Bahrain Geography - 2024

Location

Middle East, archipelago in the Persian Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia

Geographic coordinates

26 00 N, 50 33 E

Map references

Middle East

Area

total: 760 sq km

land: 760 sq km

water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative

3.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Area comparison map:

Land boundaries

total: 0 km

Coastline

161 km

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 24 nm

continental shelf: extending to boundaries to be determined

Climate

arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers

Terrain

mostly low desert plain rising gently to low central escarpment

Elevation

highest point: Jabal ad Dukhan 135 m

lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m

Natural resources

oil, associated and nonassociated natural gas, fish, pearls

Land use

agricultural land: 11.3% (2018 est.)

arable land: 2.1% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 3.9% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 5.3% (2018 est.)

forest: 0.7% (2018 est.)

other: 88% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land

40 sq km (2012)

Major aquifers

Arabian Aquifer System

Population distribution

smallest population of the Gulf States, but urbanization rate exceeds 90%; largest settlement concentration is found on the far northern end of the island in and around Manamah and Al Muharraq

Natural hazards

periodic droughts; dust storms

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