Music of Bahrain

The music of Bahrain is part of the Persian Gulf folk traditions. Alongside Kuwait, it is known for sawt music, a bluesy genre influenced by African, Indian and Persian music. Sultan Hamid, Ali Bahar and Khalid al Shaikh (a singer and oud player) are among the most popular musicians from Bahrain.

Bahrain was the site of the first Persian Gulf-based recording studio, established after World War II. Modern music institutions in Bahrain include the Bahrain Music Institute, the Bahrain Orchestra and the Classical Institute of Music. The Bahraini male-only pearl diving tradition is known for the songs called fidjeri.

Liwa and Fann at-Tanbura are types of music and dance performed mainly in communities of descendants of Bantu peoples from the African Great Lakes region.

Khaleeji

Khaleeji is a style of Persian Gulf-area folk music, played in Bahrain with polyrhythms. The style is strongly influenced by the music of Africa. Khaleeji singer Ali Bahar is one of the few Bahraini pop stars to sing in a local dialect, along with his band Al Ekhwa.

Bahrain

Bahrain (ⁱ/bɑːˈreɪn/; Arabic: البحرين‎  al-Baḥrayn), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain (Arabic: مملكة البحرين‎  Mamlakat al-Baḥrayn), is a small island country situated near the western shores of the Persian Gulf in the Middle East. It is an archipelago with Bahrain Island, the largest land mass, at 55 km (34 mi) long by 18 km (11 mi) wide. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway while Iran lies 200 km (124 mi) to the north across the Persian Gulf. The peninsula of Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of Bahrain. The population in 2010 stood at 1,234,571, including 666,172 non-nationals.

Bahrain is the site of the ancient Dilmun civilisation. It has been famed since antiquity for its pearl fisheries, which were considered the best in the world into the 19th century. Bahrain was one of the earliest areas to convert to Islam (AD 628). Following a period of Arab rule, Bahrain was occupied by the Portuguese in 1521, who in turn were expelled in 1602 by Shah Abbas I of the Safavid dynasty under the Persian Empire. In 1783, the Bani Utbah clan captured Bahrain from Nasr Al-Madhkur and has since been ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family, with Ahmed al Fateh as Bahrain's first hakim. In the late 1800s, following successive treaties with the British, Bahrain became a protectorate of the United Kingdom. In 1971, Bahrain declared independence. Formerly a state, Bahrain was declared a Kingdom in 2002. Since early 2011, the country has experienced sustained protests and unrest inspired by the regional Arab Spring, particularly by the majority Shia population.

Bahrain SC

Al-Bahrain Sports Club (Arabic: نادي البحرين الرياضي‎), otherwise simply known as Bahrain, is primarily a Bahraini football club based in the island-governorate of Al-Muharraq. Their football team currently plays in the Bahraini Premier League. Their home football stadium is the Al Muharraq Stadium, which they share along with their local island rivals, Al-Muharraq Sports Club. Bahrain Club also have teams for other sports, such as Basketball, Team Handball and Volleyball.

Achievements

Performance in AFC competitions

External links

Bahrain (disambiguation)

Bahrain is an island country in the Middle East.

Bahrain may also refer to: