Bahrain

Posted February 24th, 2008 by Anonymous

Bahrain , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain (Arabic: مملكة البحرين ‎, Mamlakat al-Ba ḥ rayn ), is a borderless island country in the Persian Gulf and is the smallest Arab state. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway (officially opened on November 25, 1986), and Qatar is to the south across the Gulf of Bahrain. The Qatar–Bahrain Friendship Bridge being planned will link Bahrain to Qatar as the longest fixed link in the world.

Bahrain's many small towns and villages include:

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Quranic schools ( Kuttab ) were the only form of education in Bahrain. They were traditional schools aimed at teaching children and youth the reading of the Qur'an. After the First World War, Bahrain became open to western influences and a demand for modern educational institutions appeared.

1919 marked the beginning of modern public school system in Bahrain when Al-Hidaya Al-Khalifia School for boys was opened in Muharraq. In 1926, the Education Committee opened the second public school for boys in Manama and in 1928 the first public school for girls was opened in Muharraq.

In 2004 King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa introduced a project that uses information communication technology (ICT) to support K–12 education in Bahrain. This project is named King Hamad Schools of Future. The objective of this project is to connect and link all schools within the kingdom with the internet and introduce the idea of education everywhere.

In addition to British intermediate schools, the island is served by the Bahrain School (BS). The BS is a United States Department of Defense school that provides a K-12 curriculum including International Baccalaureate offerings.

Private schools also exist that offer either the IB Diploma Programme or UK A-Levels. In 2007, St Christopher's School Bahrain became the first school in Bahrain to offer a choice of IB or A-Levels for students. St Christopher's School Bahrain was listed by The Times newspaper as being one of the top 10 schools outside the United Kingdom.

Numerous international educational institutions and schools have established links to Bahrain. A few prominent institutions are DePaul University, Bentley College, and NYIT.

Schooling is paid for by the government, and, although not compulsory, primary and secondary attendance rates are high. Bahrain also encourages institutions of higher learning, drawing on expatriate talent and the increasing pool of Bahrain Nationals returning from abroad with advanced degrees. The University of Bahrain has been established for standard undergraduate and graduate study, and the College of Health Sciences – operating under the direction of the Ministry of Health – trains physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and paramedics. The national action charter, passed in 2001, paved the way for the formation of private universities. The first private university was Ahlia University, situated in Manama. The University of London External has appointed MCG as the regional representative office in Bahrain for distance learning programs. MCG is one of the oldest private institutes in the country.

Asian institutes have also been opened which guarantee good quality education to Asian students such as the Pakistan Urdu School. The Indian School, Bahrain and the New Indian School, Bahrain is an Indian institution for children whose parents are expatriates in Bahrain from India.

Tourism

Bahrain is a popular tourist destination in the Arab World with over eight million tourists a year. Most of the visitors are from the surrounding Arab states but there is an increasing number of tourists from outside the region thanks to a growing awareness of the kingdom’s rich heritage and its higher profile with regards to the Bahrain Formula One Race Track.

The Lonely Planet describes Bahrain as "an excellent introduction to the Persian Gulf" because of its authentic Arab heritage and reputation as relatively liberal and modern. The kingdom combines Arab culture, Gulf glitz and the archaeological legacy of five thousand years of civilization. The island is home to castles including Qalat Al Bahrain which has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site

The Bahrain National Museum has artifacts from the country's history dating back to the island's first human inhabitation 9000 years ago.

External links

Southwest Asia North America and the North Atlantic Ocean

Coordinates: 26°01′39″N,

User contributed Bahrain thoughts.

Winter in Bahrain, all the Ferraris he wants and a £25m pay packet – it's a hard life for Kimi Räikkönen. Live meets him in the Gulf to talk about cars, how he beat Lewis Hamilton to the 2007 F1 title – and why he'll beat him again this year

In a Bahrain Tribune report titled “U.S. ‘lied’ to UK over torture flights,” the Arab world read how “Britain was forced to admit …to the use of its territory by two US planes carrying terror suspects on ‘rendition’ flights...

Ferrari were the early leaders as this week’s Formula One test got underway in Bahrain .

Figures show 28 workers died last year on Bahrain projects. Ministry admits not all companies are reporting accidents.

Offenders to be paid $13.30 an hour for menial community service work – 19 times the rate being paid to construction workers.

Bahrain

Bahrain , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain ( Arabic : مملكة البحرين Mamlakat al-Ba ḥ rayn ), is a borderless island country in the Persian Gulf and is the smallest ...

Bahrain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Bahrain national football team ( Arabic : منتخب البحرين لكرة القدم ) is the national team of the Kingdom of Bahrain and is controlled by the Bahrain ...

Bahrain national football team - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

HSBC Bank Middle East Limited - Bahrain Homepage ... Please Note: HSBC would like to remind customers that we will never send emails with a link to the Internet Banking Logon page.

HSBC Bahrain - Home Page

Their "Country Information" section offers news from and information about this Arabian Gulf country.

Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United States

Bahrain, About Us, Overview, Middle East ... Bahrain. The Kingdom of Bahrain consists of 33 islands situated in the Arabian Gulf between the Qatar peninsula and the east coast of ...

If you would like additional Bahrain articles, see our search function.