Shura Council, appointed by the King. Both houses have
   forty members. The inaugural elections were held in 2002, with
   parliamentarians serving four year terms; the 2006 general election is
   to be held on 25 November 2006.

   The opening up of politics has seen big gains for both Shīˤa and Sunnī
   Islamists in elections, which has given them a parliamentary platform
   to pursue their policies. This has meant that what are termed "morality
   issues" have moved further up the political agenda with parties
   launching campaigns to impose bans on female mannequins displaying
   lingerie in shop windows, sorcery and the hanging of underwear on
   washing lines. Analysts of democratisation in the Middle East cite the
   Islamists' references to respect for human rights in their
   justification for these programmes as evidence that these groups can
   serve as a progressive force in the region.

   Islamist parties have been particularly critical of the government's
   readiness to sign international treaties such as the United Nation's
   International Convention on Civil and Political Rights. At a
   parliamentary session in June 2006 to discuss ratification of the
   Convention, Sheikh Adel Mouwda, the former leader of salafist party,
   Asalah, explained the party's objections: "The convention has been
   tailored by our enemies, God kill them all, to serve their needs and
   protect their interests rather than ours. This why we have eyes from
   the American Embassy watching us during our sessions, to ensure things
   are swinging their way"  .

   Bahraini liberals have responded to the growing power of religious
   parties by organising themselves to campaign through civil society in
   order to defend basic personal freedoms from being legislated away. In
   November 2005, al Muntada, a grouping of liberal academics, launched "
   We Have A Right", a campaign to explain to the public why personal
   freedoms matter and why they need to be defended.

   Both Sunnī and Shīˤa Islamists suffered a setback in March 2006 when
   twenty municipal councillors, most of whom represented religious
   parties, went missing in Bangkok on an unscheduled stopover when
   returning from a conference in Malaysia . After the missing councillors
   eventually arrived in Bahrain they defended their stay at the Radisson
   Hotel in Bangkok, telling journalists it was a "fact-finding mission",
   and explaining: "We benefited a lot from the trip to Thailand because
   we saw how they managed their transport, landscaping and roads."

   Women's political rights in Bahrain saw an important step forward when
   women were granted the right to vote and stand in national elections
   for the first time in 2002's election. However, no women were elected
   to office in that year’s polls and instead Shīˤa and Sunnī Islamists
   dominated the election, collectively winning a majority of seats. In
   response to the failure of women candidates, six were appointed to the
   Shura Council, which also includes representatives of the Kingdom’s
   indigenous Jewish and Christian communities. The country's first female
   cabinet minister was appointed in 2004 when Dr. Nada Haffadh became
   Minister of Health, while the quasi-governmental women's group, the
   Supreme Council for Women has been training female candidates to take
   part in 2006's general election. When Bahrain was elected to head the
   United Nations General Assembly in 2006 it appointed lawyer and women's
   rights activist Haya bint Rashid Al Khalifa as the President of the
   United Nations General Assembly, only the third woman in history to
   head the world body.

   The King recently created the Supreme Judicial Council to regulate the
   country's courts and institutionalize the separation of the
   administrative and judicial branches of government.

   On 11– 12 November 2005, Bahrain hosted the Forum for the Future
   bringing together leaders from the Middle East and G8 countries to
   discuss political and economic reform in the region.

Governorates

   Governorates of Bahrain
   Enlarge
   Governorates of Bahrain

   Bahrain is split into five governorates. Until July 3, 2002, it was
   divided into twelve municipalities; see Municipalities of Bahrain. The
   governorates are:
    1. Capital
    2. Central
    3. Muharraq
    4. Northern
    5. Southern

   For further information, see Decree-Law establishing governorates from
   the Bahrain official website.

Cities, towns and villages

   Among Bahrain's cities and towns are:
     * Al Manama
     * Al Muharraq
     * Sitra
     * Al Rifa
     * Isa Town
     * Hamad Town

   Bahrain's many small towns and villages include:
     * Al Sanabis
     * Karbabad
     * Seef District
     * Al Dair
     * Al Deah

                      * Jid Hafs
                      * Al Buday'a
                      * Al Duraz
                      * Al Jufair

Economy

   Manama, Bahrain's wealthy capital.
   Enlarge
   Manama, Bahrain's wealthy capital.

   In a region currently experiencing an oil boom of unprecedented
   proportions, Bahrain is the fastest growing economy in the Arab world,
   the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
   found in January 2006. Bahrain also has the freest economy in the
   Middle East according to the 2006 Index of Economic Freedom published
   by the Heritage Foundation/ Wall Street Journal, and is twenty-fifth
   freest overall in the world.

   In Bahrain, petroleum production and processing account for about 60%
   of export receipts, 60% of government revenues, and 30% of GDP.
   Economic conditions have fluctuated with the changing fortunes of oil
   since 1985, for example, during and following the Persian Gulf crisis
   of 1990-91. With its highly developed communication and transport
   facilities, Bahrain is home to numerous multinational firms with
   business in the Persian Gulf. A large share of exports consists of
   petroleum products made from imported crude. Construction proceeds on
   several major industrial projects. Unemployment, especially among the
   young, and the depletion of both oil and underground water resources
   are major long-term economic problems.

   In 2004, Bahrain signed the US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement, which will
   reduce certain barriers to trade between the two nations.

Geography

   Map of Bahrain

   Bahrain is a generally flat and arid archipelago, comprising of a low
   desert plain rising gently to a low central escarpment, in the Persian
   Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia. The highest point is the 122 m Jabal ad
   Dukhan.

   Considered to be one of the fifteen states that comprise the " Cradle
   of Humanity" in the Middle East, Bahrain has a total area of 688  km²
   (266  mi²), which is slightly larger than the Isle of Man, though it is
   smaller than the nearby King Fahd Airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia
   (780 km² or 301 mi²). As an archipelago of thirty-three islands,
   Bahrain does not share a land boundary with another country but does
   have a 161- kilometre (100  mi) coastline and claims a further twelve
   nautical miles (22 km) of territorial sea and a twenty-four nautical
   mile (44 km) contiguous zone. Bahrain enjoys mild winters and endures
   very hot, humid summers.

   Bahrain's natural resources include large quantities of oil and
   associated and nonassociated natural gas as well as fish stocks, which
   is perhaps fortunate as arable land constitutes only 1% of the country.
   Desert constitutes 92% of Bahrain and periodic droughts and dust storms
   are the main natural hazards for Bahrainis.

   Environmental issues facing Bahrain include desertification resulting
   from the degradation of limited arable land and coastal degradation
   (damage to coastlines, coral reefs, and sea vegetation) resulting from
   oil spills and other discharges from large tankers, oil refineries, and
   distribution stations. The agricultural and domestic sectors'
   over-utilization of the Dammam aquifer, the principal aquifer in
   Bahrain, has led to its salinization by adjacent brackish and saline
   water bodies.

Demographics

   Bahrain from space, June 1996; north is to the left of the picture.
   Enlarge
   Bahrain from space, June 1996; north is to the left of the picture.

   The official religion of Bahrain is Islam, which the majority of the
   population practices. However, due to an influx of immigrants and guest
   workers from non-Muslim countries, such as the Philippines and Sri
   Lanka, the overall percentage of Muslims in the country has declined in
   recent years. According to the 2001 census, 81.2% of Bahrain's
   population was Muslim (52% Shi'a and 48% Sunni), 9% were Christian, and
   9.8% practiced other Asian or Middle Eastern religions.

   Recently, Bahrain has transformed into a cosmopolitan society with
   mixed communities: two thirds of Bahrain's population consists of
   Arabs, while the rest are immigrants and guest workers largely from
   Iran, South Asia and Southeast Asia. A Financial Times published on 31
   May 1983 found that "Bahrain is a polyglot state, both religiously and
   racially. Leaving aside the temporary immigrants of the past 10 years,
   there are at least eight or nine communities on the island."

   The present communities may be classified as Al-Khalifa, Arab tribes
   allied to Al-Khalifa known historically as the Auttubs; the Baharanies,
   Sunni and Shia Arabs (from the main Arabs land); the Howilla (Mainly
   Sunni Persians with some Arab ancestry); Ajam (ethnic Persian Shia);
   Indians who traded with Bahrain and settled before the age of oil
   (formerly known as the Hunood or Banyan); a tiny Jewish community; and
   a miscellaneous grouping.

Culture

   Bahrain is sometimes described as the "Middle East lite": a country
   that mixes thoroughly modern infrastructure with a definite Persian
   Gulf identity, but unlike other countries in the region its prosperity
   is not solely a reflection of the size of its oil wealth, but also
   related to the creation of an indigenous middle class. This unique
   socioeconomic development in the Persian Gulf has meant that Bahrain is
   generally more liberal than its neighbours. While Islam is the main
   religion, Bahrainis have been known for their tolerance, and alongside
   mosques can be found churches, a Hindu temple, a Sikh Gurudwara and a
   Jewish synagogue. The country is home to several communities that have
   faced persecution elsewhere.

   It is too early to say whether political liberalisation under King
   Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has augmented or undermined Bahrain's
   traditional pluralism. The new political space for Shia and Sunni
   Islamists has meant that they are now in a much stronger position to
   pursue programmes that often seek to directly confront this pluralism,
   yet at the same time political reforms have encouraged an opposite
   trend for society to become more self critical with a greater
   willingness in general to examine previous social taboos. It is now
   common to find public seminars on once unheard of subjects such as
   marital problems and sex and child abuse. Another facet of the new
   openness is Bahrain's status as the most prolific book publisher in the
   Arab world, with 132 books published in 2005 for a population of
   700,000. In comparison, the average for the entire Arab world is seven
   books published per one million people in 2005, according to the United
   Nations Development Programme.

   The middle classes tend to have a very cosmopolitan outlook, and with
   mainstream hip hop music very popular among Bahrain's youth. Of DJing
   in Bahrain, DJ Whoo Kid said:

     "Growing up in Queens Village, New York, I really didn't know what
     to expect upon my arrival in a Muslim country. I expected to see
     camels, sand homes and vehicles that could handle sand, like Jeep
     Wranglers or Land Cruisers. To my surprise, I was greeted by
     teenagers blasting music by Mobb Deep, Jay Z, 2Pac, Biggie Smalls,
     Eminem and 50 Cent. When I turned on the radio I heard a variety of
     music that included the Black Eyed Peas, Sean Paul and the Pussycat
     Dolls. The hottest music – and I hear a lot as a DJ for Eminem's
     Shade 45 channel on Sirius Satellite Radio – was the Arabic hip-hop
     remixes and beats I heard on the radio. It made me realize why many
     producers in the U.S. are sampling them like crazy."

     —

   On October 20, 2005 it was revealed that Michael Jackson intended to
   leave the United States permanently in order to seek a new life in
   Bahrain. Jackson has reportedly told friends that he feels
   "increasingly Bahraini" after buying a former PM's mansion in Sanad,
   and is now seeking another property by the seashore. Other celebrities
   associated with the Kingdom include singer Shakira and Grand Prix
   driver Jenson Button, who owns a property.

Language

   Arabic is the official language of Bahrain. The two main dialects are
   Baharna Arabic, spoken by the indigenous Baharna Shia, and Bahraini
   Arabic spoken by the indigenous Sunnis. Persian, Urdu/Hindi, English
   and Malayalam are also spoken by sections of the population.

Formula One

   Bahrain is the home of Formula One racing in the Middle East. It
   started hosting the Gulf Air Grand Prix on 4 April 2004, the first for
   an Arab country. The race was won by Michael Schumacher of Scuderia
   Ferrari Marlboro. This was followed by the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2005.
   Bahrain has successfully hosted the opening Grand Prix of the 2006
   season on 12 March. Both the above races were won by Fernando Alonso of
   Renault F1.

Holidays

   Date English Name Local Name Remarks
   January 1 New Year's Day رأس السنة الميلادية -
   May 1 Labour Day عيد العمال
   December 16 National Day Eid al-Watani -
   December 17 Accession Day عيد الجلوس -
   10th Zilhajjah Feast of the Sacrifice or the Big Feast (4 days) Eid
   ul-Adha Commemorates Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son, occurs
   at the end of the month of hajj
   1st Shawal the Little Feast (3 days) Eid ul-Fitr Commemorates end of
   Ramadan
   1st Moharram Hijri New Year Muharram Islamic New Year
   Date Varies Al-Isra' ul-Miraj - Commemorates Muhammad's journey to the
   Heavens
   12th Rabiul Awal Prophet Muhammad's birthday Mawlid al-Nabi -
   9th-10th Moharram Ashoura (2 days) Commemorates the martyrdom of Imam
   Al Hussain (AS) in Karbala' -

   Bahrain recently changed their weekend from being Thursdays and Fridays
   to Fridays and Saturdays, in order to have a day of the weekend shared
   with the rest of the world. The change took effect from 1 September
   2006.

Education

   Numerous international educational institutions and schools have
   established links to Bahrain. One prominent institution is DePaul
   University of the United States.

   Quranic schools (Kuttab) were the only form of education in Bahrain at
   the beginning of the twentieth century. They were traditional schools
   aimed at teaching children and youth the reading of the Qur'an. Many
   people of Bahrain had felt that this type of education did not fulfil
   the academic efficiency that match with the spirit of age. After the
   First World War, things changed and Bahrain became widely open upon the
   modern western renaissance. Political and social changes have occurred
   in the country that caused the rise of social and cultural awareness
   among people.

   Due to all these, a demand for modern educational institutions
   different from Kuttab has appeared in terms of system, curricula and
   objectives.

   1919 marked the beginning of modern public school system in Bahrain.
   Al-Hidaya Al-Khalifia school for boys was opened in Muharraq. In 1926,
   the Education Committee had opened the second public school for boys in
   Manama.

   In 1928 the first public school for girls was opened in Muharraq.

   Currently, Bahrain boasts an advanced educational system. In 2004 King
   Hamad bin khalifa Al-Khalifa introduced a new project that uses
   information communication technology (ICT) to support K-12 education in
   Bahrain. This project is named King Hamad Schools of Future. The main
   objective of this project is to connect and link all schools within the
   kingdom with the internet and introduce the idea of education
   everywhere, everytime.

   In addition to various British intermediate schools, the island is
   served by the Bahrain School (BS). BS is a United States Department of
   Defense school that provides a K-12 curriculum including International
   Baccalaureate offerings.

   Schooling and related costs are entirely paid for by the government,
   and, although not compulsory, primary and secondary attendance rates
   are high. Bahrain also encourages institutions of higher learning,
   drawing on expatriate talent and the increasing pool of Bahrainis
   returning from abroad with advanced degrees. University of Bahrain has
   been established for standard undergraduate and graduate study, and the
   College of Health Sciences – operating under the direction of the
   Ministry of Health – trains physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and
   paramedics. The national action charter, passed in 2001, paved the way
   for the formation of many private universities. The first private
   university was Ahlia University, situated in Manama.

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