Editing Manama (section)

=== Road network ===
[[File:Manama (40513813472).jpg|thumb|left|Aerial view of Manama City]]
[[File:Avenues night.jpg|thumb|Manama night view]]
[[File:BBD birds eye view.jpg|thumb|Bahrain Bay overview]]
[[File:Manama, Bahrain Decembre 2014.jpg|thumb|Skyline of Manama]]

Manama is the main hub of the country's road network. At the moment the city's road network is undergoing substantial development to ameliorate the situation of traffic in the city.  Due to the fact that it is the capital and the main city in the country, where most of the government and the commercial offices and facilities are established, along with the entertainment centers, and the country's fast growth, vehicle population is increasing rapidly.

The widening of roads in the old districts of Manama and the development of a national network linking the capital to other settlements commenced as early as the arrival of the first car in 1914.<ref name=Yasser>{{cite book|last=Elsheshtawy|first=Yasser|title=The evolving Arab city: tradition, modernity and urban development|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1134128211|page=198|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O8Zz-2AtuIwC&pg=PA198 |year=2011}}</ref> The continuous increase in the number of cars from 395 in 1944,<ref name=Yasser/> to 3,379 in 1954 and to 18,372 cars in 1970<ref name=Yasser/> caused [[urban development]] to primarily focus on expanding the road network, widening [[carriageway]]s and the establishment of more parking spaces.<ref name=Yasser/> Many tracks previously laid in the pre-oil era (prior to the 1930s) were resurfaced and widened, turning them into 'road arteries'. Initial widening of the roads started in the [[Manama Souq]] district, widening its main roads by demolishing encroaching houses.<ref name=Yasser/>

A series of [[ring roads]] were constructed (Isa al Kabeer avenue in the 1930s, Exhibition avenue in the 1960s and Al Fateh highway in the 1980s<ref name=Yasser/>), to push back the [[coastline]] and extend the city area in belt-like forms.<ref name=Yasser/> To the north, the foreshore used to be around ''Government Avenue'' in the 1920s but it shifted to a new road, ''King Faisal Road'', in the early 1930s which became the coastal road.<ref name=Yasser/> To the east, a bridge connected Manama to Muharraq since 1929, a new causeway was built in 1941 which replaced the old wooden bridge.<ref name=Yasser/> Transits between the two islands peaked after the construction of the [[Bahrain International Airport]] in 1932.<ref name=Yasser/>

To the south of Manama, roads connected groves, lagoons and marshes of [[Hoora]], [[Adliya]], [[Gudaibiya]] and [[Juffair]].<ref name=Yasser/> Villages such as [[Mahooz]], [[Ghuraifa]], [[Seqaya]] served as the end of these roads. To the west, a major highway was built that linked Manama to the isolated village port of [[Budaiya]],<ref name=Yasser/> this highway crossed through the '[[green belt]]' villages of [[Sanabis]], [[Jidhafs]] and [[Duraz]].<ref name=Yasser/> To the south, a road was built that connected Manama to [[Riffa]]. The discovery of oil accelerated the growth of the city's road network.<ref name=Yasser/>

[[File:Muharraq and Manama.jpg|thumb|left|Muharraq]]

The four main islands and all the towns and villages are linked by well-constructed roads. There were {{convert|3164|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} of roadways in 2002, of which {{convert|2433|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} were paved. A [[causeway]] stretching over {{convert|2.8|km|mi|0|abbr=on}}, connect Manama with [[Muharraq Island]], and another bridge joins [[Sitra]] to the main island. A four-lane highway atop a {{convert|24|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} [[causeway]], linking [[Bahrain]] with the [[Saudi Arabia]]n mainland via the island of [[Umm an-Nasan]] was completed in December 1986, and financed by [[Saudi Arabia]]. In 2000, there were 172,684 passenger vehicles and 41,820 commercial vehicles.

Bahrain's port of [[Mina Salman]] can accommodate 16 oceangoing vessels drawing up to {{convert|11|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}. In 2001, Bahrain had a merchant fleet of eight ships of 1,000 [[Gross Tonnage|GT]] or over, totaling 270,784 GT. Private vehicles and taxis are the primary means of transportation in the city.