- Home : Middle East Country Guides : Oman : General information
Oman » Key FactsMiddle East, southeastern tip of Arabian Peninsula.
Area309,500 sq km (119,500 sq miles).
Population3.2 million (CIA estimate 2007).
Population Density10.3 per sq km.
CapitalMuscat. Population: 620,000 (census 2003).
GovernmentSultanate since 1744.
The Sultanate of Oman occupies the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula with almost 1,700km (1,062 miles) of coastline stretching along the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Gulf. It is bordered by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the west and the Republic of Yemen to the south. The United Arab Emirates lies to the northwest of Oman and to the east lies the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman.
LanguageArabic is the official language. English is widely spoken. Swahili is also spoken by Omani descendents from East Africa. German and French are spoken by some hotel staff while Urdu, Farsi, Hindi and Tagalog are widely spoken by Oman’s large expatriate workforce.
ReligionPredominantly Muslim, including Shi’ite Muslim, Sunni Muslim and facilities for the worship of other religions.
TimeGMT + 4.
Social ConventionsShaking hands is the usual form of greeting. A small gift, either promoting your company or country, is well received. As far as dress is concerned, it is important that women dress modestly beyond the hotel grounds, ie long skirts or dresses (below the knee) with covered shoulders; men should wear trousers and shirts with sleeves. Tight-fitting clothes should be restricted to hotel restaurants to avoid giving offence although this is not strictly followed by some Westerners. Shorts should not be worn in public and beachwear is prohibited anywhere except the beach. Collecting seashells, abalone, corals, crayfish and turtle eggs is also prohibited. Dumping litter is forbidden. It is polite not to smoke in public, but generally no-smoking signs are posted where appropriate. Homosexual behaviour is illegal.
Photography: Visitors should ask permission before attempting to photograph people or their property. ‘No Photography’ signs exist in certain places and must be observed. Electricity220/240 volts AC, 50Hz.
Head of StateSultan Qaboos bin Sa’id since 1970.
Recent HistoryThe current Sultan and his partially publicly elected government have been responsible for overseeing the country’s dramatic modernisation programme. When he came to power in 1970, Sultan Qaboos inherited a country that boasted only 10km of sealed road, two American-run missionary hospitals and no secondary schools. Today, good roads link nearly every town in the country, every region has modern healthcare facilities, and all Omani citizens are given free primary and secondary education. Oman has gained an international reputation for being a peaceful, settled nation, loyal to Arab neighbours whilst maintaining close, friendly ties with Western countries, particularly the UK.
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Content in the country guide is updated every 3 months and is to the best of our knowledge accurate and up-to-date. The information contained is intented as a general guide - any opinions or travel advise expressed are not necessarily those of AME Info FZ LLC.
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Content in the country guide is updated every 3 months and is to the best of our knowledge accurate and up-to-date. The information contained is intented as a general guide - any opinions or travel advise expressed are not necessarily those of AME Info FZ LLC.
The information is provided in association with Columbus Travel Publishing Limited and my not be republished or reproduced in anyway without the prior written consent by the publisher.
All information made available from within this product is provided without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to, any warranties as to merchantability, non-infringement or fitness for a particular purpose. We accept no responsibility for any loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by any person resulting from this information.
AME Info FZ LLC or Columbus Travel Publishing Limited shall not be liable for any technical, editorial or typographical or other errors or omissions within the information accessible through this product.
Whilst changes are periodically made to the information herein AME Info FZ LLC or Columbus Publishing Limited does not warrant that information currently accessible is either up-to-date or accurate.
All product names mentioned herein are subject to the trademarks and/or trademark rights of their respective owners.
3D Animated Flags used in this section is courtesy of www.3DFlags.com
Please contact us if you have any questions or corrections to the content in this section.
Information in this section was last updated: Monday, September 29 - 2008
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