Welcome to Bahrain - A travel Guide by Newarabia.net
Bahrain may be a small country but each area of Bahrain has its own very distinct character. A lot of Bahrain island is barren desert, as the surface is lime stone covered with saline salt, although with a surprisingly varied wildlife. Bahrain also has a fertile strip along the north coast.
Much of the oil industry in Bahrain is concentrated near the highest point of the main Bahrain island, Jebel ad-Dukhan. The entire country of Bahrain covers an area of only 48km long by 16km wide. Although there are another 32 islands that help to make up Bahrain.
The King Fahad causeway connects Bahrain to Saudi Arabia which is only 25km away from Bahrain. Bahrain is home to more then 600,000 people, about which 30 percent are non-Bahraini immigrants.
Manama, Bahrain's capital is an extremely cosmopolitan city. The official language of Bahrain is Arabic although most people speak English.
Due to an oil boom in the region, Bahrain has become the world’s fastest growing financial center by the City of London’s Global Financial Centres Index. The Index of Economic Freedom published by the Heritage Foundation / Wall Street Journal, also stated in 2006 that Bahrain has the freest economy in the Middle East and is the 25th freest economy in the world.
60% of export receipts come from petroleum production and processing and between them they also accounts for 60% of government revenues, and 30% of GDP.
Rated by an HSBC poll of expatriates as one of the top 5 countries with the best quality of life.
(Nov. 25, 2009)
The economy of Bahrain has fluctuated and is very dependant on oil prices as not only does Bahrain produce oil, but it also a major tourist attraction for neighboring Arab countries and when these countries boom, so does Bahrain.
Bahrain has a highly developed communication net work with virtually unrestricted Internet access and broad band readily available in most 5 star & 4 star hotels.
Bahrain is also home to numerous multinational firms who take advantage of the liberal tax laws, Vibrant night life and western lifestyle available.
Unemployment is a major problem among the young, and the depletion of both oil and underground water resources are major long-term economic problem which Bahrain must face.
In 2007 instigated by Minister of Labour, Dr. Majeed Al Alawi, Bahrain became the first Arab country to intorduce unemployment benefits as part of a series of labour reforms.
In 2008, the jobless figure was a 3.8%, but women are over represented at 85% of the total.