1982 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1982 (Wikisource)
Geography
Area
596 km2 plus group of 32 smaller islands; 5% cultivated, negligible forested area, remainder desert, waste, or urban WATER
Coastline
161 km
Limits of territorial waters (claimed)
3 nm
People and Society
Ethnic divisions
63% Bahraini, 10% other Arab, 13% Asian, 8% Iranian, 6% other
Labor force
130,000 (1980 est.); 43% of labor force is Bahraini
Language
Arabic, English also widely spoken
Literacy
about 40%
Nationality
noun—Bahraini(s); adjective—Bahraini
Population
380,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 4.7%
Religion
Muslim, slightly more Shias than Sunnis
Government
Branches
Amir rules with help of a Cabinet led by Prime Minister; Amir dissolved the National Assembly in August 1975 and suspended the constitutional provision for election of the Assembly; independent judiciary
Capital
Manama
Communists
negligible
Government leader
Amir 'Isa bin Salman Al KHALIFA Political parties and pressure groups: political parties prohibited; several small, clandestine leftist and Shia Fundamentalist groups are active
Legal system
based on Islamic law and English common law; constitution went into effect December 1973
Member of
Arab League, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), GCC, IBRD, ICAO, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ISCON, ITU, NAM, OAPEC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO
National holiday
16 December
Official name
State of Bahrain
Type
traditional monarchy; independence declared in 1971
Economy
Budget
(1980) $488 million current expenditure, $302 million capital
Electric power
900,000 kW capacity (1980); 4.0 billion kWh produced (1980), 10,204 kWh per capita
Exports
$3.8 billion (f.o.b., 1980); nonoil exports (including reexports), $550.8 million (1980); oil exports, $3.3 billion (1980)
Fiscal year
calendar year
GDP
$1.8 billion (1980 est.), $4,600 per capita; annual real growth rate (1973-77) 11%, dominated by oil industry; 1980 average daily crude oil production, 48,000 b/d (oil expected to last 15 years if no new discoveries are made); 1980 natural gas production, 177 billion ft3 ; government oil revenues for 1978 are estimated at $845 million Agriculture: produces dates, alfalfa, vegetables; dairy and poultry farming; fishing; not self-sufficient in food
Imports
$3.6 billion (c.i.f., 1980); nonoil imports $1.6 billion (1980); oil imports $2.0 billion (1980)
Major industries
petroleum refining, aluminum smelting, ship repairing, shrimp fishing, pearls and sailmaking on a small scale; major development projects include flourmill, and ISA town; OAPEC dry dock opened in 1977
Major trade partners
Saudi Arabia, UK, US, Japan, EC
Monetary conversion rate
1 Bahrain dinar=US$2.65 (1980)
Communications
Airfields
2 total, 2 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runway; 1 with runways over 3,660 m; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Civil air
2 major transport aircraft
Highways
93 km bituminous surfaced; undetermined mileage of natural surface tracks
Pipelines
crude oil, 56 km; refined products, 16 km; natural gas, 32 km
Ports
1 major (Bahrain)
Telecommunications
excellent international telecommunications; limited domestic services; 38,300 telephones (14.2 per 100 popl.); 2 AM stations, 1 FM station, and 1 TV station; 1 Indian Ocean satellite station; tropospheric scatter and microwave to Qatar and United Arab Emirates
Military and Security
Military budget
for fiscal year ending 31 December 1979, $87.8 million; 11% of central government budget
Military manpower
males 15-49, 106,000; 61,000 fit for military service
Supply
from several West European countries, especially France and UK