Bahrain
Bahrain (/bɑːˈreɪn/ (About this soundlisten); Arabic:
البحرين al-Baḥrayn Arabic pronunciation: [al baħrajn]
(About this soundlisten)), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain
(Arabic: مملكة البحرين About this soundMamlakat
al-Baḥrayn), is a sovereign state in the Persian Gulf. The
island nation comprises a small archipelago made up of 33
natural islands and an additional 51 artificial islands,
centered around Bahrain Island which makes up around 83
percent of the country's landmass. The country is situated
between the Qatar peninsula and the north eastern coast of
Saudi Arabia, to which it is connected by the 25-kilometre
(16 mi) King Fahd Causeway. According to the 2010 census,
Bahrain's population is over 1.2 million, of which around
half are non-nationals.[11] At 780 square kilometres (300 sq
mi) in size, it is the third-smallest nation in Asia after
the Maldives and Singapore.[12] The capital and largest city
is Manama.
Bahrain is the site of the ancient Dilmun civilization.[13]
It has been famed since antiquity for its pearl fisheries,
which were considered the best in the world into the 19th
century.[14] Bahrain was one of the earliest areas to
convert to Islam, during the lifetime of the Prophet
Muhammad in 628 CE. Following a period of Arab rule, Bahrain
was ruled by the Portuguese Empire from 1521 until 1602,
following the conquest by Shah Abbas I of the Safavid
dynasty under the Persian Empire. In 1783, the Bani Utbah
clan 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.
Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared an Islamic
constitutional monarchy in 2002. In the late 1800s,
following successive treaties with the British, Bahrain
became a protectorate of the United Kingdom. In 1971, it
declared independence.
In 2011, the country experienced protests inspired by the
regional Arab Spring.[15] Bahrain's ruling al-Khalifa royal
family has been accused and criticized for human rights
abuses including imprisonment, torture and execution of
dissidents, political opposition figures and its majority
Shia Muslim population.
Bahrain developed the first post-oil economy in the Persian
Gulf,[18] the result of decades of investing in the banking
and tourism sectors; many of the world's largest financial
institutions have a presence in the country's capital. It
subsequently has a high Human Development Index and is
recognised 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.
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