The Land of Million Dreams

The Kingdom of Bahrain is known by many names: The Island of Pearls, Paradise Island and the Land of a million Smiles but what it is truly known for is its people, their hospitality, humility and warmth; the people of Bahrain are truly its biggest blessing.

The literal translation of Bahrain is ‘two seas’. Bahrain is an archipelago of 33 islands, the largest being Bahrain Island, at 55 km (34 mi) long by 18 km (11 mi) wide. It became an independent country in 1971 and was declared a Kingdom in 2002.

Bahrain is ruled by its King, His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa. He is supported by the Prime Minister HRH Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa and Crown Prince And Deputy Commander, HRH Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

It is a constitutional monarchy and has a bicameral National Assembly (al-Jamiyh al-Watani) consisting of the Shura Council (Majlis Al-Shura) with 40 seats and the Council of Representatives (Majlis Al-Nuwab) with 40 seats. The 40 members of the Shura are appointed by the king. In the Council of Representatives, 40 members are elected by absolute majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms

Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway. Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of Bahrain. The planned Qatar Bahrain Causeway will link Bahrain and Qatar and become the world's longest marine causeway

According to a January 2006 report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, Bahrain has the fastest growing economy in the Arab world. Bahrain also has the freest economy in the Middle East and is tenth freest overall in the world based on the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom published by the Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal.

In 2008, Bahrain was named the world's fastest growing financial center by the City of London's Global Financial Centres Index.

In 2010, Bahrain's population grew to 1.234 million, of which more than 666,172 (54%) were non-nationals, up from 1.05 million (517,000 non-nationals) in 2008.Though a majority of the population is ethnically Arab, a sizable number of people from South Asia live in the country. In 2008, approximately 290,000 Indian nationals lived in Bahrain, making them the single largest expatriate community in the country.