Oman

Airports

total: 138 usable: 130 with permanent-surface runways: 6 with runways over 3,659 m: 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 9 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 74

Highways

total: 26,000 km paved: 6,000 km unpaved: motorable track 20,000 km

Merchant marine

1 passenger ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,442 GRT/1,320 DWT

Pipelines

crude oil 1,300 km; natural gas 1,030 km

Ports

Mina' Qabus, Mina' Raysut, Mina' al Fahl

Telecommunications

modern system consisting of open-wire, microwave, and radio communications stations; limited coaxial cable; 50,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 2 AM, 3 FM, 7 TV; satellite earth stations - 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1 ARABSAT, and 8 domestic

Affiliation

(UN trusteeship administered by the US)

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, Royal Oman Police

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $1.6 billion, 16% of GDP (1993 est.)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 382,793; fit for military service 217,755; reach military age (14) annually 22,118 (1994 est.)

Agriculture

accounts for 4% of GDP and 40% of the labor force (including fishing); less than 2% of land cultivated; largely subsistence farming (dates, limes, bananas, alfalfa, vegetables, camels, cattle); not self-sufficient in food; annual fish catch averages 100,000 metric tons

Budget

revenues: $4.4 billion expenditures: $5.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $1 billion (1994 est.)

Currency

1 Omani rial (RO) = 1,000 baiza

Economic aid

recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $137 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $148 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $797 million

Electricity

capacity: 1,142,400 kW production: 5.1 billion kWh consumption per capita: 3,200 kWh (1992)

Exchange rates

Omani rials (RO) per US$1 - 0.3845 (fixed rate since 1986)

Exports

$5 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.) commodities: petroleum 87%, re-exports, fish, processed copper, textiles partners: UAE 30%, Japan 27%, South Korea 10%, Singapore 5% (1991)

External debt

$3 billion (1993)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Imports

$3.7 billion (f.o.b, 1993 est.) commodities: machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food, livestock, lubricants partners: Japan 20%, UAE 14%, UK 19%, US 7% (1991)

Industrial production

growth rate 8.6% (1991); accounts for almost 60% of GDP, including petroleum

Industries

crude oil production and refining, natural gas production, construction, cement, copper

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

2% (1993 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $16.4 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$10,000 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

6.1% (1993 est.)

Overview

Economic performance is closely tied to the fortunes of the oil industry, including trends in international oil prices and the ability of OPEC producers to agree on output quotas. Petroleum accounts for more than 85% of export earnings, about 80% of government revenues, and roughly 40% of GDP. Oman has proved oil reserves of 4 billion barrels, equivalent to about 20 years' supply at the current rate of extraction. Agriculture is carried on at a subsistence level and the general population depends on imported food. The government is encouraging private investment, both domestic and foreign, as a prime force for further economic development.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Area

total area: 212,460 sq km land area: 212,460 sq km comparative area: slightly smaller than Kansas

Climate

dry desert; hot, humid along coast; hot, dry interior; strong southwest summer monsoon (May to September) in far south

Coastline

2,092 km

Environment

current issues: rising soil salinity; beach pollution from oil spills; sparse natural freshwater resources natural hazards: summer winds often raise large sandstorms and dust storms in interior international agreements: party to - Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ship Pollution, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change

International disputes

no defined boundary with most of UAE; Administrative Line with UAE in far north; a treaty with Yemen defining the Omani-Yemeni boundary was ratified in December 1992

Irrigated land

410 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

total 1,374 km, Saudi Arabia 676 km, UAE 410 km, Yemen 288 km

Land use

arable land: less than 2% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 5% forest and woodland: 0% other: 93%

Location

Middle East, along the Arabian Sea, between Yemen and the United Arab Emirates

Map references

Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: to be defined exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

petroleum, copper, asbestos, some marble, limestone, chromium, gypsum, natural gas

Note

strategic location with small foothold on Musandam Peninsula controlling Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil

Terrain

vast central desert plain, rugged mountains in north and south

Administrative divisions

there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 3 governorates (muhafazah, singular - muhafazat); Masqat, Musandam, Zufar

Capital

Muscat

Constitution

none

Digraph

MU

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador-designate Ahmad bin Muhammad al-RASBI chancery: 2342 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 387-1980 through 1982

Executive branch

chief of state and head of government: Sultan and Prime Minister QABOOS bin Said Al Said (since 23 July 1970) cabinet: Cabinet

FAX

[968] 604-316

Flag

three horizontal bands of white (top, double width), red, and green (double 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

Independence

1650 (expulsion of the Portuguese)

Judicial branch

none; traditional Islamic judges and a nascent civil court system

Legal system

based on English common law and Islamic law; ultimate appeal to the sultan; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral Consultative Council

Member of

ABEDA, AFESD, AL, AMF, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, GCC, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO

Names

conventional long form: Sultanate of Oman conventional short form: Oman local long form: Saltanat Uman local short form: Uman

National holiday

National Day, 18 November (1940)

Other political or pressure groups

NA

Political parties and leaders

none

Suffrage

none

Type

monarchy

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador David J. DUNFORD embassy: address NA, Muscat mailing address: P. O. Box 202 Code No. 115, Muscat telephone: [968] 698-989

Birth rate

40.38 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

5.77 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Arab, Baluchi, South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi)

Infant mortality rate

36.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

430,000 (est.) by occupation: agriculture 40% (est.)

Languages

Arabic (official), English, Baluchi, Urdu, Indian dialects

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 67.79 years male: 65.9 years female: 69.77 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA%

Nationality

noun: Omani(s) adjective: Omani

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

1,701,470 (July 1994 est.) note: Oman's first census was concluded in December 1993; preliminary figures give a population of 2,000,000, of whom about 500,000 are expatriate workers; final evaluative figures are not yet available

Population growth rate

3.46% (1994 est.)

Religions

Ibadhi Muslim 75%, Sunni Muslim, Shi'a Muslim, Hindu

Total fertility rate

6.53 children born/woman (1994 est.)