Religion in Bahrain

The primary religion in Bahrain is Islam. Muslims (Shia and Sunni) account for 81.2% of total population, Christians constitute 9%, and others 9.8% (CIA).

The division between Shia population is social and cultural. “The Iranian Shia, known as Ajam, are well represented in the middle class professions and politically inactive. They see their relative privilege as contingent on the good will of the ruling Sunni al-Khalifas and are reluctant to jeopardize their position. Their native counterparts, known as Baharna, occupy the lowest strata of society and constitute 90% of the labor force. The two communities inhabit separate districts and there is little intermarriage between them. Defining themselves in opposition to the Ajam as well as ruling Sunnis, the Baharna have retained a strong Arab identity. Despite the segregation of the two communities, antagonism arose in the 1950s and 60s as the schism between conservatives and Arab nationalists came to mark not only a division between Arab and Persian, but between rich and poor across the Arab world” (Global Security).

Sources:

Central Intelligence Agency. The World Fact Book. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ba.html (accessed May 22, 2009).

Global Security. “The Shia of Bahrain.” GlobalSecurity.org. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/gulf/bahrain-religion.htm (accessed May 22, 2009).