Bahrain Government

The Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain is a Constitutional Monarchy with the King as the head and appoints the entire government and has an executive authority. Elite members of the government including the Prime Minister, part of the national assembly, military leaders, and some Cabinet ministers come from the King’s family. Bahrain’s government has remained this way since the 2002 referendum and declaration of Kingdom. The Commander of Bahrain Defense Forces position is a preserve of the Crown Prince.

The King of Bahrain appoints all leaders in the country apart from the forty members of the Council of Representatives who are elected through universal suffrage. These members represent forty constituencies. Citizens of Bahrain who are at least twenty years with no major criminal records are eligible to vote for their constituency representatives. The King also appoints members of the upper house; his appointments include representatives of different groups including the Jewish and Christian communities in Bahrain. Being a monarchy, rulers of Bahrain have no term limits but are succeeded by the person who is next in the succession line.

The National Assembly of Bahrain, both the Council of Representatives (Madschlis an-Nuwwab or lower house) and the royalty appointed Consultative Council (Madschlis asch-Schura or upper house) sit in the capital Manama along Shaikh Daij avenue. As presently constituted, the two chambers first sat in 2002. Very little information is available about when the house was built but the new Parliament building located along the capital’s coast completed in 2017 awaiting first sitting. Currently, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa lives in Riffa Palace located in Riffa but also has other palaces scattered in the country. Most members of the royal family have palaces.

There are no official political parties in Bahrain, as political parties are not legal. However, there are unofficial parties known as political societies that range from the left to the right.

This page was last modified on May 1st, 2018

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Published on 2019-11-06


Capital	Manama
Languages	Arabic (official), English, Farsi, Urdu
Ethnic Groups	Bahraini 46%, Asian 45.5%, other Arab 4.7%, African 1.6%, European 1%, other 1.2% (includes Gulf Co-operative country nationals, North and South Americans, and Oceanians) (2010 est.)
Religion	Muslim 70.3%, Christian 14.5%, Hindu 9.8%, Buddhist 2.5%, Jewish 0.6%, folk religion <.1, unaffiliated 1.9%, other 0.2% (2010 est.)
Government	Constitutional monarchy
Independance	15 August 1971 (from the UK)
Area	760.00 km²
Land Area	760.00 km²
Population	1,378,904.00 Smallest population of the Gulf States, but urbanization rate exceeds 90%; largest settlement concentration is found on the far northern end of the island in and around Manamah and Al Muharraq
Location	Middle East, archipelago in the Persian Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia
GDP(PPP)	$66,370,000,000.00 (USD)
GDP (Per Capita)	$50,300.00 (USD)
Export Partners	Its major export partners are Saudi Arabi and the United Arab Emirates.
Export Commodities	Its main exports are petroleum and petroleum products.
Import Partners	Its major import partners are Saudi Arabia, the United States, and China.
Import Commodities	Its major imports include crude oil, machinery, and chemicals.
Climate	Arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers
Terrain	Mostly low desert plain rising gently to low central escarpment
Learn More	Bahrain

Bahrain Government

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