OMAN
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 212,460 km2; land area: 212,460 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Kansas
Land boundaries: 1,374 km total; Saudi Arabia 676 km, UAE 410 km,
Yemen 288 km
Coastline: 2,092 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: to be defined;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: Administrative Line with Yemen; no defined boundary with
most of UAE, Administrative Line in far north
Climate: dry desert; hot, humid along coast; hot, dry interior;
strong southwest summer monsoon (May to September) in far south
Terrain: vast central desert plain, rugged mountains in north and
south
Natural resources: crude oil, copper, asbestos, some marble,
limestone, chromium, gypsum, natural gas
Land use: arable land NEGL%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 5%; forest and woodland 0%; other 95%; includes
irrigated NEGL%
Environment: summer winds often raise large sandstorms and
duststorms in interior; sparse natural freshwater resources
Note: strategic location with small foothold on Musandam
Peninsula controlling Strait of Hormuz (17% of world's oil production
transits this point going from Persian Gulf to Arabian Sea)
PEOPLE
Population: 1,534,011 (July 1991), growth rate 3.5% (1991)
Birth rate: 41 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 40 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 65 years male, 68 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 6.7 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Omani(s); adjective--Omani
Ethnic divisions: mostly Arab, with small Balochi,
Zanzibari, and South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi) groups
Religion: Ibadhi Muslim 75%; remainder Sunni Muslim, Shia
Muslim, some Hindu
Language: Arabic (official); English, Balochi, Urdu, Indian
dialects
Literacy: NA% (male NA%, female NA%)
Labor force: 430,000; agriculture (est.) 60%; 58% are non-Omani
Organized labor: trade unions are illegal
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Sultanate of Oman
Type: absolute monarchy; independent, with residual UK influence
Capital: Muscat
Administrative divisions: there are no first-order administrative
divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 7 planning
regions (manatiq takhtitiyah, singular--mintaqah
takhtitiyah) that include 1 governorate* (muhafazah)
and 50 districts (wilayat, singular--wilayah);
al-Batinah--Awabi, Barka, Khabura, Liwa, Musanaa, Nakhl, Rustaq,
Saham, Shinas, Sohar, Suwaiq, Wadi al-Maawil;
al-Dakhiliah--Adam, al-Hamra, Bahla, Bidbid, Haima, Izki, Manah,
Nizwa, Sumail;
al-Dhahirah--al-Buraimi, Dhank, Ibri, Mhadha, Yanqul;
al-Janubiah--Dhalqut, Mirbat, Rokhyut, Sadah, Salalah, Shalim,
Taqa, Thamrait;
al-Sharqiya--al Kamil and al-Wafi, al-Mudhaiby, al-Qabil,
Bidiya, Dimaa and Tayin, Ibra, Jaalan Bani Bu Ali,
Jaalan Bani Bu Hassan, Masirah, Sur, Wadi Bani Khalid;
Musandam--Daba al-Biya, Bukha, Khasab, Madha;
Muscat--Muscat*, Quriyat
Independence: 1650, expulsion of the Portuguese
Constitution: none
Legal system: based on English common law and Islamic law; ultimate
appeal to the sultan; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Executive branch: sultan, Cabinet
Legislative branch: State Consultative Assembly (advisory
function only)
Judicial branch: none; traditional Islamic judges and a nascent
civil court system
National holiday: National Day, 18 November
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--Sultan and Prime Minister
QABOOS bin Said Al Said (since 23 July 1970)
Political parties: none
Suffrage: none
Elections: none
Other political or pressure groups: outlawed Popular Front for the
Liberation of Oman (PFLO), based in Yemen
Member of: ABEDA, AFESD, AL, AMF, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, GCC, IBRD,
ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC,
ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU,
WHO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Awadh Bader AL-SHANFARI;
Chancery at 2342 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone
(202) 387-1980 through 1982;
US--Ambassador Richard W. BOEHM; Embassy at address NA, Muscat
(mailing address is P. O. Box 50200 Madinat Qaboos, Muscat); telephone
698-989
Flag: three horizontal bands of white (top, double width), red,
and green (double width) with a broad, vertical, red band on the hoist
side; the national emblem (a khanjar dagger in its sheath
superimposed on two crossed swords in scabbards) in white is centered at
the top of the vertical band
ECONOMY
Overview: Economic performance is closely tied to the fortunes of
the oil industry. Petroleum accounts for nearly all export earnings,
about 80% of government revenues, and roughly 40% of GDP. Oman has
proved oil reserves of 4 billion barrels, equivalent to about 20 years'
supply at the current rate of extraction. Although agriculture employs a
majority of the population, urban centers depend on imported food.
GDP: $9.2 billion, per capita $5,870 (1990); real growth rate
- 3.0% (1987 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.3% (1989)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $3.5 billion; expenditures $4.3 billion,
including capital expenditures of $675 million (1989 est.)
Exports: $3.9 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities--petroleum, reexports, processed copper, dates, nuts,
fish;
partners--Japan, South Korea, Taiwan
Imports: $2.3 billion (c.i.f., 1989);
commodities--machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured
goods, food, livestock, lubricants;
partners--UK, UAE, Japan, US
External debt: $3.1 billion (December 1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 10% (1989), including
petroleum sector
Electricity: 1,136,000 kW capacity; 3,650 million kWh produced,
2,500 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: crude oil production and refining, natural gas
production, construction, cement, copper
Agriculture: accounts for 6% of GDP and 60% of the labor force
(including fishing); less than 2% of land cultivated; largely subsistence
farming (dates, limes, bananas, alfalfa, vegetables, camels, cattle); not
self-sufficient in food; annual fish catch averages 100,000 metric tons
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $137
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $122 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $797 million
Currency: Omani rial (plural--rials); 1 Omani rial (RO) = 1,000
baiza
Exchange rates: Omani rials (RO) per US$1--0.3845 (fixed rate
since 1986)
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Highways: 22,800 km total; 3,800 km bituminous surface, 19,000 km
motorable track
Pipelines: crude oil 1,300 km; natural gas 1,030 km
Ports: Mina Qabus, Mina Raysut
Merchant marine: 1 passenger ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
4,442 GRT/1,320 DWT
Civil air: 4 major transport aircraft
Airports: 122 total, 114 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways;
1 with runways over 3,659 m; 8 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 64 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: fair system of open-wire, radio relay, and
radio communications stations; 50,000 telephones; stations--3 AM, 3 FM,
11 TV; satellite earth stations--2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1 ARABSAT,
and 8 domestic
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Royal Oman Police
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 348,849; 197,870 fit for
military service; 20,715 reach military age (14) annually
Defense expenditures: $1.0 billion, 12% of GDP (1991)