In 1783, the Sunni Al-KHALIFA family took power in Bahrain. 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. A steady decline in oil production and reserves since 1970 prompted Bahrain to take steps to diversify its economy, in the process developing petroleum processing and refining, aluminum production, and hospitality and retail sectors. It has also endeavored to become a leading regional banking center, especially with respect to Islamic finance. Bahrain's small size, central location among Gulf countries, economic dependence on Saudi Arabia, and proximity to Iran require it to play a delicate balancing act in foreign affairs among its larger neighbors. Its foreign policy activities usually fall in line with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In 2022, the United States designated Bahrain as a major non-NATO ally.
The Sunni royal family has long struggled to manage relations with its large Shia-majority population. In early 2011, amid Arab uprisings elsewhere in the region, the Bahraini Government confronted similar pro-democracy and reform protests at home with police and military action, including deploying Gulf Cooperation Council security forces to Bahrain. Failed political talks prompted opposition political societies to boycott 2014 legislative and municipal council elections. In 2018, a law preventing members of political societies dissolved by the courts from participating in elections effectively sidelined the majority of opposition figures from taking part in national elections. As a result, most members of parliament are independents. Ongoing dissatisfaction with the political status quo continues to factor into sporadic clashes between demonstrators and security forces. On 15 September 2020, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates signed peace agreements (the Abraham Accords) with Israel – brokered by the US – in Washington DC. Bahrain and the UAE thus became the third and fourth Middle Eastern countries, along with Egypt and Jordan, to recognize Israel.
" } }, "Geography": { "Location": { "text": "Middle East, archipelago in the Persian Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia" }, "Geographic coordinates": { "text": "26 00 N, 50 33 E" }, "Map references": { "text": "Middle East" }, "Area": { "total": { "text": "760 sq km" }, "land": { "text": "760 sq km" }, "water": { "text": "0 sq km" } }, "Area - comparative": { "text": "3.5 times the size of Washington, DC" }, "Land boundaries": { "total": { "text": "0 km" } }, "Coastline": { "text": "161 km" }, "Maritime claims": { "territorial sea": { "text": "12 nm" }, "contiguous zone": { "text": "24 nm" }, "continental shelf": { "text": "extending to boundaries to be determined" } }, "Climate": { "text": "arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers" }, "Terrain": { "text": "mostly low desert plain rising gently to low central escarpment" }, "Elevation": { "highest point": { "text": "Jabal ad Dukhan 135 m" }, "lowest point": { "text": "Persian Gulf 0 m" } }, "Natural resources": { "text": "oil, associated and nonassociated natural gas, fish, pearls" }, "Land use": { "agricultural land": { "text": "11.3% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: arable land": { "text": "arable land: 2.1% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent crops": { "text": "permanent crops: 3.9% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent pasture": { "text": "permanent pasture: 5.3% (2018 est.)" }, "forest": { "text": "0.7% (2018 est.)" }, "other": { "text": "88% (2018 est.)" } }, "Irrigated land": { "text": "40 sq km (2012)" }, "Major aquifers": { "text": "Arabian Aquifer System" }, "Population distribution": { "text": "smallest population of the Gulf States, but urbanization rate exceeds 90%; largest settlement concentration is found on the far northern end of the island in and around Manamah and Al Muharraq" }, "Natural hazards": { "text": "periodic droughts; dust storms" }, "Geography - note": { "text": "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" } }, "People and Society": { "Population": { "text": "1,553,886 (2023 est.)", "note": "note: immigrants make up approximately 45% of the total population, according to UN data (2019)" }, "Nationality": { "noun": { "text": "Bahraini(s)" }, "adjective": { "text": "Bahraini" } }, "Ethnic groups": { "text": "Bahraini 46%, Asian 45.5%, other Arab 4.7%, African 1.6%, European 1%, other 1.2% (includes Gulf Co-operative country nationals, North and South Americans, and Oceanians) (2010 est.)" }, "Languages": { "Languages": { "text": "Arabic (official), English, Farsi, Urdu" }, "major-language sample(s)": { "text": "note: political parties are prohibited, but political societies were legalized under a July 2005 law
" }, "International organization participation": { "text": "ABEDA, AFESD, AMF, CAEU, CICA, FAO, G-77, GCC, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO" }, "Diplomatic representation in the US": { "chief of mission": { "text": "Ambassador Abdulla bin Rashed AL KHALIFA (since 21 July 2017)" }, "chancery": { "text": "3502 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008" }, "telephone": { "text": "[1] (202) 342-1111" }, "FAX": { "text": "[1] (202) 362-2192" }, "email address and website": { "text": "the BDF is a small, but well-equipped military focused on territorial defense and support to internal security; its primary concern is Iran, both the conventional military threat and its support to regional terrorist groups; the BDF participates in multinational exercises and has conducted small deployments outside of the country; in 2015, for example, Bahrain joined the Saudi Arabia-led military intervention in Yemen, supplying a few hundred troops and combat aircraft; the Army’s primary combat units are an armored brigade and a mechanized brigade, plus battalions of royal guards and special forces; in a conflict, the Army would be supported by the paramilitary National Guard; the Navy’s principal warships are a US-provided secondhand frigate, 2 corvettes acquired from Germany, and a secondhand British offshore patrol vessel; the Air Force has small numbers of US-made combat aircraft and attack helicopters
Bahrain’s closest security partners are the US and Saudi Arabia; it hosts the US Naval Forces Central Command (USNAVCENT; established 1983), which includes the US 5th Fleet, several subordinate naval task forces, and the Combined Maritime Forces (established 2002), a coalition of more than 30 nations providing maritime security for regional shipping lanes; in 2003, the US granted Bahrain Major Non-NATO Ally status, a designation under US law that provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation; Bahraini leaders have said that the security of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are “indivisible”; Saudi Arabia sent forces to Bahrain to assist with internal security following the 2011 uprising; Bahrain also has close security ties to other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, particularly Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the UK (2023)" } }, "Terrorism": { "Terrorist group(s)": { "text": "al-Ashtar Brigades; Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps/Qods Force", "note": "note 1: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in Appendix-Tnone identified
" } } }