Country profilesOman

Humanitarian profile

Occasional heavy rains have caused deadly and destructive flash floods in otherwise dry Oman. Moreover, 5,000 of its people were diagnosed with H1N1 swine flu virus in 2009. Arab countries provide the bulk of aid for the relatively wealthy nation.

Country snapshot

Oman is the oldest independent state in the Arab world and has been ruled by the Al-Said family since 1744.  It has longstanding military and political ties with the U.S. and Britain, but maintains an independent foreign policy. Although an oil exporter it is not a member of OPEC.   

Government

The head of state and the head of the government is the monarch, Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al-Said, who has ruled the country since 1970.  The two chamber parliament consists of the Majlis Al-Dawla whose 71 members are appointed by the monarch and the Majlis Al-Shura whose 84 members are elected by popular vote for four year terms. It has no legislative powers and can only recommend changes to laws. 

Economy

 Agriculture accounts for less than 2 percent of GDP but is estimated to employ over a third of the workforce.  Much of the country is arid and mountainous and only 3.5 percent is available as agricultural land. Poultry, cattle, cereals, fruit and vegetables are produced and dates are the main agricultural export.

Copper is mined and refined, there are two oil refineries and two cement plants. Oil and gas were discovered in the 1960s and have transformed the economy and the lives of the people.  They account for about over 70 percent of  export earnings and about 40 percent of GDP.The government aims to reduce it to 9 percent of GDP by 2020.

Crude oil production, less than 1 percent of the world total, is steadily dwindling. Most is exported. Gas production, also less than 1 percent of the world total, has risen five fold since the late 1990s.  The services sector, which includes retailing, transport and education, accounts for 50 percent of GDP.

Tourism is a major export earner and employs almost 8 percent of the workforce. Overall economic growth averaged 5-6 percent in the years preceding the global financial crisis of 2008.  Growth remained positive in 2008 and 2009 due, in part, to the government’s expansionary fiscal policy. 

History

The Portuguese conquered parts of Oman’s coastal region from 1508 onwards and were influential for more than a century.  They were expelled in 1650 and, apart from a brief period of Persian rule, Oman has been independent ever since. By the early nineteenth century Oman was the most powerful state in the Arabian peninsular and had a major presence on the east African coast, but its wealth began to dwindle from the mid-nineteenth century onwards. A treaty of friendship with Britain was concluded in 1908 and renewed in 1951. 

Oman experienced a period of unrest in its interior in the 1950s and in 1964 a revolt broke out in the southern province of Dhofar, which was supported by the Marxist government of South Yemen. It was quelled in the mid-1970s with military help from Jordan, Iran and Britain. 

In 1970 the British-educated Qaboos bin Said Al-Said overthrew his father, who had ruled for nearly forty years, and began to modernise the economy, infrastructure and educational system. In 1994 a limited number of women gained the right to vote and in 1996 a two chamber parliament was established.

It consisted of a Council of State (Majlis Al-Dawla), whose members were appointed, and a wholly elected, but powerless,  Consultative Council (Majlis Al-Shura). Discrimination on the basis of sex, religion or ethnicity was banned and certain civil liberties were granted. 

The economy was liberalised and restrictions on foreign investment were lifted. Oman joined the World Trade Organisation in 2000.  Universal suffrage for those over 21 was introduced in 2003 and elections for the Council of State were held that year and in 2007.  Political reform has lagged economic reform.

Sultan Qaboos has absolute power and issues laws by decree; he serves as the prime minister, the foreign minister, the defence minister, the finance minister and the head of the central bank.  He has no children.

Legal snapshot

The legal system is based on Islamic law.  The judiciary is not independent and remains subordinate to the Sultan and the Justice Ministry.  Islamic court departments within the civil court system are responsible for family law matters such as divorce and inheritance. 

Many civil liberties guaranteed in the constitution have not been implemented, says U.S. based Freedom House. 

Although arbitrary arrest and detention are prohibited, in practice the police are not required to obtain an arrest warrant in advance.  Freedom of expression and democratic debate are limited and criticism of the Sultan is prohibited