Madinat 'Isa
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Map of Bahrain showing Madinat 'Isa municipality |
Madinat 'Isa (
Isa Town) (
Arabic: مدينة عيسى) is a middle class suburb in
Bahrain in the north central part of the country. The name
Isa refers to
Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifah, the ruler of Bahrain from
1961 to
1999.
Isa Town is largely comprised of affluent newly constructed villas, and is home to many members of Bahrain's educated middle classes. Many of its residents are of
Huwala ancestory and speak a dialect of Persian as their first language. It is one of the few areas of Bahrain not to be represented by an
Islamist or
right wing MP, with Abdnabi Salman of the formerly communist
Democratic Bloc elected in 2002.
Isa Town is famous for the traditional marketplace. Isa Town also houses most of the private schools in Bahrain, with the
Indian School,
Sacred Heart School,
Ibn Khuldoon National School,
Pakistan School, the
Bahrain Bayan School, and the
St. Christopher's School, all concentrated into a small zone which also includes the Isa Town campus of the
University of Bahrain. The
National Driving School and the
Directorate of Road Traffic have their headquarters in Isa Town. Other offices include the Ministry of Education and the
Ministry of Information, which includes the Bahrain Radio & TV broadcasting station, in Isa Town. Besides the market, the main landmark is the
Bahrain National Stadium.
Among those who live in the area is the Saudi singer,
Rashed Al-Majed.
It was one of the twelve
municipalities of Bahrain after being split off of the municipality of
al Mintaqah al Wusta in
1988, and is now part of the
Central Governorate.