Oman (2001) | Japan (2002) | |
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Administrative divisions | 6 regions (mintaqat, singular - mintaqah) and 2 governorates* (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah) Ad Dakhiliyah, Al Batinah, Al Wusta, Ash Sharqiyah, Az Zahirah, Masqat, Musandam*, Zufar*; note - the US Embassy in Oman reports that Masqat is a governorate, but this has not been confirmed by the US Board of Geographic Names (BGN) | 47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gumma, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kochi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara, Niigata, Oita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata, Yamaguchi, Yamanashi |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
41.51% (male 554,727; female 533,627) 15-64 years: 56.12% (male 894,978; female 576,672) 65 years and over: 2.37% (male 32,863; female 29,331) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 14.5% (male 9,465,282; female 8,999,888)
15-64 years: 67.5% (male 43,027,320; female 42,586,112) 65 years and over: 18% (male 9,664,112; female 13,231,914) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | dates, limes, bananas, alfalfa, vegetables; camels, cattle; fish | rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit; pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs; fish |
Airports | 143 (2000 est.) | 173 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
6 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 141
over 3,047 m: 7 2,438 to 3,047 m: 37 1,524 to 2,437 m: 38 914 to 1,523 m: 27 under 914 m: 32 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
137 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 56 914 to 1,523 m: 37 under 914 m: 36 (2000 est.) |
total: 31 31
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 1 27 (2002) |
Area | total:
212,460 sq km land: 212,460 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 377,835 sq km
land: 374,744 sq km water: 3,091 sq km note: includes Bonin Islands (Ogasawara-gunto), Daito-shoto, Minami-jima, Okino-tori-shima, Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shoto), and Volcano Islands (Kazan-retto) |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Kansas | slightly smaller than California |
Background | In 1970, QABOOS bin Said Al Said ousted his father and has ruled as sultan ever since. His extensive modernization program has opened the country to the outside world and has preserved a long-standing political and military relationship with the UK. Oman's moderate, independent foreign policy has sought to maintain good relations with all Middle Eastern countries. | While retaining its time-honored culture, Japan rapidly absorbed Western technology during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After its devastating defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become the second most powerful economy in the world and a staunch ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives. The economy experienced a major slowdown in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented growth. |
Birth rate | 37.96 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 10.03 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$4.7 billion expenditures: $5.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $490 million (1999) |
revenues: $441 billion
expenditures: $718 billion, including capital expenditures (public works only) of about $84 billion |
Capital | Muscat | Tokyo |
Climate | dry desert; hot, humid along coast; hot, dry interior; strong southwest summer monsoon (May to September) in far south | varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north |
Coastline | 2,092 km | 29,751 km |
Constitution | none; note - on 6 November 1996, Sultan QABOOS issued a royal decree promulgating a new basic law which, among other things, clarifies the royal succession, provides for a prime minister, bars ministers from holding interests in companies doing business with the government, establishes a bicameral legislature, and guarantees basic civil liberties for Omani citizens | 3 May 1947 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Sultanate of Oman conventional short form: Oman local long form: Saltanat Uman local short form: Uman former: Muscat and Oman |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Japan |
Currency | Omani rial (OMR) | yen (JPY) |
Death rate | 4.1 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 8.53 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $4.5 billion (2000 est.) | $NA |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador John B. CRAIG embassy: Jameat A'Duwal Al Arabiya Street, Al Khuwair area, Muscat mailing address: international: P. O. Box 202, Code No. 115, Medinat Al-Sultan Qaboos, Muscat telephone: [968] 698989 FAX: [968] 699189 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Howard H. BAKER, Jr.
embassy: 1-10-5 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420 mailing address: Unit 45004, Box 205, APO AP 96337-5004 telephone: [81] (03) 3224-5000 FAX: [81] (03) 3505-1862 consulate(s) general: Naha (Okinawa), Osaka-Kobe, Sapporo consulate(s): Fukuoka, Nagoya |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Abdallah bin Muhammad bin Aqil al-DHAHAB chancery: 2535 Belmont Road, NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 387-1980 through 1981, 1988 FAX: [1] (202) 745-4933 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Ryozo KATO
chancery: 2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 238-6700 FAX: [1] (202) 328-2187 consulate(s) general: Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Hagatna (Guam), Honolulu, Houston, Kansas City (Missouri), Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, and Seattle consulate(s): Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands) |
Disputes - international | boundary with the UAE has not been bilaterally defined; northern section in the Musandam Peninsula is an administrative boundary | islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan, and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan; Liancourt Rocks (Takeshima/Tokdo) disputed with South Korea; Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Tai) claimed by China and Taiwan |
Economic aid - donor | - | ODA, $9.1 billion (1999) (1999) |
Economic aid - recipient | $76.4 million (1995) | - |
Economy - overview | 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 liberalize its markets and joined the World Trade Organization (WTrO) in November 2000. | Government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) have helped Japan advance with extraordinary rapidity to the rank of second most technologically powerful economy in the world after the US and third largest economy in the world after the US and China. One notable characteristic of the economy is the working together of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in closely-knit groups called keiretsu. A second basic feature has been the guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial portion of the urban labor force. Both features are now eroding. Industry, the most important sector of the economy, is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. The much smaller agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields among the highest in the world. Usually self-sufficient in rice, Japan must import about 50% of its requirements of other grain and fodder crops. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch. For three decades overall real economic growth had been spectacular: a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s. Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s largely because of the aftereffects of overinvestment during the late 1980s and contractionary domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. Government efforts to revive economic growth have met with little success and were further hampered in 2000-02 by the slowing of the US and Asian economies. The crowding of habitable land area and the aging of the population are two major long-run problems. Robotics constitutes a key long-term economic strength, with Japan possessing 410,000 of the world's 720,000 "working robots". Internal conflict over the proper means to reform the ailing banking system will continue in 2003. |
Electricity - consumption | 8.026 billion kWh (1999) | 943.71 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 8.63 billion kWh (1999) | 1.015 trillion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel: 61%
hydro: 9% nuclear: 29% other: 2% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Arabian Sea 0 m highest point: Jabal Shams 2,980 m |
lowest point: Hachiro-gata -4 m
highest point: Fujiyama 3,776 m |
Environment - current issues | rising soil salinity; beach pollution from oil spills; very limited natural fresh water resources | air pollution from power plant emissions results in acid rain; acidification of lakes and reservoirs degrading water quality and threatening aquatic life; Japan is one of the largest consumers of fish and tropical timber, contributing to the depletion of these resources in Asia and elsewhere |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
Ethnic groups | Arab, Baluchi, South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi), African | Japanese 99%, others 1% (Korean 511,262, Chinese 244,241, Brazilian 182,232, Filipino 89,851, other 237,914) (2000) |
Exchange rates | Omani rials per US dollar - 0.3845 (fixed rate since 1986) | yen per US dollar - 132.66 (January 2002), 121.53 (2001), 107.77 (2000), 113.91 (1999), 130.91 (1998), 120.99 (1997) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
Sultan and Prime Minister QABOOS bin Said Al Said (since 23 July 1970); note - the monarch is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: Sultan and Prime Minister QABOOS bin Said Al Said (since 23 July 1970); note - the monarch is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary |
chief of state: Emperor AKIHITO (since 7 January 1989)
head of government: Prime Minister Junichiro KOIZUMI (since 24 April 2001) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the Diet designates the prime minister; the constitution requires that the prime minister must command a parliamentary majority, therefore, following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition in the House of Representatives usually becomes prime minister note: following the resignation of Prime Minister Yoshiro MORI, Junichiro KOIZUMI was elected as the new president of the majority Liberal Democratic Party, and soon thereafter designated by the Diet to become the next prime minister |
Exports | $11.1 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $383.8 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
Exports - commodities | petroleum, reexports, fish, metals, textiles | motor vehicles, semiconductors, office machinery, chemicals |
Exports - partners | Japan 27%, China 12%, Thailand 18%, UAE 12%, South Korea 12%, US (1999) | US 30.1%, China 7.7%, South Korea 6.3%, Taiwan 6.0%, Hong Kong 5.8% (2001) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | three horizontal bands of white, red, and green of equal width with a broad, vertical, red band on the hoist side; the national emblem (a khanjar dagger in its sheath superimposed on two crossed swords in scabbards) in white is centered at the top of the vertical band | white with a large red disk (representing the sun without rays) in the center |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $19.6 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $3.55 trillion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
3% industry: 40% services: 57% (1999 est.) |
agriculture: 1%
industry: 31% services: 68% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $7,700 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $28,000 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.6% (2000 est.) | -0.3% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 21 00 N, 57 00 E | 36 00 N, 138 00 E |
Geography - note | strategic location on Musandam Peninsula adjacent to Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil | strategic location in northeast Asia |
Heliports | 1 (2000 est.) | 15 (2002) |
Highways | total:
32,800 km paved: 9,840 km (including 550 km of expressways) unpaved: 22,960 km (1996) |
total: 1,152,207 km
paved: 863,003 km (including 6,114 km of expressways) unpaved: 289,204 km (1997 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 5%
highest 10%: 22% (1993) |
Imports | $4.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $292.1 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, livestock, lubricants | machinery and equipment, fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles (2001) |
Imports - partners | UAE 26% (largely reexports), Japan 16%, UK 9%, Italy 7%, Germany 6%, US (1999) | US 18.1%, China 16.6%, South Korea 4.9%, Taiwan 4.1%, Indonesia 4.3% (2001 est.) |
Independence | 1650 (expulsion of the Portuguese) | 660 BC (traditional founding by Emperor Jimmu) |
Industrial production growth rate | 4% (2000 est.) | -1.4% (2002 est.) |
Industries | crude oil production and refining, natural gas production, construction, cement, copper | among world's largest and technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals; textiles, processed foods |
Infant mortality rate | 22.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 3.84 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | -0.8% (2000 est.) | -0.9% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | ABEDA, AFESD, AL, AMF, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, GCC, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO | AfDB, APEC, ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE (observer), CERN (observer), CP, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOVIC, UNRWA, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 73 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 580 sq km (1993 est.) | 26,790 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court
note: the nascent civil court system, administered by region, has non-Islamic judges as well as traditional Islamic judges |
Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the monarch after designation by the cabinet; all other justices are appointed by the cabinet) |
Labor force | 850,000 (1997 est.) | 67.7 million (December 2000 ) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% | services 70%, industry 25%, agriculture 5% (2002 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
1,374 km border countries: Saudi Arabia 676 km, UAE 410 km, Yemen 288 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land:
0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 5% forests and woodland: 0% other: 95% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 12.13%
permanent crops: 1.01% other: 86.86% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Arabic (official), English, Baluchi, Urdu, Indian dialects | Japanese |
Legal system | based on English common law and Islamic law; ultimate appeal to the monarch; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | modeled after European civil law system with English-American influence; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
Legislative branch | bicameral Majlis Oman consists of an upper chamber or Majlis al-Dawla (48 seats; members appointed by the monarch; has advisory powers only) and a lower chamber or Majlis al-Shura (83 seats; members elected by limited suffrage, however, the monarch makes final selections and can negate election results; body has some limited power to propose legislation, but otherwise has only advisory powers)
elections: last held NA September 2000 (next to be held NA September 2003) election results: NA; note - two women were elected for the first time to Majlis al-Shura, about 100,000 people voted |
bicameral Diet or Kokkai consists of the House of Councillors or Sangi-in (247 seats - formerly 252; one-half of the members elected every three years - 73 seats of which are elected from the 47 multi-seat prefectural districts and 48 of which are elected from a single nationwide list; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Shugi-in (480 seats - 180 of which are elected from 11 regional blocks on a proportional representation basis and 300 of which are elected from 300 single-seat districts; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: House of Councillors - last held 29 July 2001 (next to be held NA July 2004); House of Representatives - last held 25 June 2000 (next must be held by June 2004, but may occur sooner) election results: House of Councillors - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - LDP 110, DPJ 59, Komeito 23, JCP 20, SDP 8, Liberal Party 8, Conservative Party 5, independents 14; note - the distribution of seats as of January 2002 is: LDP 115, DPJ 60, Komeito 24, JCP 20, SDP 8, Liberal Party 8, independents 6, others 6; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - LDP 233, DPJ 127, Komeito 31, Liberal Party 22, JCP 20, SDP 19, other 28; note - the distribution of seats as of January 2002 is: LDP 242, DPJ 126, Komeito 31, Liberal Party 22, JCP 20, SDP 19, NCP 7, other 13 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
72.04 years male: 69.9 years female: 74.29 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 80.91 years
male: 77.73 years female: 84.25 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
NA total population: approaching 80% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% (1970 est.) male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, and Persian Gulf, between Yemen and UAE | Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula |
Map references | Middle East | Asia |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone:
24 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
contiguous zone: 24 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM; between 3 NM and 12 NM in the international straits - La Perouse or Soya, Tsugaru, Osumi, and Eastern and Western Channels of the Korea or Tsushima Strait |
Merchant marine | total:
4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 18,167 GRT/11,307 DWT ships by type: cargo 2, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 615 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 10,995,839 GRT/14,405,159 DWT
ships by type: bulk 133, cargo 48, chemical tanker 17, combination bulk 24, combination ore/oil 3, container 19, liquefied gas 50, passenger 9, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 189, refrigerated cargo 13, roll on/roll off 48, short-sea passenger 6, vehicle carrier 54 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: China 1, Panama 1, Singapore 1 (2002 est.) |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary (includes Royal Oman Police) | Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (Army), Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (Navy), Japan Air Self-Defense Force (Air Force), Japanese Coast Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $2.4 billion (FY00) | $40,774.3 million (FY01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 13% (FY00) | 1% (FY01) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
771,919 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 29,644,498 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
429,811 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 25,637,387 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 14 years of age | 18 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
26,469 (2001 est.) |
males: 765,817 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Birthday of Sultan QABOOS, 18 November (1940) | Birthday of Emperor AKIHITO, 23 December (1933) |
Nationality | noun:
Omani(s) adjective: Omani |
noun: Japanese (singular and plural)
adjective: Japanese |
Natural hazards | summer winds often raise large sandstorms and dust storms in interior; periodic droughts | many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; tsunamis; typhoons |
Natural resources | petroleum, copper, asbestos, some marble, limestone, chromium, gypsum, natural gas | negligible mineral resources, fish |
Net migration rate | 0.48 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 1,300 km; natural gas 1,030 km | crude oil 84 km; petroleum products 322 km; natural gas 1,800 km |
Political parties and leaders | none | Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Yukio HATOYAMA, leader, Naoto KAN, secretary general]; Japan Communist Party or JCP [Tetsuzo FUWA, chairman, Tadayeshi ICHIDA, secretary general]; Komeito [Takenori KANZAKI, president, Tetsuzo FUYUSHIBA, secretary general]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Junichiro KOIZUMI, president, Taku YAMASAKI, secretary general]; Liberal Party [Ichiro OZAWA, president, Hirohisa FUJII, secretary general]; New Conservative Party or NCP [Takeshi NODA, president, Toshihiro NIKAI, secretary general]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Takako DOI, chairperson, Mizuho FUKUSHIMA, secretary general] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | NA |
Population | 2,622,198
note: includes 527,078 non-nationals (July 2001 est.) |
126,974,628 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | 3.43% (2001 est.) | 0.15% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Matrah, Mina' al Fahl, Mina' Raysut | Akita, Amagasaki, Chiba, Hachinohe, Hakodate, Higashi-Harima, Himeji, Hiroshima, Kawasaki, Kinuura, Kobe, Kushiro, Mizushima, Moji, Nagoya, Osaka, Sakai, Sakaide, Shimizu, Tokyo, Tomakomai |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 3, FM 9, shortwave 2 (1999) | AM 215 plus 370 repeaters, FM 89 plus 485 repeaters, shortwave 21 (2001) |
Radios | 1.4 million (1997) | 120.5 million (1997) |
Railways | 0 km | total: 23,654 km (15,895 km electrified)
standard gauge: 3,059 km 1.435-m gauge (entirely electrified) narrow gauge: 77 km 1.372-m gauge (entirely electrified); 20,491 km 1.067-m gauge (12,732 km electrified); 27 km 0.762-m gauge (entirely electrified) (2000) |
Religions | Ibadhi Muslim 75%, Sunni Muslim, Shi'a Muslim, Hindu | observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%) |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.55 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.12 male(s)/female total population: 1.3 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | in Oman's most recent elections in 2000, limited to approximately 175,000 Omanis chosen by the government to vote in elections for the Majlis ash-Shura | 20 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
modern system consisting of open wire, microwave, and radiotelephone communication stations; limited coaxial cable domestic: open wire, microwave, radiotelephone communications, and a domestic satellite system with 8 earth stations international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat |
general assessment: excellent domestic and international service
domestic: high level of modern technology and excellent service of every kind international: satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); submarine cables to China, Philippines, Russia, and US (via Guam) (1999) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 201,000 (1997) | 60.381 million (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 59,822 (1997) | 63.88 million (2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 13 (plus 25 low-power repeaters) (1999) | 211 plus 7,341 repeaters
note: in addition, US Forces are served by 3 TV stations and 2 TV cable services (1999) |
Terrain | central desert plain, rugged mountains in north and south | mostly rugged and mountainous |
Total fertility rate | 6.04 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.42 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 5.4% (2002) |
Waterways | none | 1,770 km approximately
note: seagoing craft ply all coastal inland seas |