Transcript BAHRAIN

BAHRAIN
INTRODUCTION
1. GEOGRAPHY
2. GOVERNMENT AND POPULATION
3. ECONOMY
4. HISTORY
5. INDEPENDENCE
6. DOMESTIC POLITICS
7. FOREIGN RELATIONS
7.1.Relations with Iran
7.2. Relations with Qatar
7.3.Relations with the U.S.A
7.4.Relations with Turkey
1.GEOGRAPHY
• Bahrain is an archipelago
of 33 islands located off the
eastern coast of Saudi Arabia
. The four main islands are joined
by causeways, and make up about
95% of the total land area.
2.GOVERNMENT AND POPULATION
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Full name: Kingdom of Bahrain (Mamlakat al Bahrayn )
Area: 717 sq km (277 sq miles)
Capital: Manama
Population: 807,000 (UN, 2010)
Languages: Arabic is the official language; English is
widely spoken and is the main commercial language
• Legal system: based on Islamic law and English common
law
• Political parties and leaders: political parties prohibited
but politically oriented societies are allowed
• Political pressure groups and leaders: Shia activists;
Sunni Islamist legislators and several small leftist and other
groups are active
• Government: Monarchy with appointed upper and elected
lower chambers of Parliament
• Head of State: His Majesty Shaikh Hamad bin Isa AlKhalifa
• Crown Prince: His Highness Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al
Khalifa
• Prime Minister: His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman
Al-Khalifa
• Ethnic groups: Bahraini 63%, Asian 19%, other Arab 10%,
Iranian 8%.
• Religions: 98% Muslim (approximately Shi'a 70%, Sunni
30%), with small Christian, Jewish, Baha’i, and Hindu
communities.
• Monetary unit: 1 Bahraini dinar = 1,000 fils
3.ECONOMY
• Natural resources: Oil, associated and non-associated
natural gas, fish, pearls
• Major Industries: Aluminum, oil and gas, metal and ship
building and repair, financial services and tourism
• Inflation: 3.5%
• In Bahrain, petroleum production and processing account for
about 60% of export receipts, 60% of government revenues,
and 30% of GDP.
• Financial and insurance services contributed 30% of GDP in
2006.
• The continuing development of the Bahrain Financial
Harbour is a key element of the government’s strategy.
4. HISTORY
• The islands of Bahrain first stepped onto
the stage of history some 3000 years BC.
• The civilization of Dilmun: the
centre of one of the great trading
empires of the ancient world.
• It had been a linkage between
Mesopotamia (Southern Iraq)
and the Indus Valley
(today's India and Pakistan)
• The years from 300B.C. to 300A.D:Bahrain was
strongly influenced and often directly ruled by
various Persian civilizations
• The 4th century : Alexander the
Great arrived the island
• The 7th century: Bahrain
accepted Islam
• Between 1522 and 1602 :
the Portuguese occupied Bahrain
• from 1602 to 1782 : Persian
• dominance
• In 1782 : The present ruling family,
the Khalifa, captured Bahrain.
• In the 1830s the Al Khalifa signed
the first of many treaties establishing
Bahrain as a British Protectorate
• Bahrain was the first Gulf country
to discover petroleum in 1932.
5.THE INDEPENDENCE
• In 1968 the British announced their intention to
withdraw military forces from the Gulf area
• Iran’s claims over the islands in 1970
• At first stance, projects to form the Federation of
Arab Emirates
• Bahrain declared its independence on August 15,
1971
• Promulgation of the first constitution in 1973
- convening of an elective National Assembly
6 DOMESTIC POLITICS
• In 1975 the sheikh suspended the constitution and
dissolved the national assembly
 The emir continued to set state policy
Since 1994, Bahrain experienced sometimes severe
civil disturbances from a Shi'ite-led resistance
 King HAMAD bin Isa al-Khalifa,
after coming to power in 1999, pushed
economic and political reforms
• Under the constitution
amended 14 February 2002, the country
is no longer an emirate,
but a constitutional monarchy.
• The Parliament comprises two Houses - the Shura
(Consultative, Lower House) and the Nuwab (Upper
Council of Representatives)
• The country’s first municipal and parliamentary
elections in decades were held in May and October
2002
 the first time that female candidates were able to
run for public office
7.BAHRAIN’S FOREIGN RELATIONS
• Since achieving independence in 1971, Bahrain has
pursued a policy to contain perceived threats to the
country's security
• a member of the United Nations and the Arab
League (since 1971)
• The outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War in 1980 aroused
security concerns
 In 1981 it joined its five neighbors-Saudi Arabia,
Oman, Kuwait, the U.A.E. and Qatar-to form the
strategic Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
• strong relations with its largest financial backers,
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the U.A.E
7.1.Relations with Iran
• the Iranian Revolution of 1979 confronted the government
with new ideological challenges
 the discovery in 1981 of an Iran-sponsored coup plot in
Bahrain
 Iran’s ties to the country’s Shīʿite community, its territorial
claims to the island, and its displeasure with the American
presence in Bahrain
• In August 2002, Hamad made the first state visit to Iran
since the Islamic revolution in 1979.
 Bahrain and Iran urged Iraq to implement all UN
resolutions then pending, so that Iraq's territorial integrity
and sovereignty could be honored
7.2. Relations with Qatar
• territorial dispute between Bahrain and Qatar over
Hawar and the adjacent islands
 The islands were controlled by Bahrain since the
1930s but were claimed by Qatar.
 Resolution in 2001 of the dispute between Bahrain
and Qatar over the potential oil- and gas-rich
Hawar Islands improved their already warming
relations.
7.3. Relations with the U.S.A
• Bahrain's strategic partnership with the U.S. has
intensified since 1991
 the country was used as a base for military
operations in the Gulf
 in 1992 the signing of a defense cooperation
agreement
 support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)
7.4. Relations with Turkey
• Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Bahrain were
established in 1973
• The visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign
Affairs H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Mobarak El-Halife on 58 August 2003 bears importance for being the first visit from
Bahrain at such a high level
• Trade volume between Turkey and Bahrain was 78.1 million
US Dollars in 2006
• Bilateral economic relations have strengthened in the recent
period thanks to the increase in the number of high level
visits
 In 2007 the trade volume between Turkey and Bahrain was
186 million USD
REFERENCES
• http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcbahrain.
htm
• https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/ba.html
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/country_pro
files/790690.stm#facts
• http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-livingabroad/travel-advice-by-country/countryprofile/?l=B
• http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107313.html
• http://www.mfa.gov.tr/turkey_s-commercial-andeconomic-relations-with-bahrain.en.mfa
• http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/72316/tur
key-and-bahrain-support-each-other-inpolitical-sphere-president-gul.html
•
http://www.historyofnations.net/asia/bahrain
.html
ELİF AKÇAY
20615691