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The Sultanate of Oman (Standard Arabic:سلطنة عُمان Saltanat ˤUmān) is a country in the southwestern part of Asia, on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates in the northwest, Saudi Arabia in the west, and Yemen in the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea in the south and east, and the Gulf of Oman in the northeast. The country also has an exclave in the United Arab Emirates.
Contents

History

The Sultanate of Oman was once known by its Sumerian name Magan. Oman constituted one of the Satrapies of the Persian Empire. It was incorporated into that empire around 563 BC. This earlier empire was succeeded by the Sassanian Empire in the 3rd century CE.

By the beginning of the first century of the Common Era, Arab tribes began to settle in Oman. In 632, the Sassanids lost power and Arab dominance in Oman was established.

In 751, Ibādī Muslims established an imāmate in Oman. Imāms exercised spiritual leadership over the country. The Ibādiyya are a branch of the Kharijites, the earliest Muslim sect which rejected both potential successors to Muħammad's leadership. This imāmate survived until the mid-20th Century.

Oman has been a centre for traders for centuries. In 1508, the main port, Muscat, was captured by the Portuguese, who held it until it was taken by the Ottomans in 1659. The Ottomans were driven out in 1741, when the present line of sultans was formed by Aħmad ibn Saˤīd. However, Oman was occupied by Persia between 1743 and 1746

In the early 19th century, Oman grew to a major power, having possessions in Baluchistan and Zanzibar, but these were gradually all lost. In 1891, Oman became a British protectorate, which lasted until 1971.

The year prior, Sultān Saˤīd ibn Taymūr was ousted by his son, Sultān Qabūs ibn Saˤīd as-Saˤīd (r. 1970-). Sultān Qabūs has since greatly improved the economic situation of the country, remaining in peace with all other countries in the Middle East. In 1996, the sultan issued a decree promulgating a new basic law that clarifies the royal succession, provides for a bicameral advisory council with some limited legislative powers and a prime minister and guarantees basic civil liberties for Omani citizens.

Military bases in Oman were used (2001) by US forces involved in ground raids against Taliban forces in Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden. In 2003, the lower house of the advisory council was freely elected for the first time.

Politics

More information on politics and government of Oman can be found at the Politics and government of Oman series.
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Chief of state and government is the hereditary sultān, Qabūs ibn Saˤīd as-Saˤīd, who appoints a cabinet to assist him. In the early 1990s, the sultān instituted an elected advisory council, the Majlis ash-Shura, though few Omanis were eligible to vote.

Universal suffrage for those over 21 was instituted on 4 October 2003. Over 190,000 people (74% of those registered) voted to elect the 83 seats. Two women were elected to seats.

The sultān functions essentially as an absolute ruler.

Government

While His Majesty Sultan Qaboos functions as absolute ruler, Oman's government is organized into several categories of institutions.

Oman's govermental functions are chiefly implemented by ministries. There are ministries of:

Finance

National Economy
Oil and Gas
Commerce and Industry
Education
Health
Information
Social Development
Heritage and Culture
Tourism
Civil Services
Regional Municipalities, Environment, and Water Resources
Agriculture and Fisheries
Manpower
Religious Affairs
Housing, Electricity, and Water
Communications (previously Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones)

Representing His Majesty Sultan Qaboos directly is the Diwan of the Royal Court and Palace Affairs. In practice, the Diwan operates outside the mandate of other parts of the Omani government with superceding authority.

Ministries are headed by a Minister, a position carrying the title His Excellency. Ministries can have several under secretaries, also carrying title Your Excellency. Similarly, the Diwan has a minister and under secretaries. Ministers and under secretaries are appointed by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos; they are not elected. No qualifications of education or experience are required to hold office.

Bureaucracy and corruption are growing problem in the Omani government, in part because of a lack of fixed terms or qualifications for senior posts, and partly because all government funding is controlled by the Ministry of Finance, creating a severe operational bottleneck. This is a particularly daunting problem because more than 50% of the Omani economy is channeled through government institutions and contracts.

Unlike in Oman's neighboring United Arab Emirates which has a hard and fast policy of prompt payment and adhering to contractual obligations with private sector contracts, no protections or guarantees exist to hold government institutions liable for fair conduct. Consequently, horror stories abound of work contracts violated or ignored by government institutions, and several international business bureaus advice against doing business with the Omani government due to these problems.

Subdivisions

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Oman is divided into three governorates (muhafazah) and five regions (mintaqat). These regions are subdivided into provinces (wilayat).

Governorates

Geography

Aس vast desert plain covers most of central Oman, with mountain ranges along the north (Jebel Akhdar) and southeast coast, where the country's main cities are also located: capital city Muscat, Matrah and Sur in the north, and Salalah in the south. Oman's climate is hot and dry in the interior and humid along the coast. During past millennia Oman was covered by ocean. Fossilized shells exist in great numbers in areas of the desert up to 50 miles from the modern coastline.

Oman is considered to be one of the fifteen states that comprise the so-called "Cradle of Humanity". Not all of Oman's borders with the United Arab Emirates are well-defined.

Exclaves and enclaves

An exclave is a territory that belongs to a political entity but is not connected to it by land (islands are not counted) and is surrounded by other political entities.

The peninsula of Musandam (Musandem), which has a strategic location on the Strait of Hormuz, is separated from the rest of Oman by the United Arab Emirates and is thus an exclave.

Oman has one other exclave, this time inside UAE territory, known as Wadi-e-Madhah. It is located halfway between the Musandam Peninsula and the rest of Oman [link]. The exclave is on the Dubai-Hatta road in the Emirate of Sharjah. Belonging to Musandam governorate , it covers approximately 75 square kilometres (29 sq mi). The boundary was settled in 1969. The north-east corner of Madha is closest to the Khorfakkan-Fujairah road, barely 10 metres (30 ft) away. Within the exclave is an UAE enclave called Nahwa, belonging to the Emirate of Sharjah. It is about 8 kilometres (5 mi) on a dirt track west of the town of New Madha. It consists of about 40 houses with its own clinic and telephone exchange [link].

Economy

The economy of Oman is dominated by its dependence on crude oil. A joint venture called IPC drilled a number of dry holes from 1956 onwards though the logistics of doing this were extremely difficult due to lack of any transportation infrastructure.

A lack of success, combined with worsening logistical problems and a glut of oil on the world market, led most of the partners to withdraw from the venture in 1960. Only Royal Dutch/Shell and Partex opted to remain in Oman to continue the search for oil. They struck oil at Fahud in 1962 at a site just some few hundreds of metres from the last dry hole.

In June 1967, the Compagnie Française des Pétroles rejoined the partnership by taking over 10% of Partex's equity share, resulting in the following shareholding: Shell 85%, Compagnie Française des Pétroles 10% and Partex 5%. The company changed its name to Petroleum Development (Oman). Shortly followed by the first export of Omani oil on 27 July 1967.

On 1 January 1974 the Government of Oman acquired a 25% shareholding in the Petroleum Development (Oman); half a year later they increased it to 60%, backdated to the beginning of the year. As a result foreign shareholding in PD(O) was now made up of Royal Dutch/Shell (34%), Compagnie Française des Pétroles (now Total) (4%) and Partex (2%).

In a Royal Decree of 15 May 1980, the company was registered as a limited liability company (LLC) under the name Petroleum Development Oman.

Today Oman produces around 700,000 barrels (110,000 m³) of oil per day and there have been significant discoveries of natural gas and development of a liquefied natural gas terminal. Oil represents about 90% of Oman's exports.

The income generated was quickly deployed into building infrastructures of roads, schools, hospitals, water and electricity generating plants. All of this activity has made Oman a major success story for economic growth despite being the only oil-producing nation in the middle east that is not a member of OPEC.

Oman's economic performance improved significantly in 2000 due largely to the upturn in oil prices. The government is moving ahead with privatization of its utilities, the development of a body of commercial law to facilitate foreign investment, and increased budgetary outlays. Oman continues to liberalise its markets and joined the World Trade Organization in November 2000. GDP growth improved in 2001 despite the global economic slowdown.

Demographics

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Oman is the world's easternmost Arabian country. The majority of Omanis are Arabs, although there is a sizable Baloch, and swahili minority. As in most other Arab countries, a large number of foreign laborers live here, mostly from India and Pakistan. The official language is Arabic, but the minorities speak their own languages. A non-Arabic Semitic language is spoken in Dhofar.

Islam is the predominant religion, mostly Ibādiyya, with a Sunni population in Dhofar. Exact numbers are not certain.

Culture

Even though Oman is a modern country, western influences are quite restricted. The Ibādī form of Islam is fairly liberal in comparison with Sunni Islam and Shi'a Islam. In common with most Middle Eastern countries, alcohol is only available in some hotels and few restaurants.

Although Arabic is Oman's official language, there are native speakers of different dialects, as well as Baloochi, or offshoots of Southern Arabian, a Semitic language only distantly related to Arabic. However, the dominant indigenous language is a dialect of Arabic. However, the country has adopted a second language which is widely spoken, English, and is on almost all signs and writings that you see.

The Gulf of Oman is included in the game Battlefield 2 as a map in which players can be on the attacking US or defending MEC (Middle Eastern Coalition.) side.

Oman is famous for its khanjar knives.

Miscellaneous topics

External links

Government

General information Other

Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC)
مجلس التعاون لدول الخليج العربية
Bahrain | Kuwait | Oman | Qatar | Saudi Arabia | United Arab Emirates
Countries in Western Asia
Armenia - Azerbaijan - Bahrain - Cyprus - Georgia - Iraq - Israel - Jordan - Kuwait - Lebanon - Oman - Qatar - Saudi Arabia - Syria - Turkey - United Arab Emirates - Yemen

Countries and territories in the Middle East
Bahrain - Cyprus - Egypt - Iran - Iraq - Israel - Jordan - Kurdish Territories - Kuwait - Lebanon - Oman - Palestinian Territories - Qatar - Saudi Arabia - Syria - Turkey - United Arab Emirates - Yemen

[[zh-min-nan:Oman]]

 

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