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.
The most notable feature of Oman is the range of imposing mountains running North West to South East across the Northern third of the country. These mountains are the result of tectonic forces which pushed them up from ocean beds some 800 million years ago. The 1700 km long coastline is a showcase of varying terrain from the deep fjords in the Musandam, long sand beaches between Sohar and Muscat, mangrove lagoons, coral reefs, rocky islets and coves from Muscat to Sur around Ra's Al Hadd, Eastern most point of the Arabian peninsula to Salalah.
Muscat, the official capital of Oman, is only a small part of a larger grouping of cities and towns strung some 40kms along the coast of the Gulf of Oman, which is known locally as the "Capital Area" or the "Muscat Municipality." Never much deeper than 3 or 4 kms, this string of towns forms a sort of necklace sandwiched between the sea to the north and a very rocky, primeval-looking range of barren mountains to the south. Despite its ceremonial position as capital, the neighboring cities of Muttruh, with its superb corniche encirling a charming bay, and Ruwi, the traditional commercial center of the area, are both much more important.
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.
Shaking hands is the usual form of greeting. A small gift, either promoting your company or country, is well received. As far as dress is concerned, it is important that women dress modestly beyond the hotel grounds, ie long skirts or dresses (below the knee) with covered shoulders; men should wear trousers and shirts with sleeves. Tight-fitting clothes should be restricted to hotel restaurants to avoid giving offence although this is not strictly followed by some Westerners.
Shorts should not be worn in public and beachwear is prohibited anywhere except the beach. Collecting seashells, abalone, corals, crayfish and turtle eggs is also prohibited. Dumping litter is forbidden. It is polite not to smoke in public, but generally no-smoking signs are posted where appropriate. Homosexual behaviour is illegal.
