Officially, Bahrain is called the Kingdom of Bahrain, a Persian Gulf country. The island nation is located north of Qatar and east of Saudi Arabia. Centered around Bahrain is a tiny archipelago which comprises 51 natural islands and extra 33 artificial islands. The country's landmark is built on approximately 83 percent of these islands. The Kingdom of Bahrain shares maritime boundaries with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Iran.
The island country covers a land area of 780 sq km, with a population of 1.58 million citizens and over 800,000 noncitizens. The official language in Bahrain is Arabic, and Manama is the island's capital and largest city.