| Bahrain |
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| Background: In 1782, the Al Khalifa family captured Bahrain from the Persians. In order to secure these holdings, it entered into a series of treaties with the UK during the 19th century that made Bahrain a British protectorate. The archipelago attained its independence in 1971. Bahrain's small size and central location among Persian Gulf countries require it to play a delicate balancing act in foreign affairs among its larger neighbors. Facing declining oil reserves, Bahrain has turned to petroleum processing and refining and has transformed itself into an international banking center. King HAMAD bin Isa Al Khalifa, after coming to power in 1999, pushed economic and political reforms to improve relations with the Shi'a community and Shi'a political societies participated in 2006 parliamentary and municipal elections. Al Wifaq, the largest Shi'a political society, won the largest number of seats in the elected chamber of the legislature. However, Shi'a discontent has resurfaced in recent years with street demonstrations and occasional low-level violence. |
| Geography and Environmental |
Capital: name: Manama
geographic coordinates: 26 13 N, 50 35 E
time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Area Total: 665 sq km |
| Area Land: 665 sq km |
| Area Water: 0 sq km |
| Area Comparative: 3.5 times the size of Washington, DC |
| Coastline: 161 km |
| Climate: arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers |
| Terrain: mostly low desert plain rising gently to low central escarpment |
| Elevation Extremes Lowest Point: Persian Gulf 0 m |
| Elevation Extremes Highest Point: Jabal ad Dukhan 122 m |
| Natural Resources: oil, associated and nonassociated natural gas, fish, pearls |
| Land Use Arable Land: 2.82% |
| Land Use Permanent Crops: 5.63% |
| Land Use Other: 91.55% (2005) |
| Irrigated Land: 40 sq km (2003) |
| Natural Hazards: periodic droughts; dust storms |
| Environment Current Issues: desertification resulting from the degradation of limited arable land, periods of drought, and dust storms; 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; lack of freshwater resources, groundwater and seawater are the only sources for all water needs |
| Geography Note: close to primary Middle Eastern petroleum sources; strategic location in Persian Gulf, through which much of the Western world's petroleum must transit to reach open ocean |
| Population |
Population: 708,573
note: includes 235,108 non-nationals (July 2007 est.) |
| Age Structure 0 to 14 Years: 26.9% (male 96,217/female 94,275) |
| Age Structure 15 to 64 Years: 69.5% (male 284,662/female 207,555) |
| Age Structure 65 Years And Over: 3.7% (male 13,451/female 12,413) (2007 est.) |
| Median Age Total: 29.7 years |
| Median Age Male: 32.7 years |
| Median Age Female: 26.1 years (2007 est.) |
| Population Growth Rate: 1.392% (2007 est.) |
| Birth Rate: 17.53 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Death Rate: 4.21 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Sex Ratio At Birth: 1.03 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Under 15 Years: 1.021 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 15 to 64 Years: 1.372 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 65 Years And Over: 1.084 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Total Population: 1.255 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Infant Mortality Rate Total: 16.18 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Male: 18.89 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Female: 13.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Life Expectancy At BirthTotalPopulation: 74.68 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Male: 72.18 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Female: 77.25 years (2007 est.) |
| Total Fertility Rate: 2.57 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Adult Prevalence Rate: 0.2% (2001 est.) |
| HIV AIDS People Living With HIV AIDS: less than 600 (2003 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.) |
| Religions: Muslim (Shi'a and Sunni) 81.2%, Christian 9%, other 9.8% (2001 census) |
| Languages: Arabic, English, Farsi, Urdu |
| Literacy Definition: age 15 and over can read and write |
| Literacy Total Population: 89.1% |
| Literacy Male: 91.9% |
| Literacy Female: 85% (2003 est.) |
Administrative Divisions: 5 governorates; Asamah, Janubiyah, Muharraq, Shamaliyah, Wasat
note: each governorate administered by an appointed governor |
| Legal System: based on Islamic law and English common law |
| Economy |
| Overview: With its highly developed communication and transport facilities, Bahrain is home to numerous multinational firms with business in the Gulf. Petroleum production and refining account for over 60% of Bahrain's export receipts, over 70% of government revenues, and 11% of GDP (exclusive of allied industries), underpinning Bahrain's strong economic growth in recent years. Other major segments of Bahrain's economy are the financial and construction sectors. Bahrain is actively pursuing the diversification and privatization of its economy to reduce the country's dependence on oil. As part of this effort, in August 2006 Bahrain and the US implemented a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the first FTA between the US and a Gulf state. Unemployment, especially among the young, and the depletion of oil and underground water resources are major long-term economic problems. |
| GDP Purchasing Power Parity: $17.7 billion (2006 est.) |
| GDP Real Growth Rate: 7.6% (2006 est.) |
| GDP Composition By Sector Agriculture: 0.5% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Industry: 38.7% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Services: 60.8% (2005 est.) |
Labor Force: 352,000
note: 44% of the population in the 15-64 age group is non-national (2006 est.) |
Labor Force By Occupation: agriculture: 1%
industry: 79%
services: 20% (1997 est.) |
| Unemployment Rate: 15% (2005 est.) |
Household Income Or Consumption By Percentage Share: lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
| Inflation Rate Consumer Prices: 3.5% (2006 est.) |
| Industries: petroleum processing and refining, aluminum smelting, iron pelletization, fertilizers, offshore banking, insurance, ship repairing, tourism |
| Industrial Production Growth Rate: 2% (2000 est.) |
| Energy |
| Electricity Production: 7.794 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Production By Source Fossil Fuel: 100% |
| Electricity Production By Source Hydro: 0% |
| Electricity Production By Source Nuclear: 0% |
| Electricity Production By Source Other: 0% (2001) |
| Electricity Consumption: 7.248 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Exports: 0 kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Imports: 0 kWh (2004) |
| Oil Production: 188,300 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
| Oil Consumption: 27,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Oil Proved Reserves: 121 million bbl (2006 est.) |
| Natural Gas Production: 9.75 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Consumption: 9.75 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Imports: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Proved Reserves: 92.03 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.) |
| Exports: $12.62 billion (2006 est.) |
| Exports Commodities: petroleum and petroleum products, aluminum, textiles |
| Exports Partners: Saudi Arabia 3.3%, US 2.6%, UAE 2.3% (2005) |
| Imports: $9.036 billion (2006 est.) |
| Imports Commodities: crude oil, machinery, chemicals |
| Imports Partners: Saudi Arabia 36.5%, Japan 6.6%, Germany 6.4%, US 5.4%, UK 5%, UAE 4.1% (2005) |
| Debt External: $7.267 billion (2006 est.) |
| Economic Aid Recipient: $150 million; note - $50 million annually since 1992 from the UAE and Kuwait (2002) |
| Communications |
| Telephones Main Lines In Use: 196,500 (2005) |
| TelephonesMobileCellular: 748,700 (2005) |
| Telephone System General Assessment: modern system |
| Telephone System Domestic: modern fiber-optic integrated services; digital network with rapidly growing use of mobile cellular telephones |
| Telephone System International: country code - 973; tropospheric scatter to Qatar and UAE; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia; submarine cable to Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia; satellite earth stations - 1 (1997) |
| Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 2, FM 3, shortwave 0 (1998) |
| Radios: 338,000 (1997) |
| Television Broadcast Stations: 4 (1997) |
| Televisions: 275,000 (1997) |
| Internet Service Providers-ISPs: 1 (2000) |
| Internet Users: 152,700 (2005) |
| Transportation |
| Airports: 3 (2006) |
| Military Expenditures Percent Of GDP: 4.5% (2006) |
| Disputes International: none |