Juffair ( ar, الجفير) is a district situated in

Manama Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 200,000 people as of 2020. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very d ...

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 a ...

. It was originally a separate village inhabited by

Shia Muslims Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...

but it has been absorbed by the suburban expansion of Manama in the 20th century, and presently includes large parts of land reclaimed from the sea. It is home to many hotels, restaurants, flats, and villas. It is also the site of Bahrain's largest mosque, Al Fateh Grand Mosque, which houses the National Library.

History

In 1908, John Gordon Lorimer's ''Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf'' described Juffair as a village located on the northern tip of the cape of Juffair. It boasted 80 reed huts occupied by

Baharna The Baharna ( ar, بحارنة) are the indigenous Shia Muslim inhabitants of Bahrain who inhabited the area before the arrival of Sunni Muslim Arab tribes from Najd, particularly by Banu Utbah in the 18th century which the Bahraini royal fami ...

, cultivators and fishermen. The village was home to 15 pearling vessels at the time. A large clump of 900

date palms ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle Eas ...

existed to the southwestern portion of the village alongside

lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label= Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital o ...

fields. A census of livestock showed 2 horses, 7 donkeys, and 4 cattle at the time. A

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

naval installation known as HMS ''Jufair'' was established near the old Juffair village on April 13, 1935, in the area where ASU-SWA is located today. In 1950, the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

leased office space aboard HMS JUFFAIR from the

. In 1971, after their treaty expired, the British left Bahrain, granting the island total independence. The United States, through agreement with the Bahraini government, took over part of HMS JUFFAIR, renaming it Administrative Support Unit Bahrain, subsequently

Naval Support Activity Bahrain Naval Support Activity Bahrain (or NSA Bahrain) is a United States Navy base, situated in the Kingdom of Bahrain and is home to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and United States Fifth Fleet. Occupying the original territory of the British Roy ...

. Many Westerners live in Juffair.

Amenities

The offices of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Central Informatics Organization, Bahrain Society of Engineers, and the ''

Bahrain Tribune ''The Daily Tribune'', also sometimes known by its subtitle ''News of Bahrain'', is an English-language daily newspaper in Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island ...

'' newspaper are all located in Juffair. The Bahrain School and Modern Knowledge School are both also located in Juffair. There is a new commercial road in Juffair (Al Shabab Road) that houses many restaurants and retail outlets, such as

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

Chili's Chili's Grill & Bar is an American casual dining restaurant chain. The company was founded by Larry Lavine in Texas in 1975 and is currently owned and operated by Brinker International. History Chili's first location, a converted postal stati ...

Nando's Nando's (; ) is a South African multinational fast casual chain that specialises in flame-grilled peri-peri style chicken. Founded in Johannesburg in 1987, Nando's operates over 1,200 outlets in 30 countries. Their logo (also seen as a sort ...

, Asian Zyng,

Dairy Queen Dairy Queen (DQ) is an American chain of soft serve ice cream and fast food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc. (a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway since 1998) which also owns Orange Julius, and formerly owned Karmelkorn and ...

Hardee's Hardee's Restaurants LLC is an American fast-food restaurant chain operated by CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. ("CKE") with locations primarily in the Southern and Midwestern United States. The company has evolved through several corporate ow ...

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 cou ...

, Abraj Grills, and

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based restaurant ch ...

, etc. Near the entrance of Juffair, there is a building called Murjan Shopping Center that has a large supermarket, a restaurant, post office, and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf coffee shop. The American Naval Support Center is located in Juffair.

References

Populated coastal places in Bahrain Neighborhoods of Manama {{Bahrain-geo-stub

History

Amenities

See also

References