Bahrain

Bahrain An independent state comprising 33 islands in the Persian Gulf, with a combined area of 691 km² (267 sq. miles). Ruled by the Al Khalifa dynasty since 1782, it was a British protectorate, 1861–1971. Iranian claims on the islands were rejected by the UN in 1970. Despite British encouragement to join the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain opted for complete independence on 14 August 1971. Tensions mounted within its native population, whose religion was divided between the Sunni (35 per cent) and the Shiah (65 per cent) traditions of Islam, after the Iranian Revolution (1979) brought to power an Islamic fundamentalist Shiah government. It was ruled by the Emir, Sheikh Isa ibn Sulman al Khalifa (from 1961), in an absolute fashion from 1975, when the first parliament was dissolved because of its alleged left-wing tendencies. In 1981, an abortive Iranian-supported coup d'état led to a security pact with Saudi Arabia, whose population follows the Sunni tradition. In 1995 there were renewed clashes as the Shi'ite population demonstrated against the economic decline, which they claimed had affected them disproportionately. From 1999 Bahrain was ruled by Sheikh Hamad Ibn Isa Al-Kahlifa. He lifted the state of emergency, decreed an amnesty for his political opponents, and instigated a referendum which approved of his plans to transform the country into a constitutional monarchy by 2004.

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