Demographics of Bahrain

Ethnic diversity of Bahrain

Regarding the ethnicity of Bahrainis, a Financial Times article published on 31 May 1983 found that "Bahrain is a polyglot state, both religiously and racially. Discounting temporary immigrants of the past ten years, there are at least eight or nine communities on the island".^[11] Furthermore, sources claim that the government of Bahrain is said to have naturalised Sunnis from different countries to increase the Sunni population in comparison to the Indigenous Shias including people from India, Pakistan, Jordan, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Egypt.^[12][13] These may be classified as:

Non-nationals make up more than half of the population of Bahrain, with immigrants making up about 52.6% of the overall population.^[14] Of those, the vast majority come from South and Southeast Asia: according to various media reports and government statistics dated between 2005 and 2012 roughly 350,000 Indians,^[15] 150,000 Bangladeshis,^[16] 110,000 Pakistanis,^[17] 40,000 Filipinos,^[18] and 8,000 Indonesians.^[19] In 2023, about 4,000 people from the United Kingdom live in Bahrain,^[20] although some estimates are double this number.^[21]

The following is a firm containing estimates from countries' embassies:^[22]

More information Nationality, Population ...

Nationality	Population	% of population	Year of data
Bahrain	712,362	51%	2022
India	350,000	25.0%	2015
Bangladesh	110,000	7.88%	2015
Pakistan	100,000	7.16%	2015
Philippines	50,000-60,000	4.30%	2015
Egypt	22,000	1.57%	2015
Sri Lanka	20,000	1.43%	2015
Nepal	20,000	1.43%	2015
Indonesia	10,000	0.71%	2015
UK	9,000	0.64%	2013
USA	8,200	0.58%	2014
Iran	5,000-7,000	0.50%	2015
Jordan	6,000-7,000	0.50%	2015
Sudan	6,000	0.43%	2015
Saudi Arabia	5,000	0.35%	2015
Morocco	4,750	0.34%	2015
Thailand	4,000	0.28%	2015
Iraq	3,500	0.25%	2015
New Zealand	2,500	0.17%	2015
Turkey	2,000	0.14%	2015
Tunisia	1,500	0.10%	2015
China	1,000	<0.1%	2015
Ukraine	400	<0.1%	2015
Malaysia	400	<0.1%	2015
Poland	350	<0.1%	2015
Libya	300-350	<0.1%	2015
Italy	350	<0.1%	2013
Russia	300	<0.1%	2015
Germany	300	<0.1%	2015
Japan	260	<0.1%	2015
South Korea	220	<0.1%	2013
Cyprus	200	<0.1%	2015
Ireland	157	<0.1%	2015
Denmark	150	<0.1%	2015
Switzerland	122	<0.1%	2015
Venezuela	100	<0.1%	2015
Uganda	100	<0.1%	2015
Cameroon	50-100	<0.1%	2015
Sweden	83	<0.1%	2015
Kazakhstan	20	<0.1%	2015
Mongolia	4	<0.1%	2015

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Genetics

See also: Genetic history of the Middle East, Demographics of Iran § Genetics, and Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup

Ancient DNA and genetic history

A 2024 study sequenced whole genomes from four individuals who lived in Bahrain during the Tylos period (circa 300 BCE to 600 CE). The genetic makeup of these ancient Bahrainis revealed a blend of ancestries, primarily tracing back to ancient populations of the Near East. Analysis indicated that their genetic heritage is best described as a mixture of Ancient Anatolia, Levant, and Iran/Caucasus.^[23]

Subtle genetic differences were observed among the four individuals, suggesting a degree of population diversity within Bahrain even before the Islamic era. One individual displayed a stronger affinity to Levantine populations, while others showed closer genetic links to groups from Iran and the Caucasus.^[23]

Comparing the ancient Bahraini genomes to those of modern populations revealed notable connections. Genetically, the Tylos-period individuals showed closer affinities to present-day inhabitants of Iraq and the Levant than to modern-day Arabians from the peninsula.^[23]

Malaria adaptation

The G6PD Mediterranean mutation, known to provide protection against malaria, was found in three out of the four ancient individuals. Genetic analysis suggests that this mutation began to increase in frequency in Eastern Arabia around 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. This timeframe coincides with the emergence of agriculture in the region, which could have inadvertently created environments conducive to malaria-carrying mosquitoes, thus driving natural selection for malaria resistance.^[23]

Haplogroups

Y-chromosome DNA

Y-Chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) represents the male lineage. In 2020, a study was made on 562 unrelated Bahraini males.^[24] Paternal population structure within Bahrain was investigated using the 27 Y-STRs (short tandem repeats) in the Yfiler Plus kit to generate haplotypes from 562 unrelated Bahraini males, sub-divided into four geographical regions—Northern, Capital, Southern and Muharraq.^[24]

Haplogroup prediction indicated diverse origins of the population with a predominance of haplogroups J2 and J1, but also haplogroups such as B2 and E1b1a likely originating in Africa, and H, L and R2 likely indicative of migration from South Asia.^[24] Haplogroup frequencies differed significantly between regions, with J2 significantly more common in the Northern region compared with the Southern, possibly due to differential settlement by Baharna, Ajams and Arabs.^[24]

Haplogroup prediction suggests that haplogroup J2 is the most common in the Bahraini population (It is thought that J-M172 may have originated in the Caucasus, Anatolia or Western Iran) encompassing 27.6% of the sample, followed by J1 (23.0%), E1b1b (8.9%), E1b1a (8.6%) and R1a (8.4%), with other predicted haplogroups (G, T, L, R1b, Q, R2, B2, E2, H and C) occurring at progressively lower frequencies.^[24]

Haplogroup J1 is most frequent in the Southern Governorate (27%) where the highest proportion of Arabs live, and in the Muharraq Governorate (27%) where many migrant Huwala Arabs resettled, and it declines to its lowest frequency in the Northern and Capital Governorates (21% and 19%).^[24]

By contrast, the Northern and Capital Governorates where the Baharna and Ajam are most represented show higher frequencies of haplogroup J2 (34% and 31%) than in Muharraq and the Southern Governorate (both 17%).^[24]

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Islam is the official religion forming 74% of the population.^[3] Current census data does not differentiate between the other religions in Bahrain, but in 2022, the country was approximately 12%^[26] Christian and had about 40^[26][27] Jewish citizens.

According to the website of Ministry of Information Affairs, 74% of the population are Muslim, with Christians being the second largest religious group, forming 10.2% of the population, Jews making up 0.21%. The percentage of local Bahraini Christians, Jews, Hindus and Baha'is is collectively 0.2%.^[28][3]

Bahraini citizens of Muslim faith belong to the Shi'a and Sunni branches of Islam. The last official census (1941) to include sectarian identification reported 52% (88,298 citizens) as Shia and 48% as Sunni of the Muslim population.^[29][11] Unofficial sources, such as the Library of Congress Country Studies,^[30] and The New York Times,^[31] estimate sectarian identification to be approximately 45% Sunni and 55% Shia. An official Bahraini document revealed that 51% of the country's citizens are Sunnis, while the Shiite population has declined to 49% of the Muslim population.^[32]

Foreigners, overwhelmingly from South Asia and other Arab countries, constituted 52.6% of the population in 2020.^[3] Of these, 50.9% are Muslim and 49.1% are non-Muslim,^[3] including Christians (primarily: Catholic, Protestant, Syriac Orthodox, and Mar Thoma from South India), Hindus, Buddhists, Baháʼís, and Sikhs.

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