The Beyond News

Bahrain is a country in the Persian Gulf. The island nation comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered around Bahrain Island which makes up around 83 percent of the country's landmass. The country is situated between the Qatari peninsula and the north eastern coast of Saudi Arabia to which it is connected by the 25-kilometre (16 mi) King Fahd Causeway. According to the 2020 census, Bahrain's population numbers 1,501,635 people, of which 712,362 are Bahraini nationals. At 760 square kilometres (290 sq mi) in size, it is the third-smallest nation in Asia after the Maldives and Singapore.The capital and largest city is Manama.Bahrain is the site of the ancient Dilmun civilization. It has been famed since antiquity for its pearl fisheries, which were considered the best in the world into the 19th century. Bahrain was one of the earliest areas to be influenced by Islam, during the lifetime of Muhammad in 628 CE. Following a period of Arab rule, Bahrain was ruled by the Portuguese Empire from 1521 until 1602, following the conquest by Shah Abbas I of the Safavid dynasty. In 1783, the Bani Utbah clan captured Bahrain from Nasr Al-Madhkur and it has since been ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family, with Ahmed al Fateh as Bahrain's first hakim.In the late 1800s, following successive treaties with the British, Bahrain became a protectorate of the United Kingdom. In 1971, it declared independence. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared an Islamic constitutional monarchy in 2002. In 2011, the country experienced protests inspired by the regional Arab Spring.Bahrain's ruling Al Khalifa royal family has been criticised for violating the human rights of groups including dissidents, political opposition figures, and its majority Shia Muslim population.Bahrain developed the first post-oil economy in the Persian Gulf, the result of decades of investing in the banking and tourism sectors many of the world's largest financial institutions have a presence in the country's capital. It consequently has a high Human Development Index and is recognised by the World Bank as a high-income economy. Bahrain is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Foods in  Bahrain  : 

(1) Gahwa : 

Bahrain’s traditional food includes fish, meat, rice, and dates. One of the most famous Bahraini dishes is machboos, which is made up of meat or fish served with rice. Another known food is muhammar which is sweet rice served with dates or sugar.

(2) Falafel :

 Bahrainis also eat other Arabian food such as falafel, fried balls of chickpeas served in a bread, and shawarma, lamb or chicken carved from a rotating spit and wrapped in pita bread. Traditional snacks include samboosa and pastry. Balaleet is a sweet saffron noodles served with a savory omelet on top.

(3) Samboosa : 

Another important part of the Bahraini diet is the fresh fish of the Gulf, of which the king is the Hamour (grouper), typically served grilled, fried, or steamed. Other popular local fish include Safi (rabbit fish), Chanad (mackerel), and Sobaity (see bream). Most of the time, fish is eaten with rice. A century of British rule in the Gulf has also made fish and chips popular in Bahrain.

(4) Ghoozi : 

Another delicacy is Qoozi (Ghoozi), which is grilled lamb stuffed with rice, boiled eggs, onions and spices. The traditional flatbread is called Khubz. It is a large flatbread baked in a special oven. Numerous Khubz bakeries dot the country.Coffee, called Gahwa locally, is considered a part of the traditional welcome in Bahrain. It is usually poured into a coffee-pot, which is called dalla in Bahrain. It is served in a small cup made for coffee called finjan.An important aspect of Bahraini cuisine is certainly the desserts. The most popular Bahraini desserts include baklava, halwa, kunafa, umm alli, and so on.

(5) Bahraini Halwa : 

So next time you are in the mood for some food that is exotic and rich in the spices of the land, look no further than any traditional Bahraini restaurant for a gastronomical journey down the rich heritage of the Island.

Weather & geography in  Bahrain  :

Bahrain, with a desert climate, is one of the world's hottest areas. Its hottest and most humid weather is from June through September with temperatures over 110°F most days. The weather is pleasant from November through May (55°-85°F) with infrequent rainfall. The combination of poor soil drainage and few storm sewers can result in muddy city streets and puddles.A narrow strip of land along the northern and northwestern coasts of Bahrain Island is cultivated with date palms, alfalfa, and vegetables. These garden areas are rapidly disappearing due to depleted water resources and development. A desert, punctuated by a north-south plateau, extends south of the cultivated area. Surrounding this plateau is a rolling basin surrounded by overhanging bluffs sloping into the sea. The ground is hard and infertile with a gravel surface until the spring when a pale, soft green covering appears on the desert following the winter rains. It provides a welcome contrast to the summer's aridity.The highest point in Bahrain is the Jebel Dukhan, 134 meters above sea level. The majority of Bahrain's oil wells are in this area. The Arabian Gulf has an average depth of only 35 metersbut is much shallower in the vicinity of Bahrain.The State of Bahrain is an archipelago of 33 small, low-lying islands in the Persian Gulf, halfway down the east coast of Saudi Arabia and about 15 miles from the Saudi mainland. Total land area is about 300 square miles.Five of the six principal islands are linked by a causeway system. Bahrain Island, where the capital city of Manama is located, is the largest. It is about 30 miles long and 10–12 miles wide. A four-lane causeway links Manama with the island and town of Muharraq, site of the newly expanded international airport. Bridges also connect Sitra, Nabih Saleh, and Um al-Nassan Islands to Bahrain Island, which is linked to the mainland of Saudi Arabia by a causeway to Dhahran and Al-Khobar.

Per day Cost in  Bahrain  :

You should plan to spend around BHD48 ($128) per day on your vacation in Bahrain, which is the average daily price based on the expenses of other visitors. Past travelers have spent, on average, BHD17 ($45) on meals for one day and BHD9. 14 ($24) on local transportation.

History of  Bahrain  :

Bahrain was home to Dilmun, an important Bronze Age trade centre linking Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. Bahrain was later ruled by the Assyrians and Babylonians.From the sixth to third century BC, Bahrain was part of the Achaemenid Empire. By about 250 BC, Parthia brought the Persian Gulf under its control and extended its influence as far as Oman. The Parthians established garrisons along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf to control trade routes.During the classical era, Bahrain was referred to by the ancient Greeks as Tylos, the centre of pearl trading, when the Greek admiral Nearchus serving under Alexander the Great landed on Bahrain.Nearchus is believed to have been the first of Alexander's commanders to visit the island, and he found a verdant land that was part of a wide trading network; he recorded: "That on the island of Tylos, situated in the Persian Gulf, are large plantations of cotton trees, from which are manufactured clothes called sindones, of strongly differing degrees of value, some being costly, others less expensive. The use of these is not confined to India, but extends to Arabia." The Greek historian Theophrastus states that much of Bahrain was covered by these cotton trees and that Bahrain was famous for exporting walking canes engraved with emblems that were customarily carried in Babylon.In the 3rd century, Ardashir I, the first ruler of the Sassanid dynasty, marched on Oman and Bahrain, where he defeated Sanatruq the ruler of Bahrain. At this time, Bahrain was known as Mishmahig .Bahrain was also the site of worship of an ox deity called Awal (Arabic: اوال) Worshipers built a large statue to Awal in Muharraq, although it has now been lost. For many centuries after Tylos, Bahrain was known as Awal. By the 5th century, Bahrain became a centre for Nestorian Christianity, with the village Samahij as the seat of bishops. In 410, according to the Oriental Syriac Church synodal records, a bishop named Batai was excommunicated from the church in Bahrain. As a sect, the Nestorians were often persecuted as heretics by the Byzantine Empire, but Bahrain was outside the Empire's control, offering some safety. The names of several Muharraq villages today reflect Bahrain's Christian legacy, with Al Dair meaning "the monastery".Bahrain's pre-Islamic population consisted of Christian Arabs. Persians , Jews,and Aramaic-speaking agriculturalists.According to Robert Bertram Serjeant, the Baharna may be the Arabised "descendants of converts from the original population of Christians , Jews and Persians inhabiting the island and cultivated coastal provinces of Eastern Arabia at the time of the Muslim conquest". The sedentary people of pre-Islamic Bahrain were Aramaic speakers and to some degree Persian speakers, while Syriac functioned as a liturgical language.