SULTANATE OF OMAN Official name: Saltanat Oman (sultanate of Oman) Location: West Asia International organisations: The Arab League, The Non-Aligned Movement, The Organisation of Islamic Conference, The United Nations, The World Trade Organisation Borders: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen Coastline: Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman Land area: 212,460 Km2 Population: 2,700,000 Ethnicity: Three-quarters of the population are Omani Arabs, although many have some African or Baluchi descent. The remainder are immigrant workers from the Indian subcontinent, Africa and the Philippines.

Languages: Arabic is the official language and the language of the Omani Arab population. About 10% speak Baluchi, an Iranian language, while 5% speak Jibbali, a South Arabian language. There are substantial minorities speaking Indian languages such as Bengali, Gujarati, Sindhi, and Urdu, while other minorities speak Swahili, Farsi, Filipino and Portuguese.
Religion: Islam is the state religion. Most Omanis belong to the Ibadhi sect, while about 20% are orthodox Sunnis. There are Hindu and Christian minorities among the immigrant population.
Form of government: Semi-constitutional monarchy. Oman is divided into six regions and two governorates.
Capital: Muscat
Constitution: The Constitution of Oman was promulgated by the Sultan on 6 November 1996.
Head of state: Sultan Qabus bin-Said Al-Said assumed the throne on 23 July 1970.
Head of government: The Sultan, who appoints all ministers. One of the ministers has the title Head of the Council of Ministers, but the Sultan presides at Council meetings.
Legislature: Oman has a bicameral legislature, the Council of Oman (Majlis Oman). The Consultative Assembly (Majlis al-Shura) has 82 elected members. The Council of State (Majlis al-Dawla) has 40 appointed members. No political parties are allowed and the legislature has little real power.
Electoral authority: None.
Freedom House rating: Political Rights 6, Civil Liberties 5

Political history

Both Muscat and Oman were independent Arab states as far back as the 8th century. In 1650 Imam Ahmed bin Said drove the Portuguese out of Muscat and re-established the country's independence: a rare defeat for European colonialism. The Sultanate of Muscat and Oman dates from 1744 when the current dynasty took power. Until the late 19th century Zanzibar was an Omani territory, explaining the strong African influence in Oman. In 1898 the Sultanate became a British protectorate. This arrangement ended in 1954 but Oman retains strong links with Britain.

The country remained isolated and backward until 1970, when Sultan Qabus deposed his father, renamed the country Oman and began a campaign of modernisation. Qabus has created the institutions of a constitutional state, including an elected legislature and a constitution which guarantees human rights, but he has retained all real power in his own hands. His traditional authority as head of the Ibadhi sect has prevented serious opposition emerging.

The position of the large population of migrant workers in Oman remains ambiguous. Human Rights Watch is campaigning for Oman to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Amnesty International's 2002 Report on Oman was critical of some continuing human rights abuses in the country, but noted that "The government announced a number of judicial and legislative changes with potentially positive effects on human rights." A useful source of information on events in Oman is the Oman Studies Centre.