> The Baharna (singular Bahrani, Arabic: بحراني ، بحارنة) are the indigenous inhabitants of the archipelago of Bahrain and the oasis of Qatif on the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia (see historical region of Bahrain). The term is sometimes also extended to the Shi'a inhabitants of the al-Hasa oasis. They are all Arabic speaking, and claim descent from Arab tribes. Their dialect of Arabic is known as "Bahrani" or "Bahrani Arabic," and they are overwhelmingly adherents of Shia Islam.
The term Bahrani serves to distinguish the Bahrani people from other Shi'i in the region, such as the relatively recent immigrants from Iran who fall under the term Ajam, as well as from the Sunni immigrants in Bahrain who prefer the term Bahrayni or Ahl el-Bahrayn ("people of Bahrain"). In previous centuries, the term "Bahrani" often referred to any Arab inhabitant of the larger historical region of Bahrain.
In Arabic, bahrayn is the dual form of bahr ("sea"), so al-Bahrayn means "the Two Seas". However, which two seas were originally intended remains in dispute. The term appears five times in the Qur'an, but does not refer to the modern island — originally known to the Arabs as "Awal" — but rather to the oases of al-Katif and Hadjar (modern al-Hasa). It is unclear when the term began to refer exclusively to the Awal islands, but it was probably after the 15th century.