Oman

The Sultanate of Oman is a country of the the Middle East, in the south of the peninsula of Arabia, on the edges of the Golfe of Oman and the Mer of Oman. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates in north, the Saudi Arabia in the west, the Yemen in south-west.

Oman is a monarchy independent since the middle of the 18th century. The economy of the country is particularly dependant on the extraction of its resources of Pétrole.

History

See also: History of Oman, Mascate and Oman

The area of Oman was known at the time sumérienne under the name of Magan. Oman constituted one of the satrapies of the Persian Empire when it was incorporated there, towards 563 av. J. - C.

The history of Oman starts truly only in year 751 of our era, with the election of the first Imam ibadite in Nizwa, city which was a long time the rival of Mascate before being supplanted by the latter. The country was partially occupied by the Portuguese of 1507 to 1650, then by Persians in 1737. The latter were driven out between 1741 and 1744, when the current line of the sultans of Oman was founded by Ahmed ibn Said.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Oman became an important power, with possessions with the Balouchistan and with Zanzibar, but they were lost gradually. In 1891, Oman became a British protectorate , until in 1971. In 1970 the sultan Said ibn Taymour had been évincé by his/her son, the current sultan Qabous bin Said Al Said. Qabous undertook since the economic improvement of the country, while maintaining peace with all the other countries of the the Middle East. In 1996, the sultan promulgated a decree clarifying the rules of succession, instituting a bicameral council equipped with certain legislative powers and a Prime Minister and guaranteeing basic civil liberties for the citizens omanis. In 2003, the Lower House of the council was freely elected for the first time. In 1980 agreement for an American base on the island Masirah, used then for operations in the Persian Gulf.

Policy

See also: Political of Oman

The Head of the State and the government is the sultan (Qabous bin Said Al Said since 1970) who indicates a cabinet to assist it. As from the years 1990 the sultan established an advisory committee elected named Majlis will ach-Choura by the vote censitaire. The sultan instituted the universal direct suffrage for Omanis of more than 21 years on October 4th, 2003. More than 190.000 people (74  % of the registered voters) voted to elect 83 representatives. Two women were elected.

Several women sit at the government.

Not having a child the Sultan laid down a rule of succession aiming at guaranteeing the continuity of the dynasty.

Subdivisions

See also: Subdivisions of Oman

Oman is divided into eight areas ( mintaqah ). These areas are in their turn divided into smaller districts ( wilayat ).

Geography

See also: Geography of Oman

Oman is located at the extreme south-east of the Arabic peninsula . The country is bordered by the Mer of Oman in the south and south-east, the Golfe of Oman in the North-East, the United Arab Emirates in north, the Saudi Arabia in the west and the Yemen in south-west.

A vast desert plain covers the major part of the center of the country and several chains of high mountains (Jebel ach-Chams, 3.009 m) extend along its coasts north and south-east, where the majority of the cities are located: Mascate, the capital, Matrah and On in north, Salalah in the south. The main city located inside the grounds, is Nizwa old capital of the sultanate. The climate of Oman is hot and dry inside the grounds, but wet at the seaside. In the mountains, many moderate oases use subterranean water and of the systems of Falajs for their terrace cultivation.

The peninsula of Musandam, strategically placed at the entry of the Strait of Ormuz, is separated from the remainder of the territory by the United Arab Emirates (the borders of Oman with the Emirates are not all well defined). Oman has in more a Enclave inside the territory of the Emirates, the town of Madha. The island of Masirah, with broad of Ramal Al Kabir, shelters an important transmitting station of BBC and is used as a basis for the 7th American fleet.

Economy

See also: Saving in Oman

The saving in Oman is dominated by its dependence with the Pétrole. A Joint venture called IPC drilled a great number of wells of survey starting from 1956 in spite of problems of logistics caused by a lack of infrastructures for transport.

Today Oman via its national company PDO ( Petroleum Development off Oman ) produced approximately 600.000 barrels per day. The country has a refinery which does not satisfy the needs for the hydrocarbon country. A new stage is launched since 2005 with the launching of the exploitation of gas reserves carried out by the national company Oman NLG. This one has a treatment plant in the north of the city of On.

More than 65% of the GDP depends on the extraction on oil, come then tourism (area of Mascate and Salalah) and agriculture (around the town of Sohar, birthplace of Sidbad the Sailor).

The country directs at high speed towards the development of its tourist sector with the construction of hotel complexes like new Shangri it Bar Al Jissa or the Chedi hotel.

On the plan of transport, Oman withdrew itself in 2007 of the capital of the airline company GULF Air (Bahrain) to concentrate on the expansion of its national company Oman Air which opens at the end of 2007 hot lines on Europe and Asia (London, Paris, Frankfurt and Bangkok).

To diversify its economy, Oman launched out in a construction schedule of an aluminum factory based in Sohar.

Demography

detailed Article: Demography of Oman

Oman is the Arab country Eastern. The majority of the Omanis are Arab, but there exists an important minority Baloutche, people originating in the Indian sub-continent. In the south, the jabalis, of prearabic origin, form the major part of the population of Dhofar. As in the majority of the other Arab countries, a great number of foreign workers live in the country and are mainly originating in India, the Pakistan and Iran. The official language is the Arab , but the minorities speak their own language.

The Islam, particularly the movement ibâdite, is the principal religion of Oman; a certain number of the immigrants of Indian origin practice the Hindouisme.

The population is with ibadite majority with some villages in western north with Shiite majority.

Culture

See also: Culture of Oman

Festivals and bank holidays

The majority of bank holidays of Oman belong to religious holidays sunnites, which follow the Moslem Calendrier:

Four bank holidays laic of Oman are held according to the Gregorian Calendrier:

Among the days of the week, Friday is also bank holiday.

Codes

Oman has as codes:

See too

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