Page last updated on January 27, 2020
Location:
Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, and Persian Gulf, between Yemen and the UAE
Geographic coordinates:
21 00 N, 57 00 E
Map references:
Middle East
Area:
total: 309,500 sq km
[see also: Area - total country ranks ]
land: 309,500 sq km
[see also: Area - land country ranks ]
water: 0 sq km
[see also: Area - water country ranks ]
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
72
Area - comparative:
twice the size of Georgia; slightly smaller than Kansas
Area comparison map:
twice the size of Georgia; slightly smaller than Kansas
Land boundaries:
total: 1,561 km
[see also: Land boundaries - total country ranks ]
border countries (3):
Saudi Arabia 658 km, UAE 609 km, Yemen 294 km
Coastline:
2,092 km
[see also: Coastline country ranks ]
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12
nm
[see also: Maritime claims - territorial sea country ranks ]
exclusive economic zone: 200
nm
[see also: Maritime claims - exclusive economic zone country ranks ]
contiguous zone: 24
nm
[see also: Maritime claims - contiguous zone country ranks ]
Climate:
dry desert; hot, humid along coast; hot, dry interior; strong southwest summer monsoon (May to September) in far south
More Climate Details
Terrain:
central desert plain, rugged mountains in north and south
Elevation:
mean elevation: 310 m
[see also: Elevation - mean elevation country ranks ]
lowest point:
Arabian Sea 0 m
highest point:
Jabal Shams 3,004 m
Natural resources:
petroleum, copper, asbestos, some marble, limestone, chromium, gypsum, natural gas
Land use:
agricultural land: 4.7%
(2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - agricultural land country ranks ]
arable land: 0.1%
(2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - arable land country ranks ]
permanent crops: 0.1%
(2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - permanent crops country ranks ]
permanent pasture: 4.5%
(2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - permanent pasture country ranks ]
forest: 0%
(2011 est.)
[see also: Land use - forest country ranks ]
other: 95.3%
(2011 est.)
[see also: Land use country ranks ]
Irrigated land:
590 sq km
(2012)
[see also: Irrigated land country ranks ]
Population distribution:
the vast majority of the population is located in and around the Al Hagar Mountains in the north of the country; another smaller cluster is found around the city of Salalah in the far south; most of the country remains sparsely poplulated
Natural hazards:
summer winds often raise large sandstorms and dust storms in interior; periodic droughts
Environment - current issues:
limited natural freshwater resources; high levels of soil and water salinity in the coastal plains; beach pollution from oil spills; industrial effluents seeping into the water tables and aquifers; desertificaiton due to high winds driving desert sand into arable lands
Environment - international agreements:
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling
signed, but not ratified:
none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
consists of Oman proper and two northern exclaves, Musandam and Al Madhah; the former is a peninsula that occupies a strategic location adjacent to the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Oman on this page is re-published from the 2020 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Oman Geography 2020 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Oman Geography 2020 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may have the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assigns counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order.
This page was last modified 27-Jan-20
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