101 Facts About Bahrain International

1. Bahrain International was home to Dilmun, an important Bronze Age trade centre linking Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley.

2. Bahrain International has a Shiite majority but is ruled by a Sunni monarchy.

3. Bahrain International is ruled by a Sunni Muslim family even though its population is predominantly Shia Muslim.

4. Bahrain International is an archipelago lying between the east coast of Saudi Arabia and the Qatar Peninsula.

5. Bahrain International is a regional financial and business center; international financial institutions operate in Bahrain, both offshore and onshore, without impediments, and the financial sector is currently the second largest contributor to GDP.

6. Bahrain International is currently offering humanitarian support and technical training to support the reconstruction of the Iraqi banking sector.

7. Bahrain International provided extensive basing and over flight clearances for a multitude of US aircraft operating in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

8. Bahrain International provided logistical and basing support to international Maritime Interdiction effo rts to enforce UN sanctions and prevent illegal smuggling of oil from Iraq in the 1990s.

9. Bahrain International receives a large portion of the net output and revenues from Saudi Arabia's Abu Saafa off shore oilfield.

10. Bahrain International has a complex system of courts, based on diverse legal sources, including Sunni and Shi'a Sharia, tribal law, and other civil codes and regulation created with the help of British advisers in the early 20th century.

11. Bahrain International is the only island country in the Middle East.

12. Bahrain International possesses the Hawar Islands, off the coast of Qatar.

13. Bahrain International has since provided logistical and base support toward enforcing United Nations sanctions and preventing the illegal smuggling of oil from Iraq.

14. Bahrain International created a constitution and elected its first parliament in 1973.

15. Bahrain International was the first Arab Gulf state to discover and prosper from the extraction and sale of oil.

16. Bahrain International has a bicameral legislature, the Majlis al-Watani, or National Assembly.

17. Bahrain International will hold elections for the five municipal councils and the 40 seats in the lower house of parliament in November 2006.

18. Bahrain International introduced a free public education system to the Gulf region in 1919.

19. In 2002, Bahrain International had a total electrical power output of 6.8 billion kilowatt hours.

20. Bahrain International sent troops to Saudi Arabia during the 1991 Gulf War.

21. In 2005, Bahrain International had a merchant fleet of eight ships with 219,083 gross registered tons.

22. Bahrain International is a hereditary kingdom, governed by the Al-Khalifa family.

23. Bahrain International is a regional base for numerous American banks and firms.

24. Bahrain International is currently offering humanitarian support and technical training to support the reconstruction of the Iraqi banking sector, and has offered support for each stage of Iraq's political transformation.

25. Bahrain International responded positively to Kuwait's request to deploy the GCC collective defense force, "Peninsula Shield", during the build up and execution of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

26. Bahrain International has made a concerted effort to become the leading Islamic finance center in the world, standardizing regulations of the Islamic banking industry.

27. Bahrain International has a complex system of courts, based on diverse legal sources, including Sunni and Shi'a Shari'ah, tribal law, and other civil codes and regulations created with the help of British advisers in the early 20th century.

28. Bahrain International will hold elections for the five municipal councils in May 2006 and for the 40 seats in the lower house of parliament in October 2006.

29. Bahrain International is a modern, developed country and tourist facilities are widely available.

30. Bahrain International has delivered humanitarian support and technical training to support the reconstruction of the Iraqi banking sector, and has offered support for each stage of Iraq's political transformation.

31. Bahrain International provided extensive basing and overflight clearances for a multitude of US aircraft operating in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).

32. Bahrain International provided logistical and basing support to international Maritime Interdiction efforts to enforce UN sanctions and prevent illegal smuggling of oil from Iraq in the 1990s.

33. Bahrain International responded positively to Kuwait's request to deploy the GCC collective defense force, "Peninsula Shield", during the build up and execution of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

34. Bahrain International has complied with GCC efforts steps to coordinate economic development and defense and security planning.

35. Bahrain International became a member of the United Nations and the Arab League in 1971.

36. Bahrain International has received $410 million in US EDA acquisition value delivered since the US-Bahraini program began in 1993.

37. The US Office of Military Cooperation in Bahrain International is attached to the US Embassy and manages the security assistance mission.

38. Bahrain International has a national guard that consists of about 1,200 personnel.

39. Bahrain International plans to expand its airport, one of the busiest in the Gulf.

40. Bahrain International has made a concerted effort to become the leading Islamic finance center in the Arab world, standardizing regulations of the Islamic banking industry.

41. Bahrain International has a complex system of courts, based on diverse legal sources, including Sunni and Shi'a Sharia, tribal law, and other civil codes and regulations created with the help of British advisers in the early 20th century.

42. Bahrain International held its second set of parliamentary and municipal elections in November and December 2006.

43. Bahrain International has invested its oil revenues in developing an advanced educational system.

44. Bahrain International currently has a sizeable foreign labor force.

45. Bahrain International is an archipelago of 36 islands located off the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia.

46. Bahrain International has developed advanced technology for petrochemical plants and oil refineries.

47. Bahrain International is a traditional monarchy in which the king is the chief of state.

48. Bahrain International is an archipelago made up of Bahrain International Island and thirty smaller islands.

49. Bahrain International is located in the Persian Gulf, which is connected to the Arabian Sea by the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman.

50. Bahrain International is a Middle Eastern country consisting of thirty-three islands, six of which are inhabited.

51. Bahrain International was proclaimed a kingdom in 2002, and the Shura was dissolved prior to the assembly elections.

52. Bahrain International was a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council in 1981, along with neighboring Persian Gulf countries, and it is a member of the Arab League.

53. Bahrain International is home to numerous multinational firms, and the government actively encourages foreign investment.

54. Bahrain International islands lie some 15 miles off the northeast coast of Saudi Arabia and 13 miles to the northwest of the Qatar peninsula.

55. Bahrain International became accessible by automobile as of November 1986 when it established a causeway with Saudi Arabia.

56. Bahrain International is situated in the Persian Gulf about 28 kilometers northwest of the Qatar Peninsula and 24 kilometers east of Saudi Arabia.

57. Bahrain International actively supports the allied forces against Iraq in the Gulf military conflict, and is the target of an Iraqi missile attack.

58. Bahrain International is one of the six founding members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

59. Bahrain International becomes a British protectorate with the signing of the General Treaty of Peace but is ruled by the al-Khalifa family.

60. Bahrain International has the largest concentration of Islamic banking operations in the Middle East.

61. Bahrain International is not a member of Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries and is thus not faced with production quotas but is a member of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC).

62. Bahrain International is the communications center of the Gulf and has invested heavily in the sector since the late 1960s.

63. Bahrain International is characterized by autocratic tribal rule, with authority invested in a single family.

64. Bahrain International became a member of the World Trade Organization in 1992 and has since overhauled many laws and regulations.

65. Bahrain International has therefore developed a more diversified economy than most of the Gulf States.

66. Bahrain International was the first country on the Arabian side of the Persian Gulf to discover oil in 1932.

67. Bahrain International is the smallest country and the only island-state in the Persian Gulf and the wider Middle East.

68. Bahrain International has forged highly successful enterprises in the face of resource-depletion challenges.

69. Bahrain International has two universities for higher education: Bahrain University, founded in 1968, and the Arabian Gulf University (AGU), which opened in 1979.

70. Bahrain International was the first Arab Gulf state to discover oil, with the first oil well commencing production in 1932.

71. Bahrain International officially adopted the metric system of weights and measures in December 1977.

72. Bahrain International has one of the most efficient telephone networks in the Middle East.

73. Bahrain International has a national university and a college of health sciences.

74. Bahrain International was the first country in the area to introduce co-education in public schools.

75. Bahrain International has a large Western community, which includes about 6,000 British and approximately 3,000 Americans.

76. Bahrain International has a well-developed tradition of club life directed mainly at the sporting community.

77. Bahrain International leads an effort to develop Islamic financial services, and has 28 Islamic banks based in the country.

78. Bahrain International has an iron ore palletizing plant, and a shipbuilding and repair yard.

79. Bahrain International has a gas liquefaction plant, operated by the Bahrain National Gas Company.

80. Bahrain International was the first Gulf state to discover oil and built the region's first refinery in 1935.

81. Bahrain International gained the right to offer concessions in offshore oil fields in the Gulf of Bahrain after a territorial dispute with Qatar was settled by the International Court of Justice in March 2001 and Bahrain won control of the Hawar Islands.

82. Bahrain International acts as a major banking, telecommunications, and air transportation center.

83. Bahrain International was a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, inaugurated in 1981.

84. Bahrain International joined the UN on 21 September 1971 and is a member of ESCWA, all major regional organizations, and several nonregional specialized agencies.

85. Bahrain International signed a free trade pact with the United States in September 2004.

86. Bahrain International claimed the town of Zubarah, which is on the mainland of Qatar.

87. Bahrain International has long assisted the American naval presence in the Persian Gulf.

88. In 1993, Bahrain International established an appointive Consultative Assembly.

89. Bahrain International promulgated its first constitution in 1973, which occasioned the convening of an elective National Assembly; the legislature was dissolved in August 1975 amid charges of communist influence.

90. In 2005, Bahrain International had a merchant fleet of eight ships of 1,000 GRT or over, totaling 219,083 GRT.

91. Bahrain International has established captive breeding centers for falcons and for the rare Houbara bustard.

92. Bahrain International has developed its oil resources at the expense of its agricultural lands.

93. Bahrain International is known for its scorching summer where temperature can reach up to 50°C.

94. Bahrain International has a total area of 765 square kilometers making it the third smallest nation in Asia after the Maldives and Singapore.

95. In 2006, the US and Bahrain International signed a free-trade agreement.

96. Bahrain International fought off fierce competition from elsewhere in the region to stage the race, with Egypt, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates all hoping for the prestige of hosting a Formula One Grand Prix.

97. In 2009, Bahrain International was moved to the fourth race on the schedule.

98. Bahrain International has few options for covering these deficits, with low foreign assets and fewer oil resources compared to its GCC neighbors.

99. On 1 September 2006, Bahrain International changed its weekend from being Thursdays and Fridays to Fridays and Saturdays, in order to have a day of the weekend shared with the rest of the world.

100. In 2006, Bahrain International hosted its inaugural Australian V8 Supercar event dubbed the "Desert 400".

101. Bahrain International hosted the opening Grand Prix of the 2006 season on 12 March of that year.