Bahrain

In 1783, 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 Shia community. Shia political societies participated in 2006 parliamentary and municipal elections. Al Wifaq, the largest Shia political society, won the largest number of seats in the elected chamber of the legislature. However, Shia discontent has resurfaced in recent years with street demonstrations and occasional low-level violence.

Economical characteristics

• Currency: Bahraini dinar (ISO code: BHD)
• Central bank discount rate:
• Commercial banks lending rate: NA% (31 December 2008)
• Stock of money (M1): $4.997 billion (31 December 2008)
• Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $12.71 billion (31 December 2008)

Statistics

Statistic / Year	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
GDP (million USD)	6 621	7 971	7 929	8 491	9 748	11 236	13 460	15 855	18 473	21 903
Govt. debt (% of GDP)	23.692	29.274	30.686	32.065	36.873	34.409		23.640	19.227	14.747
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)	23.121	32.851	29.931	29.277	29.222	29.876	32.241	30.385	28.806	32.156
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)	24.073	22.630	23.595	26.192	23.708	22.670	20.541	19.013	18.828	19.038
Debt to revenue (years)	1.025	0.891	1.025	1.095	1.262	1.152		0.778	0.667	0.459

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

Links

• Bahrain on Wikipedia
• Central bank of Bahrain
• Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
• BBC country profile
• Bahrain: why it matters to Saudi Arabia by Barney Jopson, February 2011
• Bahrain's No Egypt by Robert Maginnis, February 2011
• Bahrain and the Battle Between Iran and Saudi Arabia by George Friedman, March 2011