LAND, PEOPLE, ECONOMY, HISTORY

From the coastline, which is more than 2,100 km (1,300 mi.) long, a coastal plain up to 19 km (12 mi.) wide extends to a range of hills, which give way to a plateau with an average altitude of 305 m (1,000 ft). The mountainous north central area, the Hajar, reaches 3,035 m (9,957 ft) at Mount Al-Sham in the Al-Akhdar Mountains. Except for the highest parts of the Hajar, Most of the hills are barren, and the plateau is cultivable only at oases. The extreme southwestern province of Dhofar, however, is very fertile.

The population is mostly Arab, (Population of 1.9 million) with the exception of about 0.4 million expatriate workers (mostly Indian and Pakistani, Brits, Lebanese, Sudanese, Jordanians, Palestinians, Sri Lankans, Filipinos), who constitute more than half of the salaried labour force.

The chief cities are MUSCAT, the capital and main port: Sohar, the boat building center of Sur, Nizwah and the second largest city in Oman, Salalah in the Dhofar region bordering Yemen. (info from :Revi Nair: Salalah looks exactly like Kerala village, even tender green coconuts are available on streets)

In 1965, Oman had only three primary schools and one 12-bed hospital, but education and health-care facilities have increased dramatically since 1970. Sultan Qaboos University was opened in 1986. Oman's economy is based on petroleum, which accounts for the bulk of its exports. Since 1970, petroleum revenues have been used to build roads and housing, provide electricity, expand irrigation, develop manufacturing, and modernize the fishing industry.

A majority of the population is engaged in subsistence farming, although water shortages hamper agriculture and less than 1% of the land currently is under cultivation.

Salary variations across Nationalities differ even for the same profile and experience : besides as in most Gulf states, expat westerners generally get more the average salary for the same job than an Asian employee.

CLIMATE

Oman's climate is generally hot and dry, with temperatures ranging from 18 deg to 34 deg C (64 deg to 93 deg F) and rainfall ranging from 76 to 102 mm (3 to 4 in) per year.

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