Al-Lawatis

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Al-Lawati (Arabic: اللواتية) is one of the major tribes in Oman. It is the largest of Oman's three Shi'a groups which includes Ajams and Baharna.

Traditionally, the community occupies a quarter of Matrah know as Sur al-Lawatia. The quarter still exists with attractive houses and a large mosque.

The size of al-Lawati population cannot be determined precisely but estimates to be between 10,000 and 15,000. Most of al-Lawatis reside in Muscat, the capital of Oman, but some live on the coast of Al-Batina. Also, some of the Lawatis families reside elsewhere in the Persian Gulf region such as Dubai, Qatar and Kuwait.

Poor economic conditions in Oman earlier in this century pompted some of the Lawatis to emigrate to other Persian Gulf countires such as Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar. Some of their descendanes returned to Oman in early 1970s.

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