Oman, the second largest country in Arabia with an area of 300,000 square km, occupies the south eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula.To the North, it borders the Strait of Hormuz, and to the East the coastline stretches 1700 km along the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea to the Yemeni border. In the West, Oman borders Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates along the eastern fringe the Rub Al Khali (also known as the 'Empty Quarter'). The northern region of the Musandam Peninsula is separated from the rest of the country for 70 km by the UAE. The highest point in Oman is Jebel Shams at 3010 metres.
History:Arabs migrated to Oman from the 9th century B.C. onward, and conversion to Islam occurred in the 7th century A.D. Muscat, the capital of the geographical area known as Oman, was occupied by the Portuguese from 1508 to 1648. Then it fell to Ottoman Turks, but in 1741 Ahmad ibn Sa'id forced them out. The descendants of Sultan Ahmad rule Oman today.
Time Zone: The Oman is four hours ahead of GMT.
Telephone: The international dialling code for the Oman is 00 968.
Currency: Omani Rial (OMR) = 1,000 baiza. Notes are in denominations of OMR50, 20, 10, 5 and 1, and 500, 250, 200 and 100 baiza. Coins are in denominations of 50, 25, 10 and 5 baiza.
Language: Arabic is the official language. English is widely spoken. Swahili is also spoken by Omani descendents from East Africa. German and French are spoken by some hotel staff while Urdu, Farsi, Hindi and Tagalog are widely spoken by Oman’s large expatriate workforce.
Climate:From May to August it is very hot and humid in all parts of the country except Dhofar. The climate is best from late September to early April. Rainfall varies according to the region. During the period June to September there is light rain in the Dhofar region with heavy fog across the hills.
