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 An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

in Bahrain. It lies south of the capital,

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 d ...

, 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 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 The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

. It lies south of

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 bay ...

. 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

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is use ...

s, 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 fres ...

Mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

s 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 * 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 Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...

pipeline, 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 ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

. 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 football and basketball. The basketball and football teams competes in the B ...

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. It is also the export center for the oil fields in northeastern

Education

Sitra is the site of many school campuses such as Al Noor International School 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 connects the north of the island to Nabih Saleh and to Umm al Hussam (

) on Bahrain Island. Two small bridges on the south west of Sitra also joins Bahrain Island, near the villages of Ma'ameer and Eker.

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 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 a ...

, 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 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 A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths ( mooring locati ...

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