Oman (2001) | World (2001) | |
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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) | 267 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries |
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:
29.6% (male 933,647,850; female 886,681,514) 15-64 years: 63.4% (male 1,975,418,386; female 1,931,021,694) 65 years and over: 7% (male 188,760,223; female 241,449,691) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | dates, limes, bananas, alfalfa, vegetables; camels, cattle; fish | - |
Airports | 143 (2000 est.) | - |
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.) |
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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.) |
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Area | total:
212,460 sq km land: 212,460 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total:
510.072 million sq km land: 148.94 million sq km water: 361.132 million sq km note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Kansas | land area about 16 times the size of the US |
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. | Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the drop in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). |
Birth rate | 37.96 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 21.37 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$4.7 billion expenditures: $5.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $490 million (1999) |
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Capital | Muscat | - |
Climate | dry desert; hot, humid along coast; hot, dry interior; strong southwest summer monsoon (May to September) in far south | two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates |
Coastline | 2,092 km | 356,000 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 | - |
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 |
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Currency | Omani rial (OMR) | - |
Death rate | 4.1 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 8.93 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $4.5 billion (2000 est.) | $2 trillion for less developed countries (2000 est.) |
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 |
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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 |
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Disputes - international | boundary with the UAE has not been bilaterally defined; northern section in the Musandam Peninsula is an administrative boundary | - |
Economic aid - recipient | $76.4 million (1995) | traditional worldwide foreign aid $50 billion (1997 est.) |
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. | Growth in global output (gross world product, GWP) rose to 4.8% in 2000 from 3.5% in 1999, despite continued low growth in Japan, severe financial difficulties in other East Asian countries, and widespread dislocations in several transition economies. The US economy continued its remarkable sustained prosperity, growing at 5% in 2000, although growth slowed in fourth quarter 2000; the US accounted for 23% of GWP. The EU economies grew at 3.3% and produced 20% of GWP. China, the second largest economy in the world, continued its strong growth and accounted for 10% of GWP. Japan grew at only 1.3% in 2000; its share in GWP is 7%. As usual, the 15 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations experienced widely different rates of growth. The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that eat up gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, and in Canada. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. Continued financial difficulties in East Asia, Russia, and many African nations, as well as the slowdown in US economic growth, cast a shadow over short-term global economic prospects; GWP probably will grow at 3-4% in 2001. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses serious economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. (For specific economic developments in each country of the world in 2000, see the individual country entries.) |
Electricity - consumption | 8.026 billion kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - production | 8.63 billion kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel:
NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Arabian Sea 0 m highest point: Jabal Shams 2,980 m |
lowest point:
Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
Environment - current issues | rising soil salinity; beach pollution from oil spills; very limited natural fresh water resources | large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion |
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 |
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Ethnic groups | Arab, Baluchi, South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi), African | - |
Exchange rates | Omani rials per US dollar - 0.3845 (fixed rate since 1986) | - |
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 |
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Exports | $11.1 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $6 trillion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | petroleum, reexports, fish, metals, textiles | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Exports - partners | Japan 27%, China 12%, Thailand 18%, UAE 12%, South Korea 12%, US (1999) | in value, about 75% of exports from the developed countries |
Fiscal year | calendar year | - |
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 | - |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $19.6 billion (2000 est.) | GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $43.6 trillion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
3% industry: 40% services: 57% (1999 est.) |
agriculture:
4% industry: 32% services: 64% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $7,700 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,200 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.6% (2000 est.) | 4.8% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 21 00 N, 57 00 E | - |
Geography - note | strategic location on Musandam Peninsula adjacent to Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil | - |
Heliports | 1 (2000 est.) | - |
Highways | total:
32,800 km paved: 9,840 km (including 550 km of expressways) unpaved: 22,960 km (1996) |
total:
NA km paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $4.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $6 trillion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, livestock, lubricants | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Imports - partners | UAE 26% (largely reexports), Japan 16%, UK 9%, Italy 7%, Germany 6%, US (1999) | in value, about 75% of imports by the developed countries |
Independence | 1650 (expulsion of the Portuguese) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | 4% (2000 est.) | 6% (2000 est.) |
Industries | crude oil production and refining, natural gas production, construction, cement, copper | dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems |
Infant mortality rate | 22.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 52.61 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | -0.8% (2000 est.) | all countries 25%; developed countries 1% to 3% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically (2000 est.)
note: national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from stable prices in Japan to hyperinflation in a number of Third World countries |
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 | - |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 10,350 (2000 est.) |
Irrigated land | 580 sq km (1993 est.) | 2,481,250 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court
note: the nascent civil court system, administered by region, has non-Islamic judges as well as traditional Islamic judges |
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Labor force | 850,000 (1997 est.) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% | agricultue NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | total:
1,374 km border countries: Saudi Arabia 676 km, UAE 410 km, Yemen 288 km |
the land boundaries in the world total 251,480.24 km (not counting shared boundaries twice) |
Land use | arable land:
0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 5% forests and woodland: 0% other: 95% (1993 est.) |
arable land:
10% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 26% forests and woodland: 32% other: 31% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Arabic (official), English, Baluchi, Urdu, Indian dialects | - |
Legal system | based on English common law and Islamic law; ultimate appeal to the monarch; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | all members of the UN plus Switzerland are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court |
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 |
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Life expectancy at birth | total population:
72.04 years male: 69.9 years female: 74.29 years (2001 est.) |
total population:
63.79 years male: 62.15 years female: 65.51 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
NA total population: approaching 80% male: NA% female: NA% |
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Location | Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, and Persian Gulf, between Yemen and UAE | - |
Map references | Middle East | World, Time Zones |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone:
24 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
contiguous zone:
24 NM claimed by most, but can vary continental shelf: 200-m depth claimed by most or to depth of exploitation; others claim 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM claimed by most, but can vary exclusive economic zone: 200 NM claimed by most, but can vary territorial sea: 12 NM claimed by most, but can vary note: boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 NM; 43 nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
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.) |
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Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary (includes Royal Oman Police) | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $2.4 billion (FY00) | aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide in 1999 remained at approximately the 1998 level, about three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1999 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 13% (FY00) | roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
771,919 (2001 est.) |
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Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
429,811 (2001 est.) |
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Military manpower - military age | 14 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
26,469 (2001 est.) |
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National holiday | Birthday of Sultan QABOOS, 18 November (1940) | - |
Nationality | noun:
Omani(s) adjective: Omani |
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Natural hazards | summer winds often raise large sandstorms and dust storms in interior; periodic droughts | large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) |
Natural resources | petroleum, copper, asbestos, some marble, limestone, chromium, gypsum, natural gas | the rapid using up of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address |
Net migration rate | 0.48 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | - |
Pipelines | crude oil 1,300 km; natural gas 1,030 km | - |
Political parties and leaders | none | - |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | - |
Population | 2,622,198
note: includes 527,078 non-nationals (July 2001 est.) |
6,157,400,560 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | - |
Population growth rate | 3.43% (2001 est.) | 1.25% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Matrah, Mina' al Fahl, Mina' Raysut | Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 3, FM 9, shortwave 2 (1999) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA |
Radios | 1.4 million (1997) | NA |
Railways | 0 km | total:
1,201,337 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America; note - fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) - Atlantique line broad gauge: 251,153 km standard gauge: 710,754 km narrow gauge: 239,430 km |
Religions | Ibadhi Muslim 75%, Sunni Muslim, Shi'a Muslim, Hindu | - |
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: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2001 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 | - |
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:
NA domestic: NA international: NA |
Telephones - main lines in use | 201,000 (1997) | NA |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 59,822 (1997) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 13 (plus 25 low-power repeaters) (1999) | NA |
Terrain | central desert plain, rugged mountains in north and south | the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean |
Total fertility rate | 6.04 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.73 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2000 est.) |
Waterways | none | - |