The above map represents the archipelagic Middle Eastern nation of Bahrain. Caminito del Rey. Angels Landing. Salt Spring Island. Old Faithful Geyser. Kuril Islands. Cultus Lake, British Columbia. Cataract Canyon. The capital city is Manama. Bahrain is an Arabic State essentially comprised of around 30 islands, including the largest one, Bahrain Island. It is only about square kilometers. It is connected to Saudi Arabia by way of the massive King Fahd Causeway, a 15 mile long highway crossing the gulf.
Although it is located in the heart of oil production in the Middle East, Bahrain has a surprisingly small amount of natural petroleum and relies heavily on its neighbors for oil production. Situated between maritime borders with Saudi Arabia to the west, Iran to the north and Qatar to the east, it has decent resources to rely on, but Bahrain has begun more economical growth by turning towards tourism and other financial ventures, along with agricultural ventures such as fish, vegetables and fruits.
Oil still brings in around 80 percent of the country's revenues. Bahrain is well known for its large growth of date palms, which thrive in the extremely humid and warm climate of this country. The archipelago is made up of thirty-three islands , 17 but the intensive program of creating sea-anchored sea-beds has considerably modified the original number of islands: in , the country had more than islands.
Bahrain does not share any land borders with any other country, but has a coastline of kilometers. It also claims territorial waters over 22 km 12 M and 44 km 24 M of contiguous zone.
Another bridge connecting the country to Qatar is being built under the name Bridge Friendship. The country enjoys mild winters, but undergoes very hot and particularly humid summers. Desertification is a major environmental issue in Bahrain due to the degradation of already limited cultivable areas and coastal areas coastal urbanization, damage to coral reefs, pollution of aquatic flora and numerous oil discharges.
The country is also affected by periods of drought as well as sandstorms and has to deal with the problem of salinisation of the spring water of the territory due to the use of intensive agricultural techniques.
The causeway to the island of Umm an Nasan, off the west coast of Bahrain, continues on to the Saudi mainland town of Al Khubar. Umm an Nasan is the private property of the amir and the site of his personal game preserve. The other islands of significance include Nabi Salah, which is northwest of Sitrah; Jiddah, to the north of Umm an Nasan; and a group of islands, the largest of which is Hawar, near the coast of Qatar.
Nabi Salah contains several freshwater springs that are used to irrigate the island's extensive date palm groves. The rocky islet of Jiddah houses the state prison. Hawar and the fifteen small islands near it are the subject of a territorial dispute between Bahrain and Qatar. Hawar is nineteen kilometers long and about oneand onehalf kilometers wide. The other islands are uninhabited and are nesting sites for a variety of migratory birds. Bahrain has two seasons: an extremely hot summer and a relatively mild winter.
The combination of intense heat and high humidity makes this season uncomfortable. In addition, a hot, dry southwest wind, known locally as the qaws , periodically blows sand clouds across the barren southern end of Bahrain toward Manama in the summer.
However, humidity often rises above 90 percent in the winter. From December to March, prevailing winds from the southeast, known as the shammal , bring damp air over the islands.
Regardless of the season, daily temperatures are fairly uniform throughout the archipelago. Bahrain receives little precipitation. The average annual rainfall is seventy-two millimeters, usually confined to the winter months. No permanent rivers or streams exist on any of the islands.
The winter rains tend to fall in brief, torrential bursts, flooding the shallow wadis that are dry the rest of the year and impeding transportation. Little of the rainwater is saved for irrigation or drinking. However, there are numerous natural springs in the northern part of Bahrain and on adjacent islands.
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