Bahrain
|
| Basic Facts |
| Country name |
conventional long form: Kingdom of Bahrain
conventional short form: Bahrain local long form: Mamlakat al Bahrayn local short form: Al Bahrayn former: Dilmun |
| Gevernment type | constitutional hereditary monarchy |
| Capital |
name: Manama
geographic coordinates: 26 13 N, 50 35 E time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Flag description | red, the traditional color for flags of Persian Gulf states, with a white serrated band (five white points) on the hoist side; the five points represent the five pillars of Islam |
| Currency | Bahraini dinar (BHD) |
| Internet country code | .bh |
| Ports and terminals | Mina' Salman, Sitrah |
| Agriculture products | fruit, vegetables; poultry, dairy products; shrimp, fish |
| Industries | petroleum processing and refining, aluminum smelting, iron pelletization, fertilizers, offshore banking, ship repairing, tourism |
| Geography |
| Location | Middle East, archipelago in the Persian Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia |
| Coordinates | 26 00 N, 50 33 E |
| Continent | Middle East |
| Area |
total: 665 sq km
land: 665 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Boundaries | 0 km |
| Coastline | 161 km |
| Climate | arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers |
| Terrain | mostly low desert plain rising gently to low central escarpment |
| Natural resources | oil, associated and nonassociated natural gas, fish, pearls |
| Natural hazards | periodic droughts; dust storms |
| People |
| Population | 698,585
note: includes 235,108 non-nationals (July 2006 est.) |
| Ethnic groups | Bahraini 62.4%, non-Bahraini 37.6% (2001 census) |
| Religions | Muslim (Shi'a and Sunni) 81.2%, Christian 9%, other 9.8% (2001 census) |
| Languages | Arabic, English, Farsi, Urdu |
