| About Bahrain
Bahrain has been called the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the Gulf countries. It is a small island in the Persian Gulf, close to the coasts of both Saudi Arabia and Qatar. In size it is 767 km square, and the majority of the people live and work in the north of the island, in and around the capital Manama. It is made up of 33 islands, the principal ones being Bahrain, Muharraq and Sitra.
It is a Muslim country, and religious festivals and guidelines are followed. In particular, Ramadan is observed by all businesses and service companies, which impacts restaurant and shop opening times during the Holy month.
There are no ‘dress’ restrictions that have to be adhered to, BUT it is expected that ‘appropriate’ dress should be worn, which in practice means no very short dresses/very low cut tops etc for women. Many Bahraini women wear the traditional ‘abaya’ - a black gown over their normal day-to-day clothes, whilst they are out in public, but this is not compulsory, and nor is covering the head and hair. However, you will see many women who do cover their heads as part of their religion, and a small proportion who wear the niqab (face covering).
Bahrain is not as strict as some Gulf countries when it comes to ‘public displays of affection’, however, again it is good to err on the side of caution when in public.
Bahrain has a population of around 1.3 million, of which around 600,000 are non-nationals.
The currency is the Bahraini Dinar (BD).
Driving is on the right hand side of the road.
The weather can be very hot during the summer months (not unusual for it to reach above 40 degrees celsius), and mild in the winter (usually around 20 degrees celsius). There are rain-storms several times a year, and sometimes sand-storms and very windy, dusty weather.
The weekend is Friday and Saturday, with Friday being the religious day. The weekend in Saudi Arabia is Thursday and Friday, and you will find that some people who live in Bahrain but work in Saudi Arabia work the ‘Saudi’ week rather than the ‘Bahraini’ week.
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