Oman General Information

Oman General Information

Area: 309,500 sq km (119,500 sq miles).

Population: 2,538,000 (official estimate 2002).

Population Density: 8.2 per sq km.

Capital: Muscat. Population: 685,676 (2001).

GEOGRAPHY: The Sultanate of Oman occupies the southeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula with almost 1700km (1062 miles) of coastline stretching along the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Gulf. It is bordered by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the west and the Republic of Yemen to the south. The United Arab Emirates lies to the northwest of Oman and to the east lies the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman.

Government: Sultanate since 1744. Head of State and Government: Sultan Qabus bin Sa’id since 1970.

Language: Arabic is the official language. English is widely spoken. Swahili is also spoken by the population from East Africa. German and French are spoken by some hotel staff.

Religion: Predominantly Ibadi Muslim, with Shi’ite Muslim, Sunni Muslim and Hindu minorities.

Time: GMT + 4.

Electricity: 220/240 volts AC, 50Hz.

Communications:

Telephone: IDD is available. Country code: 968. Outgoing international code: 00.

Mobile telephone: GSM 900 network. The Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) is the local operator (website: www.omantel.net.om).

Fax: Services are available from Omantel. There are fax facilities in most hotels and in the major cities.

Telegram: Services are available at the counter in the Central Telegraph Office, Muscat. In case of difficulty, visitors may book calls through the international operator.

Internet: There are Internet cafes in the cities of Nizwa and Muscat. ISPs include Omantel (website: www.omantel.net.om) and WebOman (website: www.weboman.com).

Post: Airmail to Western Europe takes three to four days.

Press: English-language newspapers include The Oman Daily Observer and The Times of Oman.

Radio: BBC World Service (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice) and Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov) can be received. From time to time the frequencies change and the most up-to-date can be found online.