Living in Bahrain

Bahrain opens more readily to outsiders than its larger Gulf neighbors do. Pay is high, with no income tax on it, and although costs have crept up, a salary still leaves something over each month. Finance gives the small island much of its character, alongside engineering and healthcare, and English runs through the working day, so the local language is rarely a barrier. That mix of open hiring and widely spoken English makes it a gentler place to find an early foothold in the region.

Bahrain is a society where migrants make up the majority. About 804.5K residents — 51% of the population — were born abroad, most of them workers from South Asia, led by 327.7K from India, followed by Bangladesh and Pakistan. The foreign-born population has grown 16% over the decade. As across the Gulf, this is largely contract labor, and the small Bahraini diaspora of about 57,000 abroad is a fraction of the inflow.