Now all over Arabia, you probably noticed this trend going on in which many of the countries are like building these
opulent metal skyscrapers and lavish neon lights and glass palaces?
I mean that's great and all
but sometimes, you just want that dusty mud brick wooden vaulted marketplace with colorful jewels, rugs and spices and incense.
Well, you're in luck because if you want a real true hardcore traditional Arab setting,
Oman does not disappoint.
Yemen: AAHEM!
Yeah, sorry, it's just... things are a little...
We'll get to you later.
It's time to learn Geography
NOW!!!
Everybody, I'm your host Barbs.
If you don't know anything about Oman, basically
it's like the loving grandma of the Arab world
who has some pretty crazy dark secrets in her past.
Let's just say they had a sultan that made everything from sunglasses
to speaking with someone for more than 15 minutes illegal.
In any case, Oman is now very different from the early 20th century.
Let's go over to Grandma's house now. Shall we?
-POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY-
Nah! I'm not gonna do the "Oh-Man", it's Oman pun, that one's too easy.
What I will do though is get you in the learning zone,
you know relax, meditate and like yoga, I'm gonna help you get your
"Om-on" Home on
Ehehehe!!
Okay, seriously, though, it's map time!
Oman is located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula of the Middle East
It sits right at the mouth of the Persian Gulf bordered by 3 other countries.
The country is divided into 11 Governorates, with the capital and largest city of Muscat located in the Northeast.
It also holds the largest airport: Muscat international.
Otherwise, the second-largest city outside of the Muscat metropolitan area would be
Salalah, located in the complete opposite side of the country in the southwest
just about 50 miles or 80 kilometers from the border from Yemen.
It also holds the second busiest airport: Salalah International.
Somewhere around 90% of the country lives in the north eastern areas
with about half alone just in the northeast coast by Muscat.
The Al Wusta Governorate is the least sparsely populated area, with only about 50,000 people.
The smallest and least populated governorate though would be the Musandam governorate,
which is strange if you look at it, because it's a completely detached exclave divided into 2 parts:
The Musandam Peninsula and the exclave town of Madha,
which in itself has a counter enclave of the United Arab Emirates inside of it.
We'll explain more about this later.
Essentially what it comes down to is: This narrow corridor of sea known as the Strait of Hormuz
at its narrowest, only about 21 nautical miles wide
is the most important section of economic activity amongst all the nation states surrounding it.
Why?
Because all imports and exports via shipping cargo must pass through,
and about a third of the world's liquefied natural gas
and 20% of the world's total global oil production passes through here.
Oman got a hold of the peninsula and today, depending on your nation's diplomacy,
you have to choose which territorial water jurisdiction you want to pass through to avoid trouble.
This makes the corridor even narrower for some countries.
Most cargo ships have the option to stop over in the port town of Khasab before moving on.
This gives Oman quite the advantage when it comes to economic activity.
Otherwise, the port of Sultan Qaboos is the largest port in Oman, and one of the oldest in the world.
Today, the country does not have a rail system
but they are currently underway to build one
with the rest of the GCC countries connecting the entire eastern side of the peninsula
starting in Kuwait and hopefully ending in Salalah.
Now back to the end clip thing with the UAE.
How did it happen that way?
Well, long story short in the 1930s,
there were 4 main clans that ruled the peninsula area
and it kind of went like this:
"Ok guys, we need to figure out who we want to side with."
"Well, let's see. It's 1930, Oman is doing really good
I mean they had a huge Empire extending all the way to Africa."
"And they have such great resources like frankincense and date-palms.
Their markets are so flourishing."
"Pssh! Yeah and look at the Emirates.
What do they have? Just some cheap fishing ports?"
Hahahaha!
"Ok, it's settled. We're sticking with Oman because they are totally cooler and have way better fiscal security."
"I'm from the town of Nahwa and I have an allegiance to the Emirates.
I can't go along with this."
"Fine! We'll build our territory around you but
don't come crying to us 50 years down the line when we get rich.
I mean we have the Strait of Hormuz. You're making a huge mistake."
UAE: Yeah, we just had an oil boom and Dubai just built the tallest building in the world
but hey, how's that Strait of Hormuz doing for you?
Yeah, the Emirates kind of figured things out and got a makeover.
Now when it comes to Oman's civil layout though,
it's quite different from all the other Gulf states.
Oman is often called the "last bastion of unspoiled Arabia".
Traditional architecture is heavily cherished and protected.
For one: You'll notice that most buildings are white or beige.
This is actually regulated by the government as it gives off the sense of harmony and cleanliness.
Otherwise, the nation also has sovereignty over a dozens of small islands and islets off the coast,
most of which are uninhabited and empty
with the largest one being Masirah Island.
This is part of the Ash-Sharquiyyah region in the east
which holds the Royal Air Force of Oman with 12 small villages on it.
And further west, you have the Khuriya Muriya islands, part of the Dhofar governor.
These were actually at one point gifted to Queen Victoria from the Sultan of Muscat back in 1854
and at that time, she was just like:
"Eeh, I'll just let the people in our India colony take care of it."
Otherwise some places of interest in case you decide to visit might include:
The National Museum
The women's only souq on Wednesday (Men are not allowed)
The second largest cave chamber in the world
the Bimmah sinkhole
There's over 500 forts and castles like these
The Muscat Corniche
The Royal Opera House
the Sultan Qaboos grand mosque
Al-Alam palace
The tomb of Jobe
These ruins
and this place, the Bahla Village
It's like famous for black magic or something like that.
All right
and with that being done and said,
now we go to the next part of Oman:
the Omani landscape.
And be careful because you could find yourself in literal quicksand.
-PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY-
Now Oman is a Gulf country, which means it's gonna be pretty dry no matter where you go.
But dry can come in all shapes and forms,
and in with Oman, things can get pretty colorful.
First of all
The country lies on the Arabian plate that converges right into the Eurasian plate
meaning that the Musandam Peninsula may occasionally get some tremors.
This is what gives the peninsula and islands their weird fjord-like shape with sharp inlets.
Technically the islands are sinking, eroded through the tectonic activity
which causes water to flood into the valleys.
The majority of the population kind of lives in 2 of these isolated coastal valleys
shielded on all sides by the mountains.
In the south, you have Salalah surrounded by the Dhofar mountains
and in the Northeast, you have Muscat and various other towns in the Al Barinah plain,
surrounded by the Al Hajar mountain chain
which by the way has a tallest peak, Jabal Shams at over 3,000 meters.
These hidden valleys are essentially the greenest and most lush parts of the country.
Otherwise, much of the nation is covered in the Jiddat Al Harasis desert.
Oman is one of 18 nations across the world with no permanent rivers
However
If you look at the country from above, you can see the long vast network of wadis,
shallow ephemeral water courses that have seasonal flows when rains come.
The closest thing to a river would probably be Wadi Bani Khalid.
This is the most famous one with small streams that lead to Oasis towns.
However
The streams don't connect all the way and leave pockets of pools on what should be a river path.
In that regard, the largest inland body of water would probably be the Dayqah Dam reservoir,
which holds a small pocket of mountain spring runoff in the Hajar range.
Otherwise, see this dark section here?
Yeah, be careful of this spot.
It's called the Um Al Samim or "mother of poison".
This is a low-lying closed basin that collects all the brackish water from whatever precipitation and runoff the country gets
making it into one of the world's largest quicksand areas.
Don't let the crusty surface fool you.
Cars have been known to have gotten hopelessly stuck in these sands.
Yeah, a quicksand spot. These deserts have a lot of tricks up their sleeves.
Alright, and now it's time for my triple shot of espresso break,
which means Noah comes in!
(Sandman transition)
Oh Yeah!
What an entrance.
Oman prides itself on its natural diversity and landscape.
Other states in the Gulf don't exactly have what Oman has.
For one, they are known for being the land of frankincense and myrrh.
Today however, petroleum products make up the largest exports of somewhere around 80%
Largest reserve being in the area by the town of Fahud.
Less than 1% of the country is cultivated which limits their agriculture output
even though they've been trying to diversify in the past few decades.
As for wildlife, you can find many species mannering about the wilderness
such as obvious camels
Sand gazelle
Ibex
Over 500 species of birds.
They're also one of the few places with a confirmed surviving population of
Arabian leopards and chameleons,
mostly in the south Dhofar region.
Anyway, moving on.
FOOD!
Some top dishes you guys, the Omani Geograpeeps suggest we mentioned include things like:
This eggplant dish
And much like everywhere in the Gulf,
you'll most likely be offered cardamom coffee with dates as a mini snack.
Yep, you'll see this symbol of hospitality a lot as well as some other interesting trades in their society.
That brings us to:
-DEMOGRAPHICS-
Thank You Noah!
Now in the Arab world,
there are 2 countries that kind of act like this safe neutral "Grandma" and "Grandpa":
Jordan and Oman.
Oman is like the nice happy grandma that everyone loves to visit.
She feeds you, takes care of you.
But unbeknownst to most people, she covers up a mysterious and somewhat dark backstory.
First of all
The country is a fast growing country reaching close to about 5 million people
and nearly 45% of the entire population are expats from abroad.
Only a little over half the population actually identifies as Omani at around 55%, which classifies as Arab.
the majority of the remaining population is made up of expats from all over
mostly Asiam Africa and the Middle East
the largest nations represented being Indi,a Bangladesh and Pakistan
with smaller groups from places like Indonesia, The Philippines and the Zanzibar Islands (of Tanzania).
They use the Omani rial as their currency.
They use the types C and G plug outlets
and they drive on the right side of the road.
For one, most Omanis have 3 identifying factors:
Their tribe,
their distinct Ibadi Islam faith
and for some people, their maritime merchant background.
There are quite a few tribes broken down into clans and families
but the 2 largest ones are the Hinawi and Ghafiri,
both are general cousin tribes of the larger Bedouin people groups.
Most people at around 85% of the country is Muslim
adhering to the Ibadi branch of Islam,
which comes from the teachings of this guy.
It is a sect of Islam unique mostly to Oman that most Muslims across the world don't even know too much about
but it claims to predate Sunni and Shia.
Otherwise, the nation is classified as an absolute monarchy under the headship of Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said
but it's like the sultan is kind of cool and the people generally like him.
I mean his dad, the former sultan was kind of like a complete mess and he ruined the entire country.
He supports things like the freedom of religion and even financed the construction of 4 Catholic and Protestant churches
and several Hindu temples.
And today, he tries to lead like a neutral ground zone in the Middle East.
He even met up with Netanyahu,
and often, Oman acts as like the mediator between the Middle East and the West with Iran.
Switzerland: Hmm, we should hang out sometime.
Arabic is of course the official language.
However, they are known for having their own distinct dialect.
In addition, Oman is pretty much how the Swahili language came into existence.
How so?
Well for nearly 2 centuries,
they had a sizable empire that extended all the way from parts of what are now Iran,
all the way down to the East coast of Africa into parts as far south as Mozambique.
On a controversial side note:
This Empire was pretty much the leading movement behind the Arab slave trade that took place on the east side of Africa
as the Atlantic slave trade was going on in the West.
Not many people talk about it
but according to historical data, more slaves were actually transported on this side of Africa than on the West.
In order to form a way of communicating with the vastly diverse Bantu and Cushitic people groups of East Africa,
the Omani colonizers developed a sort of fusion between Arabic and Bantu languages
called "Swahili", which comes from the Arabic word "of coasts".
And today it is a lingua franca for a significant portion of the East African states like Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda.
This is why you might see some Africans living in Oman and Omanis living in Zanzibar.
Otherwise in the Gulf states,
Everyone can kind of like pinpoint an Omani
and here's Hannah with culture stuff.
Omanis are known for a lot of things.
For one, almost everybody in the Gulf will tell you generally, Omanis dress a little different.
Most men and women in places like the Emirates, Saudi Arabia and so on,
they have your typical white Thobe with Keffiyeh for men
and black Abayas for women.
In Oman you can still see those
but they also have the Omani dishdasha, with a drawstring
as well as the Omani cap or Kuma.
Traditionally, women would wear a shorter dress over a pair of trousers called sirwal.
On top of that, the unique-looking Batoulah nose covering can still be seen in certain groups.
The one thing that definitely makes the Omani stick out, clothing-wise though, is the Khanjar,
the traditional curved dagger of Oman,
usually worn on a belt or sash for men used in ceremonies.
This is a specific symbol unique to Oman and it is even found on their flag.
Otherwise, Oman was at one point one of the most important shipping and seafaring nations in the world.
Known for making some of the best traditional Dhow boats
that have been known to sail all the way to China in the eighth century.
Dhow racing is a popular sport as with camel and horse racing.
And finally, here's Keith with his music segment
that no one cares about!
Music in Oman has always kind of stood out from the rest of their neighbors due to a bunch of historical factors.
For one, thanks to the Omani empire, there's a lot more African influence in certain genres like
Liwa and Fann at-Tambora.
These were created by Bantu peoples brought over from the colonial times.
Traditional instruments like the Oud are commonly played,
however.
There is even a small emerging metal scene with Omani bands like Arabia and Belos.
Thanks guys!
Anyway, we got to move on: History time!
In the quickest way I can summarize it:
Portuguese occupation
Ottoman Empire
Current dynasty with the Al-Said family starting
Omani Empire to the East coast of Africa
Arab slave trade
Treaty of Seeb
Jabal Akhtar war
Gwadar sold to Pakistan
Dhofar rebellions
1970 bloodless coup
Current sultan revamps the whole country
And here we are today!
Some famous people you guys, the Omani Geograpeeps, suggested we mentioned include people like
The current Sultan Qaboos bin Said
Mohsin Haider Darwish
Saud and Suhail Bahwan
Mohammad Bhavani
Fatima Al Nabhani
Auhammad Al Habsi
Buthaina Al Raisi
Ahmed Al Harthy
Oh and Isla Fisher (Pronounciation: EYE-la Fish-er) was actually born here.
And some historical figures might include all these people...
I'll just do a photo montage because I can't pronounce all of them.
And supposedly Sinbad the sailor was born here.
Well, that just about does it.
The "mediators of the Gulf".
And let's find out how the diplomatic approach to things gets them on a global scale now,
Shall we?
-FRIEND ZONE-
Being Oman means being a "Gulf State"
but it also means being a bridge state that kind of links the Gulf to the outside in many ways.
First of all,
They are generally close with Jordan.
If Oman is the grandma, Jordan is kind of like the grandpa.
They sort of played the same role in Middle Eastern conflict by mediating and so
which would eventually unite the nation.
For the UK, they are personal friends, at least the monarchs are.
In 1798, they signed the treaty of Friendship
and in 1891, they became a British protectorate.
The British also played a role in stopping the rebellions in Zanzibar
and today, the Queen and Sultan have done many unofficial trips to visit each other and maintain the ties;
Surprisingly
Iran and Israel too.
Oman is one of the only few nations in the Arab world that has had government officials visit each other to maintain stability and trade.
2 prime ministers of Israel have visited themselves
and Omani foreign minister Yusuf bin Alawi visited Jerusalem.
They signed an agreement on trade in 1996
and the same foreign minister is quoted for saying:
"Maybe it is time for Israel to be treated the same [as other states] and also bear the same obligations.
Arabs must take initiatives to make Israel overcome fears for its future in the region."
Which of course was a controversial statement.
With Iran, Oman is definitely the mediator between the Middle East
that bridges the Sunni and Shia divide
as well as the west and Iran divide.
They have had ties that predate the Islamic Revolution in 1979 all the way back to the Pahlavi the dynasty in the 20s.
As co-owners of the Strait of Hormuz, they share a lot of history,
a noticeable minority of people in Oman are Balochi originating in Iran,
and the Sultan even visited himself in 2009 to discuss a number of political topics.
Today, Oman is one of the few Arab nations that Iran can trust,
which makes relations to the rest of the GCC countries a little more complicated.
On paper, of course they are close friends
and in every sense, they work together, normally and comfortably.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia though are kind of like the annoying brothers that poked fun of them and play pranks
that cross the boundaries, but Oman is just very non-confrontational
so they just kind of take it because family is family.
This however in return has kind of led to them making friends with outlier nations
like Yemen Qatar and Iran,
they are the only Gulf nation to have open relations with each
and they agreed with Iran's nuclear deal
which makes Saudi Arabia and the UAE think a little harder before they play the pranks from now on.
Nontheless, it's kind of interesting because a lot of Omanis have told me that the Zanzibar Islands might actually be considered their best friend.
Zanzibar is like the little adoptive child that Oman held close to for the longest time
and many Omanis and Zanzibaris share family, culture and history.
Today, you can see many Zanzibaris and Omanis living in each other's areas
as a representation that they at one time were very closely linked.
In conclusion:
Every region in the world has an "Oman",
an old ancient wise traditional grandma that is one of the only few keys to maintaining some order.
It's not an easy task, but
Som-oane (Someone)
has to do it.
Stay tuned, Pakistan is coming up next!