Sitra ( ar, سترة or , ''As-Sitra''), also known as Sitrah ( ar, Jazīrat Sitrah, script=Latn) or Sitra Island ( ar, Jazīrat as-Sitra, script=Latn), is an
island in Bahrain.
It lies south of the capital,
Manama, on
Bahrain Island.
History
;Conflict with Al Khalifa in 1782
In 1782, a conflict occurred between locals and a number of
Al Khalifa who came from
Zubara
Zubarah ( ar, الزبارة), also referred to as Al Zubarah or Az Zubarah, is a ruined and ancient fort located on the north western coast of the Qatar peninsula in the Al Shamal municipality, about 105 km from the Qatari capital of Doha. ...
to buy supplies. The clashes resulted in deaths from both sides.
;Arab Spring
During the Arab Spring, there was a big protest here. Many protesters were injured or killed. (See
Day of Rage (Bahrain)
The Day of Rage ( ar, يوم الغضب, translit=Yawm al-Ghaḍab) is the name given by protesters in Bahrain to 14 February 2011, the first day of the national uprising as part of the Arab Spring. Inspired by successful uprisings in Egypt a ...
).
Geography
The Island is located just east of
Bahrain Island in
Persian Gulf. It lies south of
Manama and
Nabih Saleh. The island's western coast forms the boundary of
Tubli Bay
Tubli Bay ( ar, خليج توبلي) (also known as the Gulf of Tubli) is a bay in the east of Bahrain, between Bahrain Island and Sitra island. The body of water is directly south of the Manama peninsula. The island of Nabih Saleh lies in the ba ...
.
The island used to be covered in
date palm
''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle Eas ...
groves and
farms, watered by several
freshwater spring
A spring is a point of exit at which groundwater from an aquifer flows out on top of Earth's crust (pedosphere) and becomes surface water. It is a component of the hydrosphere. Springs have long been important for humans as a source of fresh w ...
s.
Mangroves used to line the western coast, however they have almost disappeared due to development.
Demography
Most of the inhabitants of the island live in nine historic villages:
*
Wadyan
*
Al Kharijiya
*
Marquban
Marquban (Arabic: مرقوبان) is a village in Sitra, 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 ...
*
Al Garrya
*
Mahazza
*
Sufala
*
Abul Aish
*
Halat Um al-Baidh (the location of the yacht club and Al Bandar resort)
*
Al Hamriya
There is a massive land reclamation project called
East Sitra which increased the island size by 50% and has a new city built on it.
Economy
The island's economy used to be based on agriculture and fishing.
The northern section of the island has been turned into an industrial area.
Bapco oil storage reservoirs are located in the south. Sitra is also the terminus of the 42-km Dhahran-Sitra
natural gas pipeline
Pipeline may refer to:
Electronics, computers and computing
* Pipeline (computing), a chain of data-processing stages or a CPU optimization found on
** Instruction pipelining, a technique for implementing instruction-level parallelism within a s ...
, which connects it to
Dahran
Dhahran ( ar, الظهران, ''Al-Dhahran'') is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 240,742 as of 2021, it is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Together with the nearby cit ...
in
Saudi Arabia.
Several car and furniture showrooms also make up the new development on the island.
The
Sitra Club
Sitra Club ( ar, نادي سترة الثقافي والرياضي) is a sports club based in Sitra, Bahrain. The club was established in 1957. The main activities are Association football, football and basketball. The basketball and football t ...
is a cultural and sports club for the island.
Today Sitra handles Bahrain's entire petroleum production. It is the location of
Port of Sitra
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as ...
. It is also the export center for the oil fields in northeastern
Saudi Arabia.
Education
Sitra is the site of many school campuses such as
Al Noor International School
Al Noor International School is a selective private school in Bahrain founded on September 6, 1993, by private investors. The school teaches over 3000 students from more than 40 countries, mainly the United States, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, I ...
and
Indian School, Bahrain
The Indian School ( ar, المدرسة الهندية) is a CBSE–affiliated community school in Bahrain. Founded by three Indian women as an elementary school for the children of Indian nationals in Bahrain, it is currently one of the largest ...
. The
Applied Science University is located here.
Transportation
The
Sitra Causeway
The Sitra Causeway consists of a series of bridges and causeways constructed in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The causeway connects the island of Nabih Saleh and Sitra, to the capital city Manama across Tubli Bay.
Originally constructed in the early 1 ...
connects the north of the island to
Nabih Saleh and to
Umm al Hussam
Umm Al Hassam ( ar, أم الحصم) (trans. ''Mother of Sea Shells'') is a middle-class neighbourhood on the southern coast of Manama, which is the capital of Bahrain. The neighborhood is home to the majority of Bahrain's local Jewish community. ...
(
Manama) on
Bahrain Island.
Two small bridges on the south west of Sitra also joins Bahrain Island, near the villages of
Ma'ameer and
Eker
Eker ( ar, العكر) is an area in Bahrain, located near the villages of Nuwaidrat, Ma'ameer and the island of Sitra.
It is divided into 2 regions: East Eker and West Eker, with Shias making up the majority of the former's population. .
Administration
The southern part of the island belongs to
Southern Governorate and the northern part to
Capital Governorate.
Between 1990 and 2013 it was part of
Central Governorate of
Bahrain, but that is now dissolved.
Between 1920 and 1990 it was part of Sitra Municipality.
Sitra Municipality
This was a
municipality in Bahrain before they were re-organized as Governorates. The Sitra Municipality consisted of the island of Sitra and three villages close to it on the main island of Bahrain:
Ma'ameer,
Eker
Eker ( ar, العكر) is an area in Bahrain, located near the villages of Nuwaidrat, Ma'ameer and the island of Sitra.
It is divided into 2 regions: East Eker and West Eker, with Shias making up the majority of the former's population. and
Nuwaidrat.
Image gallery
File:Un-bahrain.png, Map 1
File:Bahrain, administrative divisions 2014 - de - colored.svg, Map Districts
File:Capital Governorate in Bahrain 2014.svg, District Map
File:Southern Governorate in Bahrain 2014.svg, District Map
File:BapcoTanks-SitraBahrain.jpg, Bapco Bahrain
The Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) is an integrated national oil company of Bahrain.
History
The BAPCO was established in 1929 in Canada by Standard Oil Company of California for oil exploration activities in Bahrain.
It took over Bahr ...
oil reservoirs in Sitra
File:Sitra Wharf, 1940.jpg, Berth number 4 in Sitra Wharf in 1940
File:Bahrain-Sitrah.png, Map of Bahrain showing Sitrah municipality
File:Sitra_cemetery_-_Flickr_-_Al_Jazeera_English.jpg, Cemetery
File:Women taking part in a pro-democracy sit in in Sitra.jpg, Women taking part in a pro-democracy sit-in in Sitra
File:Bahrain map.png, Sitra (Sitrah), east of Manama, in Bahrain
Sitra Island
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sitra
Populated places in Bahrain
Islands of Bahrain
Artificial islands of Bahrain
Former municipalities (regions) of Bahrain
