and US; tropospheric scatter to
Qatar and UAE; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia; satellite
earth station - 1 (2007)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 2, FM 3, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios:

338,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

4 (1997)

Televisions:

275,000 (1997)

Internet country code:

.bh

Internet hosts:

2,621 (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

1 (2000)

Internet users:

250,000 (2007)

Transportation
Bahrain

Airports:

3 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 3
over 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007)

Heliports:

1 (2007)

Pipelines:

gas 20 km; oil 52 km (2007)

Roadways:

total: 3,498 km
paved: 2,768 km
unpaved: 730 km (2003)

Merchant marine:

total: 9
by type: bulk carrier 4, container 4, petroleum tanker 1
foreign-owned: 6 (Kuwait 5, UAE 1) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Mina' Salman, Sitrah

Military
Bahrain

Military branches:

Bahrain Defense Forces (BDF): Ground Force (includes Air Defense),
Naval Force, Air Force, National Guard

Military service age and obligation:

17 years of age for voluntary military service; 15 years of age for
NCOs, technicians, and cadets; no conscription (2008)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 210,938
females age 16-49: 170,471 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 171,536
females age 16-49: 142,714 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 6,543
female: 6,429 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

4.5% of GDP (2006)

Transnational Issues
Bahrain

Disputes - international:

none

Trafficking in persons:

current situation: Bahrain is a destination country for men and
women trafficked for the purposes of involuntary servitude and
commercial sexual exploitation; men and women from Africa, South
Asia, and Southeast Asia migrate voluntarily to Bahrain to work as
laborers or domestic servants where some face conditions of
involuntary servitude such as unlawful withholding of passports,
restrictions on movements, non-payment of wages, threats, and
physical or sexual abuse; women from Thailand, Morocco, Eastern
Europe, and Central Asia are trafficked to Bahrain for the purpose
of commercial sexual exploitation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Bahrain is on the Tier 2 Watch List
for failing to show evidence of increased effort