Ar Rifa`

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Coordinates: 26°7′48″N 50°33′18″E / 26.13, 50.555
Ar Rifa` الرفاع
Riffa Fort
Ar Rifa` Location in Bahrain
Country	Bahrain
Governorate	South Governorate
Population (2001)
- Total	79,550
Time zone	UTC + 3 (UTC)

Ar Rifa` or Al-Riffa or Riffa (in Arabic: الرفاع) is a city in the South Governorate of central Bahrain.^[1]It is divided into two main cities, East Riffa and West Riffa, which are the two largest cities in the Southern Governorate. Most of the inhabitants are Sunni Muslims.

The city is growing fast and as of the 2001 census it had a population of 79,550 but the 2008 estimate is 111,000 ^[2].

1 East Riffa
2 West Riffa
3 References
4 External links

[edit] East Riffa

East Riffa has its own market and there are more shops and stores there than in West Riffa. East Riffa has many attractions, such as Riffa Fort, which is also known as Sheikh Salman Bin Ahmad Al Fateh Fort. Riffa Golf Club is another attraction in East Riffa, not far away from the fort, built with an investment of US $1.05 million. A new development, created by Arcapita, called Riffa Views, is an attempt to build a large desireable residential and commercial center ^[3]. The project will open in stages for the public to live. The whole development will include artificial lakes, an international school ^[4], commercial districts, supermakets, and will have access to the recently opened Royal Women's University . The Bukuwara street market is also located in East Riffa.

[edit] West Riffa

West Riffa is predominately a residential area. Most of the ruling family and other high ranking families, ministers and business investors live there. His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain lives there, as well as the Prime Minister, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa. Riffa’s famous clock tower is located in the centre of West Riffa.

West Riffa is home to the National Stadium, where most football matches and important sports events in Bahrain take place. West Riffa and East Riffa each have their own football clubs with their own stadiums.