nPostednon December 16, 2015
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nTodaynis the first of two days of celebrating Bahrain’s independence fromnBritain.
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nActually,nBahrain actually became independent in August of 1971, after a UnitednNations survey of the Bahraini people showed that a majority of themnwanted to be independent. However, December 16 was chosen at somenpoint by Bahraini rulers as a more suitable day to celebrate, becausenit coincided with coronation day of former emir Isa bin Salman AlnKhalifa.
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nThengood news is that Bahrain has a high-income economy and has investednin banking and tourism, so even when petroleum profits dwindle, itnshould remain strong.
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nThenbad news is that, although Bahrain claims to be a constitutionalnmonarchy, the parliament is not strong, the judicial branch is notnindependent of other branches, and the king is, essential, andictator. This type of government is called an absolute monarchy.
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nWhatndo you know about Bahrain?
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nBeforenyou read on, ask yourself where Bahrain is located, what languagenBahraini’s speak, and if there is a state religion – and, if so,nwhich religion it is. n
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nWhilenyou think about those questions, scroll through these photos ofngorgeous cityscapes and natural landscapes from the nation….
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nBahrainnis an island nation located in the Persian Gulf, east of SaudinArabia. There is a causeway that connects the island to SaudinArabia.
There are 83 smaller islands, aside from the largestnisland (which is called Bahrain).
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nArabicnis the official language. Because Bahrain used to be a Britishncolony, English is widely used. Some other commonly heard languagesnin Bahrain include Persian (language of Iran) and Urdu (language ofnPakistan). n
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nThenstate religion of Bahrain is Islam, and about 70% of the populationnis Muslim.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nScientistnand author Arthur C. Clarke’s birthday
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nAnniversarynof the invention of the transistor
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nBeethoven’sn Birthday
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nMargaretn Mead’s Birthdayn (scrolln down)
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nAnniversaryn of Boston Tea Party
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nPlannahead:
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Checknout my Pinterest pages on:
Checknout my Pinterest pages on:
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in December
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nJanuaryn birthdays
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