Kingdom of Bahrain: Open, Diverse & Modern, “You Will Feel The Love”

March 16, 2012
DUNIA Contributor
Posted in Travel & Places

The Kingdom of Bahrain is a middle eastern country located east of Saudi Arabia.

The official language of Bahrain is Arabic. Other common languages include English, Farsi and Urdu.

The country’s natural resources consist of oil, natural gas, fish and pearls.

Gudaibiya Mosque in Manama, Bahrain. By Petr Kadlec

Bahrain, the smallest country in southwestern Asia and middle east area, has a population of about 1.2 million (July 2011 estimate), of which 81.2% are Muslim (Shia and Sunni), and 9% Christian.

The Kingdom of Bahrain has been ruled by the Sunni Muslim Al-Khalifa family for over 200 years.

Tree of Life, Bahrain

Bahrain’s weather can be described as arid consisting of mild, pleasant winters; and very hot, humid summers characterized by periods of drought and dust storms.

The Tree of Life located a couple of miles from Jebel Dukhan in Bahrain is a 400-year old mesquite tree which has become legendary for its ability to grow in the middle of the desert with no known water sources.

The legendary Tree of Life stands alone, it is covered by green leaves and flowers twice a year.

A walk down Bahrain Financial Harbor on a beautiful morning. By Cajie

Manama is the capital city of Bahrain. Carleton Cole of HotelTravel.Com writes, “Although Bahrain’s capital, Manama, means ‘Sleeping Place’ there’s plenty of nocturnal action here, for its night bazaars, chic nightclubs and energetic bars. The joints are especially thriving at weekends.”

Bahrain is one of the most diversified economies in the Persian Gulf. The country’s highly developed communication and transport facilities provide a strong attraction for multinational firms. Bahrain competes with Malaysia as a worldwide center for Islamic banking.

Travel to Bahrain, meet the people

With a couple million tourists visiting the country every year, Bahrain’s reputation as a relatively liberal, diverse and modern Arabian Gulf state is growing fast, attracting international interest.

DUNIA Magazine columnist Imane Fawzy Nofal of EXPRESS IT by Imane is an Egyptian national living in Bahrain. Imane shares the following first-hand information:

I have been living in Bahrain for three years now. The first thing that strikes me about the country is how hot and humid the weather is. Temperatures do get unbearably hot most of the times. This seems to be the only thing not to be loved in this country.

I have interacted with many Bahrainis so far and I find them to be very calm, polite and welcoming.

Calm: They are collected and are hardly ever frazzled. In fact, they should be calm, they must be calm. If they are nervous people, they would burn in such hot weather, I would think. And, the fire would be further supported by the awful humidity.

Polite and nice: I have never met a bad tempered man or a woman out here. I don’t know if they, like other people ever get angry, hurl insults and lose their tempers – for I haven’t encountered any. This might explain why many nationalities live happily in Bahrain. It is quite remarkable how many people from different parts of the world you will find in a small country like Bahrain!

Welcoming: You will feel the love once you meet a Bahraini. In all my conversations with them, I have been met with ultimate sweetness. Remarkably, in their politeness and aura of niceness, you never get a feeling of hypocrisy or that they are double faced.

Although the weather is not the best, I enjoy living in Bahrain.

BAHRAIN PHOTO STORIES

“…I took the 30 minute flight to Bahrain and photos did, of course, get taken! It seems a more liberal society than most Arab countries which I have visited. Still, and I’m not sure why, I could not bring myself to take direct photos of people. This was some sort of charity event. But, anyone with experience in the Middle East will know that these images are a little unusual.” By Richard Messenger.