The Gulf of Bahrain is an inlet of the

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 body ...

on the east coast of

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 List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

, separated from the main body of water by the peninsula of

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it s ...

. It surrounds the islands 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 an a ...

. The

King Fahd Causeway The King Fahd Causeway ( ar, جسر الملك فهد, Jisr al-Malik Fahd) is a 25 km (15.5 mi) long series of bridges and causeways connecting Khobar, Saudi Arabia and Al Jasra, Bahrain. Its five bridges rest on 536 concrete pylons, with ...

crosses the western section of the Gulf of Bahrain, connecting

Geography

The Gulf of Bahrain is a large bay lying on the west side of the Persian Gulf, between the peninsula of Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Midway between the northerly tip of Qatar and the coast of Saudi Arabia lies

, a group of six islands and many small islets. The Gulf of Bahrain thus has two openings to the Persian Gulf, the westernmost of which is spanned by a causeway leading to Saudi Arabia. The elongated southern portion of the Gulf of Bahrain forms the

Gulf of Salwah The Gulf of Salwah (Dawhat Salwah) is the southern portion of the Gulf of Bahrain. The Gulf of Salwah is a narrow bay separating the peninsula of Qatar from Saudi Arabia. It is bordered to the west by a well-vegetated shoreland containing palm tree ...

. To the southeast of Bahrain Island, and close to the coast of Qatar, lie the

Hawar Islands , native_name_link = Arabic language , native_name_lang = , sobriquet = , location = Persian Gulf , coordinates = , archipelago = Bahrain , waterbody = Persian Gulf , total_islands = , major_islands ...

, now part of Bahrain. The

that connects Saudi Arabia to the island of Bahrain was inaugurated on 26 November 1986. It consists of five bridges linked by otherwise solid embankments and the design was chosen to try to minimize the

environmental impact Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...

. Another causeway, the Qatar–Bahrain Causeway, is planned to link Bahrain to Qatar. This one will be solid for about half its length and the other half will be bridge. The presence of the causeway is likely to have a considerable effect on the circulation of water in the Gulf.

Flora and fauna

The Hawar Islands, just off the coast of Qatar, were listed as a

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Socotra cormorants. On the main island there are small herds of

Arabian oryx The Arabian oryx (''Oryx leucoryx'') or white oryx is a medium-sized antelope with a distinct shoulder bump, long, straight horns, and a tufted tail. It is a bovid, and the smallest member of the genus ''Oryx'', native to desert and steppe areas o ...

and

sand gazelle The Arabian sand gazelle (''Gazella marica'') or reem () is a species of gazelle native to the Middle East, specifically the Arabian and Syrian Deserts. Distribution and conservation Today it survives in the wild in small, isolated populations ...

. The Gulf of Bahrain is shallow and the waters have a small thermal capacity. They are subject to wide fluctuations in temperature, with a range of around the coasts. The water is also rather more saline (10%) than other parts of the Persian Gulf. Around Bahrain there are

seagrass meadow A seagrass meadow or seagrass bed is an underwater ecosystem formed by seagrasses. Seagrasses are marine (saltwater) plants found in shallow coastal waters and in the brackish waters of estuaries. Seagrasses are flowering plants with stems and ...

coral reefs A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

, mudflats and mangrove thickets. These areas are important for the biodiversity of the area, providing habitats for invertebrates, juvenile fish, turtles and

dugong The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest m ...

s. Bahrain has been expanding its land area by dredging the seabed and depositing material around its coast. In 1963, the area of Bahrain was and by 2007 it was . Extensive coral reefs in the adjoining seas have been destroyed and the increased sediment in the sea has had a deleterious effect on others. The Fasht Adham reef between Bahrain and Qatar was damaged by heat stress in 1996 and 1998 but has since been almost completely destroyed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gulf Of Bahrain

Bodies of water of Bahrain Gulfs of Saudi Arabia Bahrain–Qatar border Bahrain–Saudi Arabia border Qatar–Saudi Arabia border Gulfs of Qatar Bodies of water of the Persian Gulf