List of World Heritage Sites in Bahrain

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. Bahrain accepted the convention on May 28, 1991, making its historical sites eligible for inclusion on the list. As of 2023, Bahrain has three World Heritage Sites.

Location of sites

Qal'at al-Bahrain

Bahrain Pearling Trail

Dilmun Burial Mounds

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Location of World Heritage Sites in Bahrain

List of sites

Name	Image	Location	Criteria	Year	Description
Qal’at al-Bahrain – Ancient Harbour and Capital of Dilmun		Capital Governorate 26.233611°N 50.520556°E / 26.233611; 50.520556 (Qal’at al-Bahrain – Ancient Harbour and Capital of Dilmun)	Cultural (ii) (iii) (iv)	2005	Qal’at al-Bahrain is a typical tell – an artificial mound created by many successive layers of human occupation. The strata of the 300 × 600 m tell testify to continuous human presence from about 2300 BC to the 16th century AD. About 25% of the site has been excavated, revealing structures of different types: residential, public, commercial, religious and military. They testify to the importance of the site, a trading port, over the centuries. On the top of the 12 m mound there is the impressive Portuguese fort, which gave the whole site its name, qal’a (fort). The site was the capital of the Dilmun, one of the most important ancient civilizations of the region. It contains the richest remains inventoried of this civilization, which was hitherto only known from written Sumerian references.
Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy		Muharraq Governorate 26.24128°N 50.61351°E / 26.24128; 50.61351 (Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy)	Cultural (iii)	2012	The site consists of seventeen buildings in Muharraq City, three offshore oyster beds, part of the seashore and the Qal’at Bu Mahir fortress on the southern tip of Muharraq Island, from where boats used to set off for the oyster beds. The listed buildings include residences of wealthy merchants, shops, storehouses and a mosque. The site is the last remaining complete example of the cultural tradition of pearling and the wealth it generated at a time when the trade dominated the Gulf economy (2nd century to the 1930s, when Japan developed cultured pearls). It also constitutes an outstanding example of traditional utilization of the sea’s resources and human interaction with the environment, which shaped both the economy and the cultural identity of the island’s society.
Dilmun Burial Mounds		Capital Governorate, Northern Governorate, Southern Governorate 26.149722°N 50.512778°E / 26.149722; 50.512778 (Dilmun Burial Mounds)	Cultural (iii) (iv)	2019	The Dilmun Burial Mounds, built between 2200 and 1750 BCE, span over 21 archaeological sites in the western part of the island. Six of these sites are burial mound fields consisting of a few dozen to several thousand tumuli. In all there are about 11,774 burial mounds, originally in the form of cylindrical low towers. The other 15 sites include 17 royal mounds, constructed as two-storey sepulchral towers. The burial mounds are evidence of the Early Dilmun civilization, around the 2nd millennium BCE, during which Bahrain became a trade hub whose prosperity enabled the inhabitants to develop an elaborate burial tradition applicable to the entire population. These tombs illustrate globally unique characteristics, not only in terms of their number, density and scale, but also in terms of details such as burial chambers equipped with alcoves.

Tentative List

Site	Image	Location	Criteria	Area ha (acre)	Year of submission	Description
Khor Hamad Town Tumuli Moundfield		Northern Governorate 26°06′46″N 50°30′50″E	Cultural		2001
Barbar Temple		Northern Governorate 26°13′34″N 50°29′03″E	Cultural		2001
Saar Heritage Park		Northern Governorate 26°11′48″N 50°29′08″E	Cultural		2001
Hawar Islands Reserve		Southern Governorate 25°38′49″N 50°46′34″E	Natural (vii) (ix)		2001
Manama, City of Trade, Multiculturalism and Religious Coexistence		Capital Governorate 26°13′30″N 50°34′39″E	Cultural (ii) (iii)		2018
Awali oil settlement		Southern Governorate 26°05′04″N 50°33′02″E	Cultural (ii) (iv)		2019