OMAN: Fact Sheet
1. GENERAL:
Area: 309,500 sq. km. (coastline 2,092 kms.)
Capital: Muscat
Main Cities: Muscat (capital), Nizwa, Sohar, Salalah, Sur, Buraimi.
2. GOVERNMENT:
Founder: Imam Ahmed bin Said (1778)
Head of State and Head of Government: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said (since July 1970)
Parliament: Bicameral. The parliament is composed of two Houses: Majlis al-Shura (Lower House) and Majlis al-Dawla / State Council (Upper House)
Governorates and provinces: Oman has 11 provinces (muḥāfaẓah) headed by a Governor and 61 provinces (wilayah)
National Day: 18 November
Renaissance Day: 23 July
Judicial system: Mixed legal system of Anglo-Saxon law and Islamic law
3. POPULATION, RELIGION & LANGUAGE:
Population: 4.64 million (September 2018)
Omanis: 2.59 million (55.8%); Expatriates: 2.05 million (44.2%)
Density: 10.2 inhabitants per sq. km.
Annual population growth rate: 0.5 % (2017-18)
Religion: Ibadhi Muslim 75%, Others 25%
Language: Arabic
4. ECONOMY:
GDP: US$ 72.5 billion (2017)
GDP per capita: $15,625 (2017 est.)
GDP growth rate: 8.7% (2018 vs 2017)
Unemployment rate: 2.4 % ( June 2018 )
Proven crude oil reserve: 5.3 billion barrels (2018)
Natural Gas reserve: 24.96 trillion cubic feet ( end of 2017)
Budgetary Projections 2017:
Projected Expenditure: RO 12.5 billion
Revenue: RO 9.5 billion
WTO Membership: Joined on 09.11.2000
Leading Foreign Trading partners :
Import sources: UAE, China, India, USA, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Thailand
Export destinations: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, India, China, US, Japan
5. MISCELLANEOUS:
Currency: Rial Omani (R.O.) 1 = 1000 Baizas. (R.O. 1 = U.S.$ 2.58 or R.O. 0.387 = US$ 1)
Calendar/ Public Holidays: Oman follows the Gregorian calendar. Fridays and Saturdays are official weekly holidays.
September 2018
