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Oman has broken the seal and emerged into the world.The sultanate Oman,
the land of the frankincense, has a large diversity in landscapes with
mountains, sanddunes and a long coastline with a lot of beaches.
Oman has an old 12.000 years old civilisation and history.There are
about 500 impressive forts, lovely small villages and old trading towns
with traditonal suqs.
In the larger towns of Oman you will find a mixture of the traditional
and modern life with colorful suqs and modern shopping malls.The men
still wear their dishdashes, the long collarless shirt dresses.
For the most part, Oman comprises a narrow coastal plain backed by hill
ranges and an interior desert plateau. The highest point is Jebel Sham
(3,018m). In the extreme north, dates, limes, nuts, and vegetables are
cultivated, and in the southwest there is an abundance of cattle and
other livestock. Fishing is an important industry. The major product,
however, is oil, which was discovered in Oman in 1964 and first exported
in 1967. Natural gas production and small copper mines developed in the
early 1980s and are a part of Oman's growing industries. The inhabitants
are mostly Arabs; there are also minorities of Pakistanis, Indians,
Africans, Baluchis, and migrant workers of varied ethnicities.
Oman is divided into 3 geographical parts — the main region with a
coastline along the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea; the tiny enclave
of Madha inside the main land of United Arab Emirates; and the enclave
of Ras Musandam, which is separated from main Oman by territories of
United Arab Emirates, and lies next to the Strait of Hormuz.
Main Oman has three physical regions: The narrow coastal plain
(al-Batina), mountains and hills (al-Jabalu l-Akhdar, the green
mountain), and the plateau of the inland. Al-Batina is barren, even if
there is some agriculture in Dhofar (south-west). The mountains in the
north reach as high as 3,019 metres (Jabalu sh-Shaam). The interior
plateau is arable only in oases.
The climate of Oman is hot and arid. Daily average temperatures vary
between 21°C and 35°C, while annual rainfall is only 100 mm.
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