_#_Independence: 1650, expulsion of the Portuguese
_#_Constitution: none
_#_Legal system: based on English common law and Islamic law; ultimate
appeal to the sultan; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
_#_Executive branch: sultan, Cabinet
_#_Legislative branch: State Consultative Assembly (advisory
function only)
_#_Judicial branch: none; traditional Islamic judges and a nascent
civil court system
_#_National holiday: National Day, 18 November
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--Sultan and Prime Minister
QABOOS bin Said Al Said (since 23 July 1970)
_#_Political parties: none
_#_Suffrage: none
_#_Elections: none
_#_Other political or pressure groups: outlawed Popular Front for the
Liberation of Oman (PFLO), based in Yemen
_#_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
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Awadh Bader 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 50200 Madinat Qaboos, Muscat); telephone
698-989
_#_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
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Economic performance is closely tied to the fortunes of
the oil industry. Petroleum accounts for nearly all 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.
_#_GDP: $9.2 billion, per capita $5,870 (1990); real growth rate
- 3.0% (1987 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.3% (1989)
_#_Unemployment rate: NA%
_#_Budget: revenues $3.5 billion; expenditures $4.3 billion,
including capital expenditures of $675 million (1989 est.)
_#_Exports: $3.9 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities--petroleum, reexports, processed copper, dates, nuts,
fish;
partners--Japan, South Korea, Taiwan
_#_Imports: $2.3 billion (c.i.f., 1989);
commodities--machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured
goods, food, livestock, lubricants;
partners--UK, UAE, Japan, US
_#_External debt: $3.1 billion (December 1989 est.)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 10% (1989), including
petroleum sector
_#_Electricity: 1,136,000 kW capacity; 3,650 million kWh produced,
2,500 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: crude oil production and refining, natural gas
production, construction, cement, copper
_#_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
_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $137
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $122 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $797 million
_#_Currency: Omani rial (plural--rials); 1 Omani rial (RO) = 1,000
baiza
_#_Exchange rates: Omani rials (RO) per US$1--0.3845 (fixed rate
since 1986)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*_Communications
_#_Highways: 22,800 km total; 3,800 km bituminous surface, 19,000 km
motorable track
_#_Pipelines: crude oil 1,300 km; natural gas 1,030 km
_#_Ports: Mina Qabus, Mina Raysut
_#_Merchant marine: 1 passenger ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
4,442 GRT/1,320 DWT
_#_Civil air: 4 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 122 total, 114 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways;
1 with runways over 3,659 m; 8 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 64 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: fair system of open-wire, radio relay, and
radio communications stations; 50,000 telephones; stations--3 AM, 3 FM,
11 TV; satellite earth stations--2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1 ARABSAT,
and 8 domestic
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Royal Oman Police
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 348,849; 197,870 fit for
military service; 20,715 reach military age (14) annually
_#_Defense expenditures: $1.0 billion, 12% of GDP (1991)
_%_
_@_Pacific Islands, Trust Territory of the
(Palau)
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 458 km2; land area: 458 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly more than 2.5 times the size of
Washington, DC
_#_Land boundaries: none
_#_Coastline: 1,519 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 12 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth);
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;