Land use: arable land: 2.82% permanent crops: 5.63% other: 91.55% (2001)
Irrigated land:
50 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
periodic droughts; dust storms
Environment - current issues:
desertification resulting from the degradation of limited arable
land, periods of drought, and dust storms; coastal degradation
(damage to coastlines, coral reefs, and sea vegetation) resulting
from oil spills and other discharges from large tankers, oil
refineries, and distribution stations; lack of freshwater resources,
groundwater and seawater are the only sources for all water needs
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
close to primary Middle Eastern petroleum sources; strategic
location in Persian Gulf, through which much of the Western world's
petroleum must transit to reach open ocean
People Bahrain
Population: 677,886 note: includes 235,108 non-nationals (July 2004 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 28.4% (male 97,179; female 95,043)
15-64 years: 68.4% (male 271,015; female 192,342)
65 years and over: 3.3% (male 11,426; female 10,881) (2004 est.)
Median age:
total: 29 years
male: 31.9 years
female: 25.3 years (2004 est.)