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Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa حمد بن عيسى آل خليفة
King of Bahrain
Reign	6 March 1999 – present
Predecessor	Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifah
Issue
Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifah Khalifa bin Hamad Al Khalifah Najla bint Hamad Al Khalifah Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifah Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifah Noora bint Hamad Al Khalifah Munira bint Hamad Al Khalifah Hessa bint Hamad Al Khalifah Sultan bin Hamad Al Khalifah Reema bint Hamad Al Khalifah Faisal bin Hamad Al Khalifah
Father	Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifah
Mother	Hessa bint Salman Al Khalifa
Born	28 December 1948 (1948-12-28) (age 61) Riffa, Bahrain
Religion	Sunni Islam

His Majesty King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa, KCMG (Arabic: حمد بن عيسى آل خليفة‎) (born 28 December 1950, Riffa, Bahrain) is the current King of Bahrain (since 2002), having previously been its Emir (from 1999). He is the son of Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifah, the previous emir.

For his secondary schooling, he attended the The Leys School, Cambridge, England. He later attended military colleges in the United Kingdom (including Sandhurst) and the United States (including Fort Leavenworth).^[1]

Al Khalifah has great interest in preserving heritage and continues to indulge in a number of sports activities and hobbies including falconry, golf, fishing, tennis and football. His keen interest in Arabian horses caused him to establish the Amiri stables in June 1977 which was registered in the World Arabian Horses Organization in September 1978.

Reign

Upon succeeding his father, King Hamad brought in sweeping political reforms to the Kingdom which included the release of all political prisoners, granting women the right to vote, and holding elections for parliament. The reforms were described by Amnesty International as representing a "historic period of human rights."^[2] The country was declared a kingdom in 2002. It formerly was considered an emirate and officially called a "state." In 2002, he took a stance opposing any 'unilateral' military action by the United States against Iraq.

Family

He and his wife, Queen Sabika bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, have four living children:

• Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, born on October 21, 1969
• Abdullah Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, born on June 30, 1975
• Sheikh Khalifa, born June 4, 1977
• Sheikha Najla, born May 20, 1981
• The sixth son, Faisal ibn Hamad Al Khalifa, died in a fatal car accident (born February 12, 1991 - January 13, 2006)

See also

• List of national leaders
• Al Khalifa

References

External links

• Bahrain Embassy
• The New Amir of Bahrain: Marching Sideways, Abdulhadi Khalaf, Civil Society, Volume 9, Issue 100, April 2000
• The King’s Dilemma: Obstacles to Political Reforms In BahrainPDF (227 KiB), Abdulhadi Khalaf, Fourth Mediterranean Social and Political Research Meeting, European University Institute, March 2003
• Generational change and elite-driven reforms in the Kingdom of Bahrain. (Sir William Luce Fellowship Paper No. 7) Dr. Steven Wright (2006) Institute for Middle East and Islamic Studies, University of Durham, (PDF Format)
• Bahrian: The Royals rule, Le Monde Diplomatique, March 2005
• An Arab exception: Reform in Bahrain The Economist, 29 July 2004 (requires subscription)