Oman << oh MAHN >> is a small country in the southeastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. Most of the land is desert, but it holds large deposits of petroleum. Muscat is Oman’s capital and largest city.
Oman lies on the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The country is bordered by Yemen on the southwest and Saudi Arabia on the west. The northern tip of Oman, the Musandam Peninsula, is separated from the rest of the country by the United Arab Emirates. The peninsula lies on the strategic Strait of Hormuz. This narrow waterway separates the Persian Gulf (commonly known as the Arabian Gulf in Arab countries) from the Indian Ocean, which opens to the east of the Gulf of Oman. All oil exported by ship from the Persian Gulf must pass through the strait.
Oman was extremely poor until oil was discovered there in 1964. The government has used oil revenues to finance economic improvements, and the standard of living of the population has risen. Nevertheless, most Omanis still struggle to earn a living.
Government.
Oman is ruled by a monarch called a sultan. The sultan appoints cabinet members who oversee the operations of the government. Two councils advise the sultan. The sultan appoints the Council of State. Omani men and women from throughout the country’s wilayats (districts) elect the members of the Consultative Council. Oman’s main courts are, from highest to lowest, the Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal, and Courts of First Instance. All judges are experts in Islamic law.
People.
Most of the population is Arab, and these people belong to various tribal and religious groups. The largest of the many non-Arab minorities who live in Oman are Balochis—that is, people from the Arabian Sea coast of Iran and Pakistan—and Asian Indians. The country’s official language is Arabic.
Most rural Omanis live in villages. Most people who live in coastal villages work on date palm plantations. Some fish for a living. Farmers in the interior villages grow dates, fruits, and grain. Some also raise animals.
Old Omani houses in coastal villages are made of palm leaves to allow the sea breezes to cool them. Old houses in villages in the interior are built of mud brick and stone. Newer housing is constructed from cement blocks. Some major towns have large stone fortresses that were built hundreds of years ago and beautifully decorated palaces where prominent families once lived.
Nomads make up about 5 percent of Oman’s population. Nomads move from place to place as they search for water and grazing for their herds of goats, camels, and small cattle. They live in tents.
Omanis depend on wells for water for most or all of the year. Before the Arabs took over Oman, Persians lived there and built canals called aflaj (singular, falaj) to carry water to the villages. Many aflaj carry water from underground wells tapped by tunnels called qanat.
Growing numbers of urban Omanis have jobs in industry, including the petroleum industry. Most city dwellers, however, are government workers, laborers, merchants, or sailors. Their houses are generally built of whitewashed mud brick. These houses are built around a central courtyard, and many have flat roofs surrounded by high walls. Some people sleep on these roofs during hot weather. The larger cities also have modern high-rise buildings.
Most Omanis are Muslims. Many belong to the moderate Ibadi (also spelled Ibadhi) branch of the Kharijite division of Islam. Ibadi Muslims have traditionally believed that the religious leader, the imām, should be elected based on merit. See Islam (Divisions of Islam).
The lives of most Omani women center on their homes and families. They follow Islamic religious rules about modest dress. When Omani women leave their houses, they wrap themselves in long black cloaks called abayas, and some also wear black masks called burqas to cover their faces. These garments also protect them from the sun. Many Omani men wear a long white robe called a dishdashah. They often carry decorative knives called khanjars, which they wear in brightly colored sashes. In rural areas, some men carry rifles.
Since 1970, the government has built many schools for children and has established literacy programs for adults. Because of these efforts, the number of Omani people 15 years old or older who can read and write is rising. Sultan Qaboos University, the first university in Oman, opened in the Muscat region in 1986.
Land and climate.
Most of Oman is dry and rocky. The Musandam Peninsula in the north consists of barren mountains. Al Batinah, a narrow coastal plain, lies along the Gulf of Oman. Date palms thrive in this fertile region.
Steep, rugged mountains called Al Hajar separate the Batinah from the interior. The interior is a vast, flat wasteland. The Rub al Khali (Empty Quarter), a desert, extends into western Oman from Saudi Arabia. Most of Oman’s coast along the Arabian Sea is barren and rocky. But tropical vegetation grows along the coast in Dhofar, a region in the south. Dhofar is famous for its frankincense trees, the best of which grow on a plateau north of the Jabal al Qara, a mountain range.
Temperatures in Oman may reach 130 °F (54.4 °C) during the summer. Most of Oman receives less than 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain each year. Dhofar, however, receives up to 25 inches (63.5 centimeters) of rain annually.
Economy.
Oman’s economy is largely based on oil and natural gas production. However, many Omanis work in traditional occupations, such as farming and fishing. Chief crops include dates and tomatoes. Nomads and some settled farmers raise camels, cattle, chickens, goats, and sheep. Oman’s fishing fleet catches sardines, tuna, and other fish and shellfish.
Oil and natural gas account for over half of Oman’s exports. Oman’s chief imports include automobiles, food, iron and steel, and machinery. The nation’s main trading partners include China, India, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.
History.
Human beings have lived in Oman for more than 5,000 years. Beginning in ancient times, Oman’s wooden sailing ships carried goods throughout the Persian Gulf and to coastal areas in south Asia and east Africa. In the 1500’s, Portuguese military forces built forts in Muscat and other Omani seaports as well as elsewhere in the Persian Gulf to control this rich trade. The Omani navy and tribal fighters, under the leadership of Sultan bin Saif al-Yaribi, forced the Portuguese from Oman in 1650. The Omanis then attacked rival shipping on the high seas and established control over trading ports along much of the east coast of Africa.
For centuries after the arrival of Islam in Oman during the 600’s, members of the Ibadi branch of the faith had come into repeated conflict with the dynasties and foreign powers ruling Oman. In the 1740’s, Ahmad bin Said, the first ruler of the Al Bu Said family, united the Omanis and took power. Ahmad died in 1783. The country was then increasingly divided between the hereditary Al Bu Said rulers, whose power was based in coastal Muscat, and the more traditional Ibadi tribes of the country’s interior, who looked to elected imams for leadership.
In 1798, the sultan signed the first of several treaties with the United Kingdom. The British competed against Oman for trade dominance in the Indian Ocean. Gradually, Oman’s sea trade declined and its economy suffered. Oman also lost control of its outposts in the east.
Oman was reunited in 1955 by Sultan Said bin Taimur. With British help, the sultan defeated rebellious Ibadi tribesmen of interior Oman in 1959. In the early 1960’s, another rebellion against Said began in Dhofar. In 1970, Said’s son Qaboos bin Said overthrew him. Qaboos put down the Dhofar rebellion in the mid-1970’s.
Said had been opposed to making Oman a modern state. Qaboos, however, immediately started to modernize the country. He developed the oil industry. He also constructed new irrigation systems and made many other agricultural improvements. He built roads, schools, and hospitals. Before Qaboos became sultan, few Omani children—and hardly any girls—ever went to school. Qaboos encouraged Omanis to educate their daughters as well as their sons.
In 1981, Oman and five other Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf formed the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). GCC members work together on military defense and economic projects. Following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Omani military forces, as part of the GCC and the allied coalition, took part in the 1991 ground campaign that liberated Kuwait.
In 2011, antigovernment protests erupted in several Omani cities. Protesters called for democratic reform and improved living conditions. In response, Sultan Qaboos promised to create more jobs and help those seeking employment. The protests in Oman followed similar events in Tunisia, Egypt, and elsewhere in the region.
Sultan Qaboos died on Jan. 10, 2020. Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, Sultan Qaboos’s cousin and a former culture minister of Oman, became sultan.
See also Gulf Cooperation Council; Muscat; Qaboos bin Said; Rial.
