Profile of Muscat The political and commercial centre of Oman, Muscat, has a long and interesting past. Muscat was an established port town by the 2nd century. In 1507, the Portuguese established a naval base and trading post in the city, enclosing it within the large walls that remain today. The port reached political

Modern Oman Since the 1970s, the Sultanate of Oman has rapidly entered the modern world. Today, it is an economically, politically, and socially progressive country. The population of modern Oman is more than 4 million and is growing at a rate of just over 1.9% per annum. Along with its economy, public services in Oman

The geography of Oman Oman borders the Republic of Yemen to the southwest, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the west, and the United Arab Emirates to the north. With an area of over 300,000 square kilometres, Oman is one of the most geographically diverse countries of the Peninsula. Arid deserts meet fertile plains and

The Maritime Trade Route: Oman to the Far East Historical sources show that over a thousand years ago, sailors travelled the seas between Oman and China. By the middle of the 9th century there was an established trade route between Muscat and trading ports in the Far East. Independent first-hand sources give a reasonably

The project The Jewel of Muscat project was an historical and cultural initiative launched by the governments of Oman and Singapore that involved the reconstruction of a 9th-century ship and sailing it from Oman to Singapore. The ship’s design was based on the archaeological findings of the Belitung Wreck, which was discovered

The Belitung Wreck and Tang Treasures In 1998, a German company was given permission by the Indonesian government to excavate the wreck of a 9th century Arabian ship that had been discovered by a local fisherman off the island of Belitung. With the wreck of the sunken vessel were found 60,000 pieces of rare