In the near future, the Vietnamese U23 team will have a confrontation with Bahrain. So what do you already know about this rival country?
Bahrain is an Arab monarchy in the Persian Gulf consisting of a small archipelago centered around the island of Bahrain, located between Qatar and the northeastern coast of Saudi Arabia. Bahrain’s population reached 1.425 million in 2016, which includes nearly 700,000 foreigners, half of the total population.
This country is even smaller than the capital Hanoi.
With an area of 765.3 square kilometers, Bahrain is the smallest country in the Middle East and the third smallest in Asia after the Maldives and Singapore. This country is even smaller than the capital Hanoi (3,329km 2 ).
In addition to the main island block, Bahrain has 33 islands. Then, thanks to artificial expansion, it reached 84 islands. Due to the proximity of the islands and their shallow water, Bahrain looks like a unified island on the map.
Therefore, it is not difficult to understand when the land area per capita in Bahrain reaches 4,212 people / square mile, the fourth largest in the world.
Bahrain declared independence in 1971 following Iranian domination.
Declared independence in 1971 following Iranian domination, Bahrain joined the United Nations (UN) the same year. Even in 2002, Bahrain officially declared itself the Kingdom of Bahrain, under the control of the royal family and the king.
Bahrain is one of the earliest Muslim countries in the Middle East.
Bahrain is one of the earliest Muslim countries in the Middle East. The country recognized Islam as its state religion around 628 AD, just four years before the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Interestingly, around the 5th century AD, Christianity was the main religion in the land of Bahrain due to the Crusades as well as the conquest of the Christians. It was not until the 7th century AD that the Muslims recaptured this land.
The data of the International Energy Organization (IEA) shows that Bahrain is the largest electricity consumer per capita in Asia and the third largest in the world after Iceland and Norway. This is understandable when people have to use air conditioners, refrigerators… in extremely hot weather conditions.
In 1932, this place discovered oil.
Bahrain was the first Arab country in the Gulf to discover oil in 1932. In fact, this country used to depend mainly on fisheries, pearls … for a living but with the decline of the market. pearls, the people of Bahrain had to find a new way to make a living.
Despite discovering oil and producing 40,000 barrels per day, Bahrain does not want to be too dependent on this kind of “black gold” .
Since the late 20th century, Bahrain has invested heavily in banking and tourism . Sources from these two fields make Bahrain not too dependent on oil and gas like other Middle Eastern neighbors. According to World Bank data, Bahrain is a high-income country with a GDP per purchasing power parity of ,956 per person, ranking 13th in the world. The country’s Human Development Index (HDI) also reached 0.824, ranking 47/182 countries.
Currently, the Bahraini Dollar is a strong value in the top 5 most valuable currencies in the world.
Bahrain, which is located on the main trade axis between Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe, has been invaded by many forces, thereby spreading and building their culture. Therefore, there are many cultural and architectural heritages as well as long-standing historical sites. A series of temples, fortresses and mausoleums in Bahrain have been recognized by the World Cultural Heritage Organization (UNESCO).
Similar to Japan, Bahrain, despite having a high per capita income, lacks resources and has to import most of its food and foodstuffs. Only about 2.82% of the area in Bahrain is arable and relies mainly on drip irrigation due to severe water shortages.
This is one of the reasons why consumer prices in Bahrain are quite expensive and tourism here is almost exclusively for the rich.
Chicken rice is an iconic dish of Bahrain.
In terms of cuisine, Bahrain has a cooking style similar to Muslim countries in the Middle East with chicken rice as the national dish.
Although it is a small country, because it has been invaded for many years, Bahrain is very focused on national defense. This small country has up to 13,000 permanent soldiers with a large fleet of aircraft and tanks in the Middle East. Bahrain’s per capita defense spending is at 5.8 per capita, the ninth highest in the world. In 2017, the country spent nearly .4 billion on the military.
In Bahrain, women have the right to vote as well as to join the military.
Although it is a Muslim country, it has been influenced by many cultures, so Bahrain has a lot of interesting things. For example, women have the right to vote as well as join the military, which is extremely rare in Muslim countries. Or the fact that a male doctor is allowed to examine a female patient’s vagina but has to look through a glass and is forbidden to look directly.
In addition, some unofficial sources say that Bahrain is now no longer a public beach as almost every beach here has been privatized or given to the royal family during the past 20 years. The number of beaches open to the public in Bahrain is now less than 5%. As noted above, Bahrain is a country for the rich and not a place where the average tourist can stay for long.