Portal:Oman

Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country in the southeastern Arabian Peninsula in West Asia. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, and maritime borders with Iran and Pakistan. Its coastline extends along the Arabian Sea to the southeast and the Gulf of Oman to the northeast. The exclaves of Madha and Musandam are surrounded by the United Arab Emirates on their land borders, while Musandam's coastal boundaries are formed by the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. With an area of 315,331 km² (121,750 sq mi) and a population of approximately 5.46 million, Oman is the third-largest country on the Arabian Peninsula. Muscat is the capital and largest city, Islam is the state religion, and Arabic is the official language.

Oman has been continuously ruled by the Al Bu Said dynasty since 1744. Beginning in the 17th century, Oman emerged as a major regional power, expelling the Portuguese from its coastal possessions and establishing an empire that competed with the British and Portuguese for influence in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. At its peak in the 19th century, Omani influence and control extended across the Strait of Hormuz to what later became Iran and Pakistan, and as far south as Zanzibar. In the 20th century, Oman came under the influence of the British Empire while de jure remaining sovereign. After the Dhofar rebellion and the 1970 Omani coup d'état, the state of Muscat and Oman transitioned into the modern state under Qaboos bin Said.

Oman is an absolute monarchy ruled by a sultan, who serves as both head of state and head of government. Executive authority is exercised through the Council of Ministers, while the bicameral Council of Oman consists of the appointed Council of State and the elected Consultative Assembly. Qaboos bin Said served as sultan from 1970 until his death in 2020. His nearly five-decade reign marked the beginning of a period of rapid modernization now known as the Omani Renaissance, which saw a rise in the country's living standards, the abolition of slavery, the end of the Dhofar Rebellion, and the promulgation of Oman's constitution. In 2020, Haitham bin Tariq succeeded Qaboos as the Sultan of Oman. (Full article...)