OMAN, a nominally independent State in south-eastern Arabia, extending from Ras Musandam, on the Gulf of Oman, to the eastern limits of Hadhramaut at Ras Sajar (lat. i6° 8" N.) on the Indian ocean. Inland the State is bounded by the great desert of Arabia. The population is given as 500,00o, chiefly Arabs, with a strong negro element in the coastal regions. Area (roughly), 82,000 sq. miles.
Oman is a mountainous district forming part of the ancient land mass of Arabia, granite and limestone rocks being most in evi dence. The high ground culminates in Jeb. Akhdar (9,9oo ft.), which is flanked by steps of the old mountain block down to the coast. In this way access from the harbours (of which that of Muscat [q.v.] is alone important) to the interior is very difficult. The lateral valleys between the various steps are often fertile and cultivated, especially where a good supply of water is available.
The oasis of Tyin is the most important. The wadis of Oman, which cut across the mountainous area to the coast, are merely torrential channels, dry for the greater part of the year, often flow ing in narrow precipitous gorges, the only means of entering the interior. Of these ways, always difficult, the best known are those by the Wadi Kahza, from the port of Matrah; by the Wadi Hail from the port of Kuryat, and by the Semail valley, leading into the-Wadi Munsab from a point 5o m. N.W. of Muscat. All routes give access to Wadi Tyin, the garden of Oman.
The climate is tropical, with a mean annual rainfall of under 10 in., and a mean annual temperature of 8o° or more. The
vegetation is, however, tolerably abundant; tamarisks, oleanders, kafas, euphorbias, the milk-bush, rhamus and acacias being the most common.
Muscat, the capital, was in Portuguese hands from 1508 to the middle of the I7th century. In 1741 it was recovered by Ahmed bin Sacid, a descendant of those Yemenite imams who consolidated Arab power in Zanzibar and on the East African coast. His family has ruled Oman ever since. It was the most powerful State in Arabia during the first half of the 19th century, but subsequent raids by the nomadic tribes of the interior, as in 1913-14, and the opportunities for foreign intervention, particularly on the part of Britain, afforded by these occurrences, have now reduced the country to a dependency of the Government of India. The ruling sultan of Oman resides in India for the greater part of his time, and takes no active part in the government of his State.
The State is best known for its date cultivation, which has reached a high level in the interior. It is cultivated alongside of cereals and vegetables, as well as vines, peaches, apricots, or anges, mangoes and melons. Cultivation would be extended if the water supply were assured. The trade of Oman is mainly to and from India. Dates, pomegranates and dried fish are exported, while rice, coffee and cotton goods are the chief imports. The little port of Gwadar, on the coast of Baluchistan, the outlet for most of the trade of Makran, is still a dependency of Oman.