In 1998, Oman was a small country located in the Middle East. It had a population of around 2.2 million people and its capital city was Muscat. The economy of Oman in 1998 was largely based on oil with its main exports including petroleum products, fish and dates whilst imports included machinery and transport equipment. In terms of infrastructure, Oman had an extensive transportation network with well-maintained roads and airports as well as access to international shipping routes. Education levels were moderate with most children attending school until at least age 16. Health care was also limited but improving with access to public health services available to most people. Despite its small size, Oman is renowned for its diverse landscapes ranging from deserts to mountains as well as its vibrant cities such as Salalah which are filled with art galleries, museums and parks. See dentistrymyth for Oman in the year of 2015.

Yearbook 1998

Oman. According to Countryaah, the capital of Oman is Muscat. Oman’s new two-chamber parliament began working in January. A great deal of energy went into finding collaborative forms for the two chambers, Majlis ash-shura elected in October 1997 and Majlis ad-dawla appointed by the Sultan in December 1997.

In April and May, the 50th International Whaling Conference was held in the capital Muskat at Omanviken. 300 delegates from 40 countries participated.

In November, a new container port was opened in Salala in the south, thus replacing Dubai as the largest transhipment port on the route between Africa and Asia.

• Abbreviationfinder: What does OMN stand for in geography? Here, this 3 letter acronym refers to the country of Oman.

August

New ministers and contact with Israel

August 18

Badr al-Busaidi becomes the new foreign minister and Sultan bin Salem bin Said al-Habsi becomes finance minister as Oman’s regent Sultan Haitham reshuffles the government and shrinks it from 26 to 19 ministerial portfolios. The old sultan Qabus formally personally held several of the leading positions. Haitham bin Tariq has declared that Oman’s foreign policy neutrality will remain under his leadership, and an Omani recognition of the state of Israel is in the cards (see 26 June 2019 and 25 October 2018). Since the United Arab Emirates recently, as the first Gulf state, concluded an agreement with Israel, Oman has confirmed that there have been telephone contacts at the Foreign Ministry level between Israel and Oman. The sultan’s 30-year-old son Dhi Yazin bin Haitham is given responsibility for culture and sports in the government, which leads to him being perceived as a “cold calf” in training for heavier positions.

History. – The insurrection which had long lasted in the Ḍofār had been subdued, the resumption of contacts also with those countries that had supported the guerrillas (in 1978 relations with the People’s Republic of China were re-established), serious repercussions on the stability of the Oman they arose from the victory of the Islamic revolution in Iran, that is, the state that had largely contributed to safeguarding the regime of the sultanate. Hence the renewed commitment of Sultan Sayyid Qābūs bin Sa῾īd, in the direction both of strengthening collaboration in the Gulf, and of increasing political-military cooperation with moderate Arab countries and with the United States (acceptance of American bases and US military maneuvers in the winter of 1981) and at the same time an action aimed at articulating internal political life with the establishment of a Consultative Assembly, which met for the first time in January 1992. Qābūs’s visit to Egyptian President Ḥusnī Mubārak in May 1982 was also significant: despite never having the Oman broken off relations with Egypt following the separate peace with Israel, this visit represented a step in favor of the full reintegration of Cairo into the Arab assembly. The growing importance of Oman as an oil producing country it has favored the development of relations in many directions: in 1986 diplomatic relations were consolidated with Peru, Turkey, Venezuela, and the exchange of ambassadors with the USSR was reached. A 1986-90 economic plan aimed at an annual increase of 4% also in sectors such as agriculture, industry, fishing and mining. On the occasion of invasion of Kuwait by the Irāq, the Oman urged (August 1990) a strengthening of the US military presence against Iraqi threats, confirming the pro-Western choices.