'''Bahrain''', officially the '''Kingdom of Bahrain''' (Arabic: مملكة البحرين), is a borderless island nation in the Persian Gulf (Southwest Asia/Middle East, Asia). Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway (officially opened on November 25, 1986), and Qatar is to the south across the Persian Gulf. The Qatar–Bahrain Friendship Bridge, currently being planned, will link Bahrain to Qatar as the longest fixed link in the world.
Bahrain is the smallest, in terms of population, Arab nation in the world, and the smallest Arab member of the United Nations. It is also the least populous country in mainland Asia (but not of Asia overall, since Maldives and Brunei are smaller).
History
Bahrain has been inhabited by humans since ancient times and has even been proposed as the site of the Biblical Garden of Eden.
Its strategic location in the Persian Gulf has brought rule and influence from the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, and finally the Arabs, under whom the island became Muslim. Bahrain was in the ancient times known as ''Dilmun'', ''Tylos'' (its Greek given name), ''Awal'' as well as Persian name ''Mishmahig'' when it came under the imperial rule of the Persian Empire.
The islands of Bahrain, positioned in the middle south of the Persian Gulf, have attracted the attention of many invaders throughout history. Bahrain is an Arabic word meaning "Two Seas", and is thought to either refer to the fact that the islands contain two sources of water, sweet water springs and salty water in the surrounding seas, or to the south and north waters of the Persian Gulf, separating it from the Arabian coast and Iran, respectively.
A strategic position between East and West, fertile lands, fresh water, and pearl diving made Bahrain long a centre of urban settlement. About 2300 BCE, Bahrain became a centre of one of the ancient empires trading between Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and the Indus Valley (now in Pakistan and India). This was the civilization of Delmon that was linked to the Sumerian Civilization in the third millennium BCE. Bahrain became part of the Babylonian empire about 600 BCE. Historical records referred to Bahrain as the "Life of Eternity", "Paradise", etc. Bahrain was also called the "Pearl of the Persian Gulf".
Bahrain up until 1521 comprised the bigger region of Ahsa, Qatif (both are now the eastern province of Saudi Arabia) as well as Awal (now Bahrain Islands). The region stretched from Basrah to the Strait of Hormuz in Oman. This was Iqlīm al-Bahrayn "Bahrayn Province" and the Arab inhabitants of the province, descendants of the Arab tribe Banī ˤAbdu l-Qays, were called Bahārna
