Middle East Protests: Facts About Bahrain (PHOTOS)

Witnesses say Bahrain security forces have opened fire on anti-government protesters as the violence in Manama continues as part of a bold attempt to copy Egypt's uprising and to force high-level changes in its government.

Protesters are calling for the removal of King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifah and for Prime Minister Khalifah bin Sulman al-Khalifah to step down, and the majority Shiites are demanding more power from Sunni-led government.

The violence has now thrust the small island country - known for its oil and pearls - into the international spotlight for reasons other than its tourism and relatively liberal climate. Though Bahrain is tiny, it is home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet and, like Saudi Arabia, is one of the key U.S. allies in the Gulf region.

View facts about Bahrain here:

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The nation has a constitutional hereditary monarchy, which means the king, as chief of state, is guided by a constitution -- but his rights, duties and responsibilities are spelled out in written law or by custom. Bahrain has had only one Prime Minister since the country's 1971 independence, Khalifah bin Sulman al-Khalifah, the uncle of the reigning King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifah (see photo). Protesters are calling for the removal of King Hamad and for the prime minister to step down, and the majority Shiites are demanding more power from Sunni-led government.

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The nation has a constitutional hereditary monarchy, which means the king, as chief of state, is guided by a constitution -- but his rights, duties and responsibilities are spelled out in written law or by custom. Bahrain has had only one Prime Minister since the country's 1971 independence, Khalifah bin Sulman al-Khalifah, the uncle of the reigning King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifah (see photo). Protesters are calling for the removal of King Hamad and for the prime minister to step down, and the majority Shiites are demanding more power from Sunni-led government.

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Comments

[SangZe]

10:39 AM on 02/21/2011

Isn't Bahrain a U.S. protectorate?

[notavi]

08:18 AM on 02/20/2011

Who cares about Baharain? They have screwed us for decades with high oil prices! Hope it's a long revolution there! And messy!

[lisakclayton]

03:58 PM on 02/20/2011

Way to make it all about the US...

[Hareega]

07:59 PM on 02/20/2011

Bahrain barely produces oil anymore, and they will run out of oil pretty soon. Too sad to see so much ignorance among Americans like you. With the indifference you're having you deserve the leaders you're getting

[BestGuest]

07:07 AM on 02/20/2011

Egyptian protesters on Tahrir square marking one week of Moobarak's ouster…

"To Jerusalem We go , for us to be the Martyrs of the Millions"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLM3CswkfQw&feature=youtu.be

[notavi]

08:20 AM on 02/20/2011

They'll try it ince..and their families will say prayers for the dead! My $$ is on the IDF!

[jefke]

05:33 AM on 02/20/2011

Incredibly misleading headline. This superficial, lousily researched and written article is so bad I feel like I know less about Bahrain than I did before I read it.
Describing Bahrain as a group 31 islands is very misleading as it gives the impression that it's an archipelago of same sized islands where in fact it's one big island with two much smaller islands and a bunch of very tiny islands around the big one.

[lisakclayton]

04:43 PM on 02/20/2011

Not to mention recently "reclaimed" man-made islands. When you are there you realize how you get the feeling you are on one small (and lovely) island.

[dizmo4]

04:13 AM on 02/20/2011

Ah yes.  Yet another former British Protectorate.

It seems all of todays' problems in the middle east can be traced back to the maps that the British and French drew at Versailles at the close of WWI.

[notavi]

08:21 AM on 02/20/2011

Exactly! 100% correct!

[mike72]

09:01 PM on 02/20/2011

You call it "problem," but the Angloes and the Franks call it a great success.

Imagine a world where people are NOT in conflict ... what does it make that tiny little patch of land call Europe? An irrelevant backwater like for most of the last two milleniums?

It is funny to realize that Europe was so small that the world map has to adopt a specfici perspective to make it look bigger. G00gle it for more information. :)

[JGurung]

01:37 AM on 02/20/2011

Facts about Bahrain does not mention the reasons Bahrain is so important. All of Saudi Arabia's oil and gas production is in its eastern province, which also has a number of Shias. Come Thursday, and all the Saudis in Al Khobar and Dammam escape their boring country and drive across the King Fahd Causeway to Bahrain. Bahrain, more westernized, has women and liquor.

A peaceful protest in Bahrain can easily spread to Saudi Arabia's eastern province. So, this protest will be put down, even if it takes Saudi tanks and army to come across the causeway to Bahrain. The Bahraini king tried to put down the protest brutally on Thursday morning, as the Saudis will not be denied their weekly entertainment.

No wonder the US is staying out of this, and only expressing mild concern.

[Donald Locke]

02:16 AM on 02/20/2011

Yes, the Saudis will not be denied their liquor and Thai girls.
I'm in Saudi Arabia now and don't know if its been reported or not but elements of the Saudi army are already in place and helping Bahrain.
These royal families over here will do everything they can to stay in power and you will not see it reported on any newscast, the Saudis are very good at controlling the media here.

[notavi]

08:22 AM on 02/20/2011

...and the Bush Family over here!

[Mr Sandbox]

09:15 PM on 02/19/2011

Are the Shiite demonstrators in Bahrain pro or anti the Iranian government?

[Dan Baylor]

12:06 AM on 02/20/2011

profoundly pro Iranian

[ameal]

02:51 AM on 02/21/2011

Sadly pro Iranian. The MP they elected have reflected in the past that they want to ban all religous freedoms like alcohol and women's work compensation and retirement ages.
Media is being so biased because of the 'democracy' factor, but they have freedom to practice whatever they want under this rule, and yet when they are in power they will take aay my freedom to continue my career, and practice my religon(s) freely.

[Dan Baylor]

03:50 AM on 02/21/2011

Very well said ameal....and true.

[xerocada1]

10:00 AM on 02/21/2011

Ameal, are you a Sunni? If so, do you support democratic elections and institutions that would give equal opportunity to all the citizens of Bahrain?
Given the unpopularity of the Iranian theocracy - which is unable to maintain the loyalty of millions of Shia Muslim Iranians - why would you think that the very brave Shia Bahrainis who faced live ammunition UNARMED, would want to replicate the failure of Ahmadiniajad's regime?

[iwinagin]

07:20 PM on 02/19/2011

The U.S. is supposed to keep trade routes open throughout the middle east. but not build bases in the middle east. We shouldn't install leaders favorable to us. but we shouldn't support the leaders currently in power. The U.S. must spread freedom and Equality to All but we shouldn't tell people how to live.

The worlds demands on the U.S. simply aren't reasonable. It's almost as if the U.S. is being asked to stop the Holocaust without going to war with Germany. The U.S. base in Bahrain was a choice between doing the wrong thing or backing out and allowing something even more wrong to happen. The 5th fleet is the only thing standing between Iran and the Arab Emirate states.

[AquarianLady]

10:08 PM on 02/19/2011

The US has supported the worst of the worst. Nixon said of the Shah of Iran, "He's an S.0.B but he's our S.0.B". How about Chile? We support leader's beneficial to us, no matter what they do. I certainly don't call that our effort to spread freedom and equality to all. The 5th. fleet is there because of OIL. I don't delude myself into thinking it's to spread freedom and equality to anyone. We're there because they have something we want very much otherwise our government couldn't care less what goes on there.

[notavi]

08:26 AM on 02/20/2011

Spreading ferrdom and democracy?? LOL! We spread the means for BIG BUSINESS to get BIGGER!

[Adam616]

07:13 PM on 02/19/2011

It was supposed to be sunny where I live, so, when I looked out my window this morning, I exclaimed---you guessed it!---"Bah! Rain!"

(I'm saving this in case HP ever holds a Cheesiest Pun contest. ;-) )

[notavi]

08:27 AM on 02/20/2011

HP IS a cheesy pun! A pun on REAL journalism!

[Jared Jentzsch]

05:53 PM on 02/19/2011

Why is the US being blamed for the corrupt dictators? That is like blaming food for making you hungry, it is idiotic. Should't the state of the country be independent of our base? Our base is surely a benefit to them. We hand over the rent money and what happens to it is not the fault of the US. YOUR dictators are to blame, not your tenants.

[darth geekboy]

06:08 PM on 02/19/2011

read history. even the simple history of central america, especially one pertaining to IRAN-CONTRA.

your ignorance is sad and insulting to all those other countries.

[iwinagin]

07:02 PM on 02/19/2011

There is no such thing as simple Iran-Contra. Anybody familiar with the Contras can tell you how difficult it was to abandon them to communist oppresion after promising freedom. History is rarely simple.

[darth geekboy]

06:11 PM on 02/19/2011

oh wait.........that's right...........you prefer ignorance.

[gakabani]

03:15 PM on 02/19/2011

The USA has been supporting dictatorships for too long at the cost of millions and millions of lost lives. Time is up for the USA to backup and go back to basic democratic principles.

[notavi]

08:29 AM on 02/20/2011

Where? Certainly not in America after the "Citizens United" Supreme Court decision!!

[gakabani]

03:11 PM on 02/19/2011

Bahrain is a military colony of the USA. It is not even capable of establishing democratic rules. A lapdog of the USA and a corrupt government that dances to the tune of the USA administration. People are fed up from war and warmongering from the USA. ALL bases need to be closed.

[JohnnyKong]

06:28 PM on 02/19/2011

By a government as 'righteous' and mighty as the U.S., we have legitimized the rule of these dictators for decades. We are accomplices in their oppression. We are seeing the breaking point.

[ameal]

02:54 AM on 02/21/2011

Oppression. Please tell me how women and men being able to live on per capita for $40 k a year (egypt and tunisia close to $1-2K a year) and practice religion, become an international hub is all of a sudden dangerous. Our politicians may be corrupt but our system forgets no one. Now please explain to me what I will do when this movement puts me at home, to make babies, and takes my freedom to practice whatever I like? I dont look good in black :(

[JohnnyKong]

06:30 PM on 02/19/2011

meant to write 'By a government as 'righteous­' and mighty as the U.S. supporting these regimes'

[mike72]

01:58 PM on 02/19/2011

I can't help but notice this:

"A close ally of the United States, Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet ..."

[Doug-Life]

01:28 PM on 02/19/2011

The place where I found out that Muslims really knew how to party.

[notavi]

08:35 AM on 02/20/2011

Was that banned because I used their hair color?

[Doug-Life]

02:36 PM on 02/20/2011

IDK about blondes, but the dude I was hanging with was reallly into Asians.

[Doug-Life]

02:41 PM on 02/20/2011

Funny you mention London because they did have English accents.