Because of the low precipitation, vegetation is sparse except where there is irrigation, which is provided by an ancient system of water channels known as aflāj (singular: falaj). The channels often run underground and originate in wells near mountain bases. The aflāj collectively were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2006.

Acacia trees form most of what little natural vegetation exists, and the soil is extremely rocky; plant species are protected in nature preserves. The government also protects rare animal species, such as the Arabian oryx, Arabian leopard, mountain goat, and loggerhead turtle. Oman’s birdlife is extraordinarily diverse and includes such species as the glossy ibis, Egyptian vulture, Barbary falcon, and Socotra cormorant.

Ethnic groups

More than half of Oman’s population is Arab. However, large numbers of ethnic Baloch—who migrated to Oman from Iran and Pakistan over the past several centuries—live near the coast in Al-Bāṭinah. The Muscat-Maṭraḥ urban area has long been home to significant numbers of ethnic Persians and to merchants of South Asian ancestry, some of whom also live along Al-Bāṭinah. Notable among the latter are the Liwātiyyah, who originally came from Sindh (now in Pakistan) but have lived in Oman for centuries.

Several large Arab groups predominate along Dhofar’s coastal plain. The inhabitants of the Dhofar mountains are known as jibālīs, or “people of the mountains.” They are ethnically distinct from the coastal Arabs and are thought to be descendants of people from the Yemen highlands.

Languages

Arabic is the official language, and Modern Standard Arabic is taught in schools. In addition, a number of dialects of vernacular Arabic are spoken, some of which are similar to those spoken in other Persian Gulf states but many of which are not mutually intelligible with those of adjacent regions. The jibālīs, for example, speak older dialects of South Arabic. These differ greatly from most other dialects, which are derived from North Arabic (as is Modern Standard Arabic). English, Persian, and Urdu are also spoken, and there are a number of Swahili-speaking Omanis born in Zanzibar and elsewhere in East Africa who returned to Oman after 1970. Various South Asian languages are also spoken.

Religion

The overwhelming majority of Omanis are Muslims. The Ibāḍī branch of Islam, a moderate Khārijite group, claims the most adherents. In belief and ritual, Ibāḍism is close to Sunni Islam (the major branch of Islam), differing in its emphasis on an elected, rather than a hereditary, imam as the spiritual and temporal leader of the Ibāḍī community. Non-Ibāḍī Arabs and the Baloch are mostly Sunnis. Those in the South Asian communities are mainly Shiʿi, although a few are Hindus.

Settlement patterns

The population of Oman is primarily urban but has a number of traditional rural settlements. These are typically located near the foothills of the Ḥajar Mountains, where the aflāj provide irrigation. In addition to small villages, a number of sizable towns, including Nizwā, Bahlāʾ, Izkī, and ʿIbrī, are found on the inland, or southwestern, side of the Western Ḥajar. Coastal Al-Bāṭinah provides opportunities for fishing, as well as irrigated cultivation, and is therefore more densely populated, with such major towns as Shināṣ, Ṣuḥār, Al-Khābūrah, Al-Maṣnaʿah, and Barkāʾ. Approximately one-fourth of the population lives in Al-Bāṭinah. Al-Rustāq, ʿAwābī, and Nakhl are principal settlements on Al-Bāṭinah’s side of the Western Ḥajar.

The twin cities of Muscat and Maṭraḥ lie at the eastern end of Al-Bāṭinah; both are ancient ports, but they have merged to become an important metropolitan centre. Al-Bāṭinah is the country’s most densely populated area. To the east the only major town is Ṣūr, a well-protected port that is still a notable centre for fishing and boatbuilding. The central region of interior Oman consists of irrigated valleys lying between the mountains and the desert and is also one of the more densely populated areas. Some of Dhofar’s residents are concentrated in towns along the coast, while others are seminomadic cattle herders in the mountains. A small nomadic population inhabits the inland plateaus along the Rubʿ al-Khali. Khaṣab is the only significant town in the sparsely populated Musandam Peninsula.

Demographic trends

Oman has one of the highest birth rates among the Persian Gulf states; this birth rate—combined with a relatively low death rate—has given the country a rate of natural increase that well exceeds the world average. Life expectancy averages about 75 years. The infant mortality rate is decreasing, and about half of the population is under age 30.

Since 1970, increasing numbers of foreigners have come to reside in the country, particularly in the capital. These include Western businessmen, as well as government advisers, army officers, and labourers from the Indian subcontinent, the Philippines, and other Asian countries. Since the 1980s the government has followed a policy termed “Omanization,” to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign labour and increase employment opportunities for Omani citizens.