Over the course of the twentieth century, Bahrain went from being a group of little-known islands with a tiny population of perhaps less than one hundred thousand inhabitants, to being one of the most urbanized and densely populated nations on earth, with well over a million residents.
Most of this miraculous growth occurred over a remarkably short space of time; beginning with Bahrain’s large-scale exploitation of oil in the mid-1930s; followed by the exponential growth in global demand for oil over the 1950s and 60s; the sharp peak in oil prices resulting from the 1973 oil embargo; with the slow-down beginning to kick in over the 1980s and 1990s as oil prices levelled off and the Kingdom embarked on major efforts to diversify its economy away from oil.
Given that until 1930 Bahrain’s economy had been almost entirely dependent on the pearling trade, a first challenge was producing an educated population, ready for challenges of working in the oil industry, or other emerging sectors. The numbers of schools which emerged throughout the 1920s was relatively modest, with the first girls’ school in the region opening in 1928. However, growing revenues allowed for a rapid expansion of the public education system, far ahead of other nearby states. The first institution of higher education in Bahrain, the Gulf Polytechnic, was established in 1968 as the Gulf Technical College.
This role of Bahrain’s public school system in cementing a collective Bahraini identity was a major reason why civil society and trade union activism in the first half of the twentieth century among educated Bahrainis was less likely to be along sectarian lines.
Given Bahrain’s accelerated pace of development, it also became a transport and commercial hub for the region, leading the way in aviation, while also gradually taking over from Cairo and Beirut as a centre for financial services, banking, and trade. Oil revenues not only allowed Bahrain to develop a modern infrastructure, it also allowed Bahrain’s land area to significantly expand. Bahrain is one of the countries with the highest proportion of reclaimed land in the world, with land area estimated to have increased from 650 km² to 731km² between 1987 and 2013.
As well as large segments of modern Manama being built on reclaimed land, the Amwaj project (commenced in 2002), was the first major initiative for constructing artificial islands. It added 2.8 million m² of land to Bahrain’s land mass and an extra 9.5km of additional coastline. The Amwaj project gave rise to hundreds of new homes, but was only the first of a series of massive new projects, which proved particularly popular with the Kingdom’s middle-classes and a large population of expats.
Indeed, over the latter decades of the twentieth century, much of Bahrain’s growth would be fuelled by a burgeoning expat population; ultimately constituting more than half of Bahrain’s population size. While this created a number of social challenges, it also contributed to Bahrain’s diverse culture. As islands dependent through their history on long-distance trade, Bahraini cuisine and culture have been heavily influenced by a range of Arabian, Indian, Persian and Asian influences. This diversity was reinforced during the twentieth century, which also saw the appearance of churches, temples and synagogues.
Part of Bahrain’s appeal from tourists, visitors and expats was that although Bahrain was rapidly developing in similar ways to oil-rich cities like Dubai; the Kingdom was more successful in retaining much of its traditional Arab vibe, enhanced by the restoration of traditional markets in Manama and Muharraq. This was in addition to coastline restoration initiatives, and other cultural and construction projects which sought to preserve and develop Bahrain’s natural beauty and appeal. While Dubai costs and pace of living soared, Bahrain continued to offer a good-value high quality of living.
For Bahraini citizens over this miracle period, they were to enjoy the benefits of free education, free, healthcare, highly-subsidized goods, wide availability of public-sector jobs with generous pensions and benefits, along with free housing and support for low-income families.
Thus, the Bahrain which expanded many times-over, during the twentieth century has retained many of the attributes which historically have been special to these islands. This is partly why the Kingdom has consistently scored as one of the top-rated destinations in the world where expats come to work and settle-down; it has a relaxed and family-friendly environment, along with all the advantages that its modern infrastructure and amenities have to offer.
This dual-process of modernization and conservation which occurred at a break-neck pace from the 1930s to the 1970s, thus truly deserves to be recorded in Bahrain’s history as its “miracle era”.