Oman
About 55% of the population lives in Muscat and the Batinah coastal
plain northwest of the capital; about 215,000 live in the Dhofar
(southern) region, and about 30,000 live in the remote Musandam
Peninsula on the Strait of Hormuz. Some 660,000 expatriates live in
Oman, most of whom are guest workers from South Asia, Egypt, Jordan,
and the Philippines.
Since 1970, the government has given high priority to education in
order to develop a domestic work force, which the government
considers a vital factor in the country's economic and social
progress. In 1986, Oman's first university, Sultan Qaboos
University, opened. It has continued to expand, recently adding a
law college, and remains the country's only major public university.
In total, there are about 20 public post-secondary education
institutions in Oman, including technical colleges, teacher training
colleges, and health institutes. More than 300 full and partial
scholarships are awarded each year for study abroad.
There are three private universities and 20 private post-secondary
education institutions in Oman, including a banking college, a fire
and safety college, a dentistry college, and business and management
colleges. Most of these public and private post-secondary education
institutions offer four-year degrees, while the remainder provide
two-year post-secondary diplomas. Since 1999, the government has
embarked on reforms in higher education designed to meet the needs
of a growing population. Approximately 40% of Omani high school
graduates pursue some type of post-secondary education.
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Oman adopted Islam in the seventh century A.D., during the lifetime
of the Prophet Muhammad. Ibadhism, a form of Islam distinct from
Shiaism and the "Orthodox" schools of Sunnism, became the dominant
religious sect in Oman by the eighth century A.D. Oman is the only
country in the Islamic world with a majority Ibadhi population.
Ibadhism is known for its "moderate conservatism." One
distinguishing feature of Ibadhism is the choice of ruler by
communal consensus and consent.
Contact with Europe was established in 1508, when the Portuguese
conquered parts of Oman's coastal region. Portugal's influence
predominated for more than a century. Fortifications built during
the Portuguese occupation can still be seen at Muscat.
Except for a period when Persia conquered parts of Oman, Oman has
been an independent nation. After the Portuguese were expelled in
1650 and while resisting Persian attempts to establish hegemony, the
Sultan of Oman extended his conquests to Zanzibar, other parts of
the eastern coast of Africa, and portions of the southern Arabian
Peninsula. During this period, political leadership shifted from the
Ibadhi imams, who were elected religious leaders, to hereditary
sultans who established their capital in Muscat. The Muscat rulers
established trading posts on the Persian coast and also exercised a
measure of control over the Makran coast (now Pakistan). By the
early 19th century, Oman was the most powerful state in Arabia and
had a major presence on the East African coast.
Oman was the object of Franco-British rivalry throughout the 18th
century. During the 19th century, Oman and the United Kingdom
concluded several treaties of friendship and commerce. In 1908, the
British entered into an agreement of friendship. Their traditional
association was confirmed in 1951 through a new treaty of
friendship, commerce, and navigation by which the United Kingdom
recognized the Sultanate of Oman as a fully independent state.
When Sultan Sa'id bin Sultan Al-Busaid died in 1856, his sons
quarreled over his succession. As a result of this struggle, the
Omani empire--through the mediation of the British Government under
the "Canning Award"--was divided in 1861 into two separate
principalities--Zanzibar, with its East African dependencies, and
Muscat and Oman. Zanzibar paid an annual subsidy to Muscat and Oman
until its independence in early 1964.
During the late 19th and early to mid-20th centuries, the sultan in
Muscat faced a rebellion by members of the Ibadhi sect residing in
the interior of Oman, centered around the town of Nizwa, who wanted
to be ruled exclusively by their religious leader, the Imam of Oman.
This conflict was resolved temporarily by the Treaty of Seeb in
1920, which granted the imam autonomous rule in the interior, while
recognizing the sovereignty of the sultan elsewhere.
Following the discovery of oil in the interior, the conflict flared
up again in 1954, when the new imam led a sporadic 5-year rebellion
against the sultan's efforts to extend government control into the
interior. The insurgents were defeated in 1959 with British help.
The sultan then terminated the Treaty of Seeb and eliminated the
office of the imam. In the early 1960s, the imam, exiled to Saudi
Arabia, obtained support from his hosts and other Arab governments,
but this support ended in the 1980s.
In 1964, a separatist revolt began in Dhofar Province. Aided by
communist and leftist governments such as the former South Yemen
(People's Democratic Republic of Yemen), the rebels formed the
Dhofar Liberation Front, which later merged with the
Marxist-dominated Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and the
Arab Gulf (PFLOAG). The PFLOAG's declared intention was to overthrow
all traditional Arab Gulf regimes. In mid-1974, PFLOAG shortened its
name to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman (PFLO) and
embarked on a political rather than a military approach to gain
power in the other Gulf states, while continuing the guerrilla war
in Dhofar.
With the help of British advisors, Sultan Qaboos bin Sa'id assumed
power on July 23, 1970, in a palace coup directed against his
father, Sa'id bin Taymur, who later died in exile in London. The new
sultan was confronted with insurgency in a country plagued by
endemic disease, illiteracy, and poverty. One of the new sultan's
first measures was to abolish many of his father's harsh
restrictions, which had caused thousands of Omanis to leave the
country, and to offer amnesty to opponents of the previous regime,
many of whom returned to Oman. He also established a modern
government structure and launched a major development program to
upgrade educational and health facilities, build a modern
infrastructure, and develop the country's natural resources.
In an effort to end the Dhofar insurgency, Sultan Qaboos expanded
and re-equipped the armed forces and granted amnesty to all
surrendered rebels while vigorously prosecuting the war in Dhofar.
He obtained direct military support from the U.K., Iran, and Jordan.
By early 1975, the guerrillas were confined to a 50-square kilometer
(20-sq. mi.) area near the Yemen border and shortly thereafter were
defeated. As the war drew to a close, civil action programs were
given priority throughout Dhofar and helped win the allegiance of
the people. The PFLO threat diminished further with the
establishment of diplomatic relations in October 1983 between South
Yemen and Oman, and South Yemen subsequently lessened propaganda and
subversive activities against Oman. In late-1987, Oman opened an
embassy in Aden, South Yemen, and appointed its first resident
ambassador to the country.
Since his accession in 1970, Sultan Qaboos has balanced tribal,
regional, and ethnic interests in composing the national
administration. The Council of Ministers, which functions as a
cabinet, consists of 30 ministers (but only 28 ministries), all
directly appointed by Qaboos. The bicameral Majlis Oman's mandate is
to review legislation pertaining to economic development and social
services prior to its becoming law. The elected Majlis al-Shura
(Consultative Council) may request ministers to appear before it. In
early 2003, Sultan Qaboos declared universal suffrage for the
October 2003 Majlis al-Shura elections. Two women were elected to
sit with 81 male colleagues in those elections, which were observed
to be free and fair. Roughly 194,000 Omani men and women, or 74% of
registered voters, participated in the elections. Since 2003, Sultan
Qaboos has also expanded the Majlis al-Dawla, or State Council, to
59 members from 53, including nine women. The State Council acts as
the upper chamber in Oman's bicameral representative body.
In November 1996, Sultan Qaboos presented his people with the "Basic
Statute of the State," Oman's first written "constitution." It
guarantees various rights within the framework of Shariah and
customary law. It partially resuscitated long dormant
conflict-of-interest measures by banning cabinet ministers from
being officers of public shareholding firms. Perhaps most
importantly, the Basic Statute provides rules for the royal
succession.
The northern tip of Oman, called the Musandam Peninsula, is
strategically located on the Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the
Gulf, 35 miles directly opposite Iran. Oman is concerned with
regional stability and security, given tensions in the region, the
proximity of Iran and Iraq, and the potential threat of political
Islam. Oman maintained its diplomatic relations with Iraq throughout
the Gulf War while supporting the UN allies by sending a contingent
of troops to join coalition forces and by opening up to
prepositioning of weapons and supplies. In addition, since 1980 Oman
and the U.S. have been parties to a military cooperation agreement,
which was revised and renewed in 2000. Oman also has long been an
active participant in efforts to achieve Middle East peace.
Following the terrorist attacks on the United States in September
2001, the Omani Government at all levels pledged and provided
impressive support to the U.S.-led coalition against terrorism. Oman
is a signatory of most UN-sponsored anti-terrorism treaties. |
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