Jannusan
Jannusan is a village in the Northern Governorate of Bahrain. It is known for its gardens and orchards, which are frequented by tourists. The area's historical catering to tourists has caused grievances between the Bahraini government and the local populace, with residents complaining of inadequate housing and cramped living spaces. In response, the government has built and subsidized, in conjunction with the country's major banks, social housing in the village.
Etymology
There are a number of explanations for how the name Jannusan came to be. According to Bahraini historian Sheikh Muhammad Ali Al-Tajer, Jannusan is a warped portmanteau of the Arabic words for jinn and human. Meanwhile, the philologist Al-Nasiri wrote that Jannusan is a corruption of the Dilmun name Jun San. Locals meanwhile insist the name is of Persian origin, a distortion of the words "paradise of man" in the Persian language, a reference to the picturesque landscape surrounding the village.Social issues
Adequate housing has historically been a point of contention between locals and the Bahraini government. In 2004, residents claimed that less than ten percent of the land in the village was inhabited by locals, while the rest consisted of gardens and orchards meant to attract foreign tourists. The Bahrain-based Ithmaar Bank announced in May 2021 that it had begun offering financing for villas at the Danaat Al Baraka complex in Jannusan, as part of the government's social housing scheme to help Bahraini nationals purchase their first homes. The following month, the Al Baraka Islamic Bank announced that the complex's first residents had moved in.Pro-democracy protests took place in Jannusan in 2013, and again in 2023, amid hunger strikes by imprisoned democracy activists.