1. General Situation

The State of Bahrain is an archipelago nation lying along the Arabian Peninsula in the Persian Gulf.

Roughly two-thirds of the population are Bahrainis, with the remainder resident foreign workers (Foreigners 2), divided among Asians (13 percent, mostly Indians and Pakistanis), other Arabs (10 percent, mainly Palestinians, Egyptians, and Saudis), Iranians (8 percent), and smaller groups of Europeans.

The main island, Bahrain, is linked to Saudi Arabia by a 25-kilometer (15-mi.) causeway, and b…