# Bahrain country guide

Editorial review: 25 October 2026. Routes: `/atlas/bahrain` and `/facts/bh`.

The dedicated guide adds ten illustrated topics, thirty answered reading
questions, sixteen settlement targets in two informal map groups, sixteen
sights and the existing Modern Standard Arabic course. Shared registries expose
it in the guide directory, country links and sitemap. The regional Asian guide
adapter also returns the dedicated reading. No citizenship examination is added.

## References and editorial decisions

- [Bahrain government country profile](https://www.bahrain.gov.bh/wps/portal/en/BNP/BahrainAtAGlance/AboutBahrain):
  official Arabic, capital, four governorates and island geography. Island counts
  and undated area or population figures are deliberately avoided.
- [US Office of the Historian](https://history.state.gov/countries/bahrain)
  and [Qatar Digital Library historical profile](https://www.qdl.qa/historical-profile-bahrain):
  independence on 15 August 1971, distinguished from December National Day;
  the British relationship, pearling and the 1932 oil discovery.
- [Bahrain Constitution](https://www.lloc.gov.bh/en/page/The%20Constitution%20of%20the%20Kingdom%20of%20Bahrain):
  hereditary monarchy and the two 40-member parliamentary chambers. Constitutional
  arrangements are distinguished from the scope of political competition.
- [Freedom House 2026](https://freedomhouse.org/country/bahrain/freedom-world/2026)
  and [Human Rights Watch 2025](https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2025/country-chapters/bahrain):
  the 2011 protests and suppression, and restrictions on opposition. The guide
  avoids treating religious identity as a complete explanation of politics.
- [UNESCO Bahrain](https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/bh/),
  [Qal’at al-Bahrain](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1192/),
  [pearling](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1364/) and
  [Dilmun Burial Mounds](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1542/): three inscribed
  properties. A visible fort is not the entire archaeological property, and the
  pearling inscription includes offshore and coastal components, not only a museum.
- [Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities destinations](https://culture.gov.bh/en/visitingbahrain/CulturalTourism/Destinations/)
  and [Pearling Path](https://pearlingpath.bh/en/): archaeology, houses, forts,
  maritime music and cultural institutions. Sight locations are representative
  learning pins, without current opening hours, prices or promised access.
- [Ramsar Hawar Islands](https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/920): wetland designation,
  seabirds and marine habitats. Managed wildlife facilities are not presented as
  evidence that a species ranges freely throughout the country.
- [Bahrain government manufacturing and natural resources](https://www.bahrain.bh/new/en/naturalresources_en.html),
  [Central Bank of Bahrain](https://www.cbb.gov.bh/) and
  [MIT MISTI Bahrain food](https://misti.mit.edu/bahrain-food): economy, dinar,
  aluminium and food context. Shared dishes are not assigned exclusive origins.

## Maps and photographs

The retained original national feature is from Natural Earth v5.1.2, 1:10m
Admin 0 Countries, public domain:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_admin_0_countries.geojson

`node scripts/build-bahrain-map.mjs` rebuilds the land outline, settlement
GeoJSON, atlas pack and name registry offline from the retained outline and
curated approximate centres. Pins are cities, towns and districts, not sixteen
municipalities or the boundaries of the four governorates. Transliteration
varies (including Jaww/Jau, Diraz/Duraz and A’ali/Aali).

The generalised coast omits some small islands and later reclamation. Budaiya
and Zallaq lie approximately 0.77 km and 0.43 km beyond that reference coast;
validation permits 0.9 km for those two coastal settlements. All other town pins
pass strict membership. Sights use a 0.9 km coastal margin, including lagoon
and waterfront learning locations. The outline is not a legal boundary survey.
Budaiya’s location is cross-checked against its town coordinate; Zallaq against
the [NGA-derived gazetteer](https://geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?c=bahrain&fid=502&uni=-1130085).

Ten existing local Bahrain topic photographs retain their authors, licences,
source pages and alt text in `src/lib/asian-facts-heroes.json`. The A’ali burial
mounds photo also supplies the banner, correctly located at A’ali. The food
photo depicts Bahraini halwa preparation at a Saudi festival; the guide explicitly
states that location. Public references and all photo credits are available at
`/data/bahrain-guide-sources.txt`.

## Quiz and verification

The eighty-question snapshot is copied exactly from the existing Bahrain seed,
without executing the seeder. Twenty-eight read-time corrections remove undated
population shares, rankings, unsupported exclusivity, rigid community labels,
a false annual-event claim and misleading landmark descriptions. The shared
correction boundary preserves stored lesson IDs and progress. Public numbered,
random-topic and deterministic daily draws use the bundled snapshot, following
the existing Kuwait/Qatar adapters. No database, schema or seed is changed.

`node scripts/test-bahrain-guide.cjs` validates discovery, regional adapter,
map bounds, membership and complete rounds, groups, names, previews, sights,
local photos and credits, reading questions, seed parity, correction idempotence,
all quiz draw paths and Arabic lessons. `BAHRAIN_BASE_URL` additionally checks
public pages, directory, sitemap, country links, GeoJSON, photos and quiz API.
TypeScript, production compilation and neighbouring-country regressions check
shared integration; browser checks cover desktop, mobile and starting a round.

Image credits (existing locally served photographs)

geography: /images/facts-asia/bh/geography.jpg
The King Fahd Causeway connecting Bahrain and Saudi Arabia
edward musiak, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:King_Fahd_Causeway_(5972741629).jpg

history: /images/facts-asia/bh/history.jpg
Dilmun-era burial mounds at A’ali in Bahrain
Step, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A%27ali_Burial_Mounds.jpg

language: /images/facts-asia/bh/language.jpg
Arabic and English lettering on the inauguration plaque at Bahrain National Museum
Rain Ramli, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bahrain_National_Museum_Plaque.jpeg

culture: /images/facts-asia/bh/culture.jpg
Siyadi Mosque and Bait Siyadi on the Pearling Trail in Muharraq, Bahrain
Graeme, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mosque_and_Bait_Siyadi,_Muharraq,_Bahrain.jpg

economy: /images/facts-asia/bh/economy.jpg
The Bahrain Financial Harbour in Manama
ChinitoBoy, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bahrain_Financial_Harbour_2013.jpeg

politics: /images/facts-asia/bh/politics.jpg
Gudaibiya Palace in Manama, Bahrain
FactFindersEnigma, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_Al-Qudaibiya_Palace_from_inside_the_compound.jpg

nature: /images/facts-asia/bh/nature.jpg
Greater flamingos at Dohat Arad Lagoon in Muharraq, Bahrain
Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Greater_flamingos_(Phoenicopterus_roseus)_Bahrain.jpg

food: /images/facts-asia/bh/food.jpg
Bahraini halwa being prepared at a festival in Unaizah, Saudi Arabia
Slayym, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bahraini_Halwa_maker.jpg

landmarks: /images/facts-asia/bh/landmarks.jpg
The Bahrain National Museum in Manama
Zairon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manama_Bahrain_National_Museum_Exterior_5.jpg

people: /images/facts-asia/bh/people.jpg
Shops in Manama’s Bab Al Bahrain Souq
Zairon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manama_Bab_al-Bahrain_Souq_4.jpg