The King of the Kingdom of Bahrain ( ar, ملك مملكة البحرين) is the

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power ...

and

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...

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 House of Khalifa has been the ruling family since 1783. Between 1783 and 1971, the Bahraini monarch held the title of hakim, and, from 1971 until 2002, the title of

emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ce ...

. On 14 February 2002, the emir of Bahrain,

Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa ( ar, حمد بن عيسى بن سلمان آل خليفة '; 28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain since 14 February 2002, after ruling as Emir of Bahrain from 6 March 1999. He is the son of Isa bin Salma ...

, declared Bahrain a kingdom and proclaimed himself the first king. The king enjoys wide ranging powers, which include appointing the

prime minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

and the cabinet, holding supreme command over the Defence Force, chairing the Higher Judicial Council, appointing the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...

and dissolving its elected

lower house A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or ot ...

List of rulers

Hakims of Bahrain (1783–1971)

The

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

title of the Hakim, as

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → o ...

, was ''Hakim al-Bahrayn'' ( en, Caretaker of Bahrain). The Hakim also held the

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...

title of

sheikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of ...

Emirs of Bahrain (1971–2002)

The Arabic title of the Emir, as transliterated, was ''Amir dawlat al-Bahrayn'' ( en, Chief of the State of Bahrain). The Emir also held the honorific title of sheikh.

King of Bahrain (2002–present)

The Arabic title of the King, as transliterated, is ''Malik al-Bahrayn'' ( en, King of Bahrain). The King also holds the honorific title of sheikh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King Of Bahrain History of Bahrain

1783 establishments in Asia

List of rulers

Hakims of Bahrain (1783–1971)

Emirs of Bahrain (1971–2002)

King of Bahrain (2002–present)

See also

References