Oman

Airports

134 total, 127 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 8 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 73 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

19 major transport aircraft

Highways

26,000 km total; 6,000 km paved, 20,000 km motorable track

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

Telecommunications

fair system 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

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, Royal Oman Police

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $1.73 billion, 16% of GDP (1992 budget)

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 359,394; 204,006 fit for military service

Agriculture

accounts for 6% of GDP and 60% 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 $4.9 billion; expenditures $4.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $825 million (1990)

Currency

Omani rial (plural - rials); 1 Omani rial (RO) = 1,000 baiza

Economic aid

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

1,120,000 kW capacity; 5,000 million kWh produced, 3,800 kWh per capita (1991)

Exchange rates

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

Exports

$5.5 billion (f.o.b., 1990) commodities: petroleum, reexports, fish, processed copper, fruits and vegetables partners: Japan 35%, South Korea 21%, Singapore 7%, US 6%

External debt

$3.1 billion (December 1989 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

exchange rate conversion - $10.6 billion, per capita $6,925 (1990); real growth rate 0.5% (1989)

Imports

$2.5 billion (f.o.b, 1990) commodities: machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food, livestock, lubricants partners: UK 20%, UAE 20%, Japan 17%, US 7%

Industrial production

growth rate 10% (1989), including petroleum sector

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

1.3% (1989)

Overview

Economic performance is closely tied to the fortunes of the oil industry. Petroleum accounts for more than 90% 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. Although agriculture employs a majority of the population, urban centers depend on imported food.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Climate

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

Coastline

2,092 km

Comparative area

slightly smaller than Kansas

Disputes

no defined boundary with most of UAE; Administrative Line with UAE in far north; there is a proposed treaty with Yemen (which has not yet been formally accepted) to settle the Omani-Yemeni boundary

Environment

summer winds often raise large sandstorms and duststorms in interior; sparse natural freshwater resources

Land area

212,460 km2

Land boundaries

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

Land use

arable land NEGL%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 5%; forest and woodland NEGL%; other 95%; includes irrigated NEGL%

Maritime claims

Continental shelf: to be defined Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm Territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

crude oil, copper, asbestos, some marble, limestone, chromium, gypsum, natural gas

Note

strategic location with small foothold on Musandam Peninsula controlling Strait of Hormuz (17% of world's oil production transits this point going from Persian Gulf to Arabian Sea)

Terrain

vast central desert plain, rugged mountains in north and south

Total area

212,460 km2

Administrative divisions

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

Capital

Muscat

Constitution

none

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Awadh bin Badr AL-SHANFARI; Chancery at 2342 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008; telephone (202) 387-1980 through 1982 US: Ambassador Richard W. BOEHM; Embassy at address NA, Muscat (mailing address is P. O. Box 50202 Madinat Qaboos, Muscat); telephone [968] 698-989; FAX [968] 604-316

Elections

elections scheduled for October 1992

Executive branch

sultan, Cabinet

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

Leaders

Chief of State and Head of Government: Sultan and Prime Minister QABOOS bin Sa`id Al Sa`id (since 23 July 1970)

Legal system

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

Legislative branch

National Assembly

Long-form name

Sultanate of Oman

Member of

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

National holiday

National Day, 18 November

Other political or pressure groups

outlawed Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman (PFLO), based in Yemen

Suffrage

none

Type

absolute monarchy; independent, with residual UK influence

Birth rate

41 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate

6 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

Ethnic divisions

mostly Arab, with small Balochi, Zanzibari, and South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi) groups

Infant mortality rate

40 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Labor force

430,000; agriculture 60% (est.); 58% are non-Omani

Languages

Arabic (official); English, Balochi, Urdu, Indian dialects

Life expectancy at birth

65 years male, 69 years female (1992)

Literacy

NA% (male NA%, female NA%)

Nationality

noun - Omani(s); adjective - Omani

Net migration rate

0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)

Organized labor

trade unions are illegal

Population

1,587,581 (July 1992), growth rate 3.5% (1992)

Religions

Ibadhi Muslim 75%; remainder Sunni Muslim, Shi`a Muslim, some Hindu

Total fertility rate

6.6 children born/woman (1992)