The 1991 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

Freeport, Nassau

      _#_Merchant marine: 636 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 14,266,066 GRT/23,585,465 DWT; includes 42 passenger, 16 short-sea passenger, 190 cargo, 41 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 23 container, 5 car carrier, 1 railroad carrier, 141 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 8 liquefied gas, 15 combination ore/oil, 33 chemical tanker, 1 specialized tanker, 112 bulk, 8 combination bulk; note—a flag of convenience registry

      _#_Civil air: 9 major transport aircraft

      _#_Airports: 59 total, 57 usable; 31 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440–3,659 m; 25 with runways 1,220–2,439 m

      _#_Telecommunications: highly developed; 99,000 telephones in totally automatic system; tropospheric scatter and submarine cable links to Florida; stations—3 AM, 2 FM, 1 TV; 3 coaxial submarine cables; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station

      _*Defense Forces #_Branches: Royal Bahamas Defense Force (a coast guard element only), Royal Bahamas Police Force

      _#_Manpower availability: males 15–49, 68,020; NA fit for military service

      _#Defense expenditures: $65 million, 2.7% of GDP (1990) % @Bahrain *Geography #_Total area: 620 km2; land area: 620 km2

      _#_Comparative area: slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Washington, DC

      _#_Land boundaries: none

      _#_Coastline: 161 km

      _#_Maritime claims:

      Continental shelf: not specific;

      Territorial sea: 3 nm

      _#_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 [phone] 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