On 21 February, the Bahrain News Agency, a branch of Bahrain's Ministry of Culture and Information, claimed that 300,000 Bahraini residents (more than fifty percent of the local population; Bahrain local population is 568,000), has gathered in the grounds opposite Al Fateh Mosque in Manama to support the ruling monarchy. It was announced that the 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix would be postponed from its original date on 13 March to a later date.