_#_Disputes: territorial dispute with Qatar over the Hawar Islands
_#_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
_#_Land use: arable land 2%; permanent crops 2%; meadows and pastures
6%; forest and woodland 0%; other 90%, includes irrigated NEGL%
_#_Environment: subsurface water sources being rapidly depleted
(requires development of desalination facilities); dust storms;
desertification
_#_Note: close to primary Middle Eastern crude oil sources;
strategic location in Persian Gulf through which much of Western
world's crude oil must transit to reach open ocean
_*_People
_#_Population: 536,974 (July 1991), growth rate 3.2% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 27 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 3 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 7 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 17 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 71 years male, 76 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 4.0 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Bahraini(s); adjective--Bahraini
_#_Ethnic divisions: Bahraini 63%, Asian 13%, other Arab 10%,
Iranian 8%, other 6%
_#_Religion: Muslim (Shia 70%, Sunni 30%)
_#_Language: Arabic (official); English also widely spoken; Farsi,
Urdu
_#_Literacy: 77% (male 82%, female 69%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
_#_Labor force: 140,000; 42% of labor force is Bahraini; industry
and commerce 85%, agriculture 5%, services 5%, government 3% (1982)
_#_Organized labor: General Committee for Bahrain Workers exists in
only eight major designated companies
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: State of Bahrain
_#_Type: traditional monarchy
_#_Capital: Manama
_#_Administrative divisions: 12 municipalities (baladiyat,
singular--baladiyah); Al Hadd, Al Manamah,
Al Mintaqah al Gharbiyah, Al Mintaqah al Wusta,
Al Mintaqah ash Shamaliyah, Al Muharraq,
Ar Rifa wa al Mintaqah al Janubiyah, Jidd Hafs,
Madinat Hamad, Madinat Isa, Mintaqat Juzur Hawar,
Sitrah
_#_Independence: 15 August 1971 (from UK)
_#_Constitution: 26 May 1973, effective 6 December 1973
_#_Legal system: based on Islamic law and English common law
_#_National holiday: National Day, 16 December
_#_Executive branch: amir, crown prince and heir apparent, prime
minister, Cabinet
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly was dissolved
26 August 1975 and legislative powers were assumed by the Cabinet
_#_Judicial branch: High Civil Appeals Court
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--Amir Isa bin Salman Al KHALIFA (since
2 November 1961); Heir Apparent Hamad bin Isa Al KHALIFA (son of Amir;
born 28 January 1950);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al KHALIFA,
(since 19 January 1970)
_#_Political parties and pressure groups: political parties
prohibited; several small, clandestine leftist and Shia fundamentalist
groups are active
_#_Suffrage: none
_#_Elections: none
_#_Communists: negligible
_#_Member of: ABEDA, AFESD, AL, AMF, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, GCC, IBRD,
ICAO, IDB, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO (correspondent),
ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO,
WMO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Ghazi Muhammad AL-QUSAYBI;
Chancery at 3502 International Drive NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone
(202) 342-0741 or 342-0742; there is a Bahraini Consulate General in
New York;
US--Ambassador Dr. Charles W. HOSTLER; Embassy at Building
No. 979, Road No. 3119, Block/Area 331, Manama ZINJ (mailing address is
P. O. 26431, Manama, or FPO New York 09526-6210); telephone [973]
273-300 or 275-126
_#_Flag: red with a white serrated band (eight white points) on the
hoist side
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Petroleum production and processing account for
about 85% of export receipts, 60% of government revenues, and 20% of GDP.
Economic conditions have fluctuated with the changing fortunes of oil
since 1985, including the Gulf crisis of 1990-91. The liberation of
Kuwait in early 1991 has improved short- to medium-term prospects and
has raised investors' confidence. Bahrain with its highly developed
communication and transport facilities is home to numerous
multinational firms with business in the Gulf.
_#_GDP: $3.9 billion, per capita $7,500; real growth rate 2.5%
(1990 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.5% (1989)
_#_Unemployment: 8-10% (1989)
_#_Budget: revenues $1.2 billion; expenditures $1.32 billion,
including capital expenditures of $NA (1989)
_#_Exports: $2.7 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.);
commodities--petroleum 80%, aluminum 7%, other 13%;
partners--UAE, Japan, US, India
_#_Imports: $3.0 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities--nonoil 59%, crude oil 41%;
partners--Saudi Arabia, Japan, US, UK
_#_External debt: $1.1 billion (December 1989 est.)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 3.8% (1988); accounts for
44% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 1,652,000 kW capacity; 6,000 million kWh produced,
12,080 kWh per capita (1989)
_#_Industries: petroleum processing and refining, aluminum smelting,
offshore banking, ship repairing
_#_Agriculture: including fishing, accounts for less than 2% of GDP;
not self-sufficient in food production; heavily subsidized sector
produces fruit, vegetables, poultry, dairy products, shrimp, and fish;
fish catch 9,000 metric tons in 1987
_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-79), $24
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $35 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $9.8 billion
_#_Currency: Bahraini dinar (plural--dinars); 1 Bahraini dinar
(BD) = 1,000 fils
_#_Exchange rates: Bahraini dinars (BD) per US$1--0.3760 (fixed rate)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*_Communications
_#_Highways: 200 km bituminous surfaced, including 25 km
bridge-causeway to Saudi Arabia opened in November 1986; NA km
natural surface tracks
_#_Ports: Mina Salman, Manama, Sitrah
_#_Merchant marine: 4 cargo and 2 container (1,000 GRT or over)
totaling 114,733 GRT/155,065 DWT
_#_Pipelines: crude oil, 56 km; refined products, 16 km; natural gas,
32 km
_#_Civil air: 24 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 3 total, 3 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; 2
with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: excellent international telecommunications;
adequate domestic services; 98,000 telephones; stations--2 AM, 1 FM,
2 TV; satellite earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Indian Ocean
INTELSAT, 1 ARABSAT; tropospheric scatter and microwave to Qatar, UAE,
Saudi Arabia; submarine cable to Qatar and UAE
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense, Police Force
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 187,606; 104,285 fit for
military service
_#_Defense expenditures: $194 million, 6% of GDP (1990)
_%_
_@_Baker Island
(territory of the US)
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 1.4 km2; land area: 1.4 km2
_#_Comparative area: about 2.3 times the size of The Mall in
Washington, DC
_#_Land boundaries: none
_#_Coastline: 4.8 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 12 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth);
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;