Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

is divided into four

Governorate A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...

s: the

Capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

, Northern, Southern and

Muharraq Muharraq ( ar, المحرق, al-Muḥarraq) is Bahrain's third largest city and served as its capital until 1932 when it was replaced by Manama. The population of Muharraq in 2012 was 176,583. The city is located on Muharraq Island. Bahrain Int ...

. Until September 2014, there were five, when the Central Governorate was abolished. Each governorate is governed by a Governor, appointed by the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

, and has its own municipality council, with separate elections for them. The first municipal elections in Bahrain held after independence in 1971, was held in conjunction with the

2002 Bahraini general election General elections were held in Bahrain on 24 October 2002 to elect the forty members of the Council of Representatives. They were the second general elections in the country's history, and the first since the dissolution of the 1973 National Asse ...

. The most recent was held in conjunction with the

2018 Bahraini general election General elections were held in Bahrain in November and December 2018 to elect the 40 members of the Council of Representatives. The first round of voting was on Saturday, 24 November, with a second round in 31 constituencies on Saturday, 1 Decemb ...

History

The first

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in Bahrain was the 8-member Manama municipality which was established in July 1919. Members of the municipality were elected annually; the municipality was said to have been the first municipality to be established in the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

. The municipality was in charge of cleaning roads and renting buildings to tenants and shops. The first municipal elections, to fill half the seats on local councils, were held in 1926.Jane Kinninmont (28 February 2011)
"Bahrain's Re-Reform Movement"
'' Foreign Affairs''. Retrieved 21 July 2012. By 1929, it undertook road expansions as well as opening markets and

slaughterhouse A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

s. In 1958, the municipality started

water purification Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids, and gases from water. The goal is to produce water that is fit for specific purposes. Most water is purified and disinfected for hu ...

projects. In 1960, Bahrain comprised four municipalities:

Manama Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 200,000 people as of 2020. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very di ...

Hidd :''To be distinguished from Ras al Hadd (رأس الحد), a district with a famous turtle breeding beach in Oman'' Al Hidd ( ar, الحد; transliterated: Al-Ḥidd) is a town in Bahrain, located on a sand spit on the southeastern extremity of Muh ...

Al Muharraq Muharraq ( ar, المحرق, al-Muḥarraq) is Bahrain's third largest city and served as its capital until 1932 when it was replaced by Manama. The population of Muharraq in 2012 was 176,583. The city is located on Muharraq Island. Bahrain Int ...

, and

Riffa Riffa ( ar, الرفاع, ) is the second largest city in the Kingdom of Bahrain by area size. Riffa is divided into three parts: , and . The city is completely located in the Southern Governorate. The city is growing fast: during the 2001 cen ...

. Over the next 30 years, the four municipalities were divided into 12 municipalities as settlements such as

Hamad Town Madinat Hamad or ''Hamad Town'' ( ar, مدينة حمد, Madīnat Ḥamad) is a primarily commuter city within northern Bahrain. It was a municipality of Bahrain in the central part of the country. Split from the municipality of Ar Rifa' wa al Mi ...

and Isa Town grew. These municipalities were administered from Manama under a central municipal council whose members are appointed by the king. Since 22 September 2014, Bahrain has been divided into four

governorate A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...

Constituencies

Each governorate is divided into a specific number of

constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

for the election of the country's

Council of Representatives The Council of Representatives (''Majlis an-nuwab''), sometimes translated as the "Chamber of Deputies", is the name given to the lower house of the Bahraini National Assembly, the national legislative body of Bahrain. The council was created ...

. Each constituency is listed as area 1, area 2 etc. Elections are held in these constituencies every four years, with each constituency electing one member. The most recent election was the

. Only Bahraini citizens are entitled to stand for and to vote at elections.

References

External links

*
Divisions of Bahrain
{{Articles on first-level administrative divisions of Asian countries Subdivisions of Bahrain Bahrain, Governorates Bahrain 1 Governorates, Bahrain Bahrain geography-related lists

History

Constituencies

See also

References

External links