Life in Bahrain today is heavily reliant on technology such as desalination plants, which provide the people with water and plants. Improved infrastructure, airplanes, and ships also provide food through efficient transportation and storage methods.
Oddly, in recent years the people have been able to not only survive on these desert islands, but have thrived and convinced others to immigrate to the islands as temporary workers. This is only possible with another important item: oil. Since the discovery of oil in the 1930s the country has been able to afford to ship in food and water as construction has expanded to house the people and shops. The economy has grown significantly during this past century and in order to have workers to work these jobs immigrants have arrived since the local population was historically very small and this has not changed enough in the past century to fill all positions needed to run the oil industry.
Today there is a large divide in the way of life in Bahrain. There are numerous foreigners from seemingly everywhere and these people tend to live as they lived in their home countries. The locals also continue to live as they have, but now they have gained more money through the oil industry and the government has improved numerous public sectors, such as education and healthcare with this new found wealth. This current and historic way of life for the locals is based on family and religion as these tend to be the most important aspects of their culture.
The locals in Bahrain also tend to have good job security as the government encourages education and stresses occupations that oversee the oil industry. They also tend to limit foreign immigrant numbers in order to guarantee locals all have jobs, giving the people a number of entitlements for simply being a citizen. Despite the changes in wealth and technology, for many of these citizens life and culture remain reliant on family and their Islamic faith, which dictates much of the culture's dress, behavior, and foods.