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| | Background In 1782, the Al Khalifa family captured Bahrain from the Persians. In order to secure these holdings, it entered into a series of treaties with the UK during the 19th century that made Bahrain a British protectorate. The archipelago attained its independence in 1971. Bahrain's small size and central location among Persian Gulf countries require it to play a delicate balancing act in foreign affairs among its larger neighbors. Facing declining oil reserves, Bahrain has turned to petroleum processing and refining and has transformed itself into an international banking center. King HAMAD bin Isa Al Khalifa, after coming to power in 1999, pushed economic and political reforms to improve relations with the Shi'a community and Shi'a political societies participated in 2006 parliamentary and municipal elections. Al Wifaq, the largest Shi'a political society, won the largest number of seats in the elected chamber of the legislature. However, Shi'a discontent has resurfaced in recent years with street demonstrations and occasional low-level violence. The People | Population | 708,573 | | Age structure | 0-14 years: 26.9% (male 96,217/female 94,275)
15-64 years: 69.5% (male 284,662/female 207,555)
65 years and over: 3.7% (male 13,451/female 12,413) (2007 est.) | | Life expectancy at birth | total population: 74.68 years
male: 72.18 years
female: 77.25 years (2007 est.) | Population growth rate | 1.392% (2007 est.) | | Ethnic groups | Bahraini 62.4%, non-Bahraini 37.6% (2001 census) | | Religions | Muslim (Shi'a and Sunni) 81.2%, Christian 9%, other 9.8% (2001 census) | | Population below poverty line | NA% | | People living with HIV/AIDS | less than 600 (2003 est.) | | HIV/AIDS - deaths | less than 200 (2003 est.) | | Mobile phones in use | 748,700 (2005) | | Internet users | 157,300 (2006) |
Data (Background & The People) provided by The World Factbook |
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