1985 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1985 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Agriculture
not self-sufficient in food production; produces some fruit and vegetables; dairy and poultry farming; shrimping and fishing
Airfields
3 total, 2 usable; 2 with permanentsurface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 in; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Area
676 kmplus group of 32 smaller islands; smaller (ban New York City; 5% cultivated, negligible forest; remainder desert, waste, or urban Water
Branches
Amir rules with help of a Cabinet led by Prime Minister; Amir dissolved the National Assembly in August 1975 and sus-. pended the constitutional provision for election of the Assembly; independent judiciary
Capital
Manama
Civil air
3 major transix>rt aircraft
Coastline
161 km People
Communists
negligible
Electric power
1,408,000 kW capacity (1984); 5.952 billion kWh pnxluced (1984), 1 4,480 kWh per capita •
Ethnic divisions
63% Bahrain!, 13% Asian, 10% other Arab, 8% Iranian, 6% other
Exports
$3.2 billion (f.o.b., 1983); nonoil exports $614 million (1983); oil exports $2.6 billion (1983)
Fiscal year
calendar year Communications
GDP
$4.0 billion at current prices ( 1 982 est. ), $10,000 per capita; real growth rate 9% (1981)
Government leader
Isa bin Sulman Al KHALIFA, Amir (since November 1961)
Highways
225 km bituminous surfaced; undetermined mileage of natural surface tracks; 25 km bridge-causeway to Saudi Arabia is under construction with completion scheduled for January 1986
Imports
$3.3 billion (c.i.f., 1983); nonoil imports $1.9 billion (1983); oil imports $1.4 billion (1983)
Labor force
140,000(1982); 42% of lalx>r force is Bahrain!; 85% industry and commerce, 5% agriculture, 5% services, 3% government Government
Language
Arabic (official); English also widely spoken; Farsi, Urdu
Legal system
based on Islamic law and English common law; constitution went into effect Decemlxr 1973
Limits of territorial waters (claimed)
3 nm
Literacy
40%
Major industries
petroleum processing and refining, aluminum smelting, offshore banking, ship repairing
Major trade partners
Japan, UK, US, Saudi Arabia Budget :( 1983) $843 million current expenditure, $691 million capital
Memher of
Arab League, FAO, G-77, GATT(de facto), GCC, IBRD, ICAO, IDB— Islamic Development Bank, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAPEC, QIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO Economy
Monetary conversion rate
0.376 Bahrain dinar=US$l (December 1984)
National holiday
16 December
Nationality
noun — Bahraini(s); adjective — Bahraini
Official name
State of Bahrain
Pipelines
crude oil, 56 km'; refined products, 16 km; natural gas, 32 km
Population
427,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate 3.8%
Ports
1 major (Bahrain), 1 minor, 1 petroleum, oil, and lubricant terminal
Railroads
none
Religion
Muslim (60% Shi'a, 40% Sunni)
Suffrage
none Political parties and pressure groups: political parties prohibited; several small, clandestine leftist and Shi'a fundamentalist groups are active
Telecommunications
excellent international telecommunications; adequate domestic services; 86,000 telephones (24.4 per 1 00 popl. ); 2 AM, 1 FM, and 2 TV stations; 1 AtlanticOcean, 1 Indian Ocean, and 1 Arab satellite station; tropospheric scatter and microwave to Oatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia
Type
traditional monarchy; independent since 1971