Isa Town (, ''Madīnat ʿĪsā'') is a middle class town located in

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

, in the north central part of the country.

Etymology

The name ''Isa'' refers to Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifah, a former ruler of Bahrain, from 1961 to 1999.

History

Isa Town largely comprises affluent newly constructed villas, and is home to many members of Bahrain's educated middle class. In 2002's election it was one of the few areas of Bahrain not to be entirely represented by an Islamist or

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

MP, with Abdnabi Salman of the formerly communist Democratic Bloc winning the seat. In 2006's election, ex-Harvard academic Dr Munira Fakhro of Wa'ad lost in controversial circumstances to Sunni Islamist Dr Salah Ali of Al-Menbar Islamic Society. It was one of the twelve

municipalities of Bahrain Bahrain was formerly split into twelve regions ( mintaqah) that were all administered from the capital city of Manama. On July 3, 2002, these were superseded by the five Governorates of Bahrain (four as of September 2014, with the abolishment of ...

after being split off of the municipality of al Mintaqah al Wusta in 1988, then became part of the Central Governorate till September 2014 when it became part of Capital Governorate.

Notable sites

Isa Town is famous for its traditional

marketplace A marketplace, market place, or just market, is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from ...

. Isa Town also houses most of the private schools in Bahrain, with the ''Indian School'', ''The New Indian School'', '' Pakistan Urdu School'', '' Sacred Heart School'', '' Ibn Khuldoon National School'', ''Pakistan School'', ''The Bahrain Bayan School'', the ''Naseem International School'' and the '' St. Christopher's School'', all concentrated in a small zone which also includes the Isa Town campus of the University of Bahrain. The ''National Driving School'' and the ''Directorate of Road Traffic'' have their headquarters in Isa Town. Other offices include the Ministry of Education and the ''Ministry of Information'', which includes the Bahrain Radio & TV broadcasting station, in Isa Town. Besides the market, the main landmark is the

Bahrain National Stadium Bahrain National Stadium (; Arabic transliteration, transliterated: Stād al-Bahrayn al-Watanī) is the national stadium of Bahrain, located in Riffa. It can accommodate 24,000 spectators and is used mostly for Association football, football mat ...

. The new Bahrain Polytechnic has also opened on the site of the old Bahrain University.

Pakistan School, Bahrain

Pakistan School, Bahrain (PSB; ) is a

Pakistan International School A Pakistan International School () is a school based outside Pakistan which promotes the national curriculum. These schools fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education and cater mainly to students who ar ...

located in Isa Town,

. The school was founded in July 1968 by a group of

overseas Pakistanis Overseas Pakistanis (), or the Pakistani diaspora, refer to Pakistanis who live outside of Pakistan. These include citizens who have migrated to another country as well as people born abroad of Pakistani descent. According to a December 201 ...

. Originally the school was housed at a rented building in

Manama Manama ( ', Bahrani Arabic, Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and List of cities in Bahrain, largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 297,502 as of 2012. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is ...

with 100 students. With a gradual increase in enrollment, the need to construct a school building was deemed necessary, to provide all modern educational facilities. At the request of the managing committee of the school, the Kingdom of Bahrain leased land in Isa Town for the construction of the school. The

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

Ali M. Fakhro, laid the foundation stone of the school on 10 January 1983 while H.E Salman, Crown Prince of Bahrain performed the inauguration of the building on 23 March 1985. The building was again expanded and on 25 September 1993, Jinnah Block was inaugurated. On 5 June 1995, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan inaugurated Sir Syed Block.

Isa Town Market inferno

On 15 July 2012, the Isa Town

caught fire, damaging more than 450 shops and causing damages amounting to hundreds of thousands of dinars. It took dozens of firefighters and around 30

fire engines A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...

more than five hours to control the blaze. There were no reported casualties although two firemen were hospitalized due to

smoke inhalation Smoke inhalation is the breathing in of harmful fumes (produced as by-products of combusting substances) through the respiratory tract. This can cause smoke inhalation injury (a kind of acute inhalation injury) which is damage to the respirator ...

. It was estimated that two-thirds of the market was destroyed. Bahrain's

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, ordered a probe to be set up to investigate the incident.

Healthcare

Alwalil Hospital Bahrain partners with Prime Sports & Medical Agency of England for recruitment of Nurses, Radiologist, and Laboratory Technician and Medical Assistance for Employment

Notable residents

Saudi singer, Rashed Al-Majed, the Bahraini guitarist Khalid Al-Thawadi and the Brothers Band () drummer, Wajeeh Hassan live in Madinat Isa.

References

{{Coord, 26, 10, 25, N, 50, 32, 52, E, display=title, region:BH-16_type:city(40000)_source:dewiki Populated places in the Central Governorate, Bahrain Former municipalities (regions) of Bahrain