Geography of Oman

Map of Oman

The geography of Oman is the description of the physical condition of the state territory of the Sultanate of Oman as well as the resulting interaction between this habitat and its inhabitants. Oman originally referred to a region in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula, which also includes the United Arab Emirates , but not the Dhofar region, which is now part of the sultanate .

physical geography

The north coast of Oman

The capital region

The port of Muscat

Muscat is the capital of Oman, although it does not offer the space to accommodate all the functions of a capital, these are spread over the surrounding areas of the “Capital Area”, some of which have arisen from nowhere. Sultan Qaboos ibn Said has one of his palaces here, but the most striking buildings in the city are the two fortresses from the Portuguese occupation, Mirani and Jalali .

The Bustan Palace Hotel in Muscat

In Al-Bustan there is also one of the ten finest hotels in the world. The fishing villages of Qantab and Yiti near the city can only be reached via steep roads .

Matrah is one of the most important places, even earlier as a trading post for caravans. Despite the many shopping malls in the surrounding districts, the old market still fulfills its central supply role and should retain its atmosphere even after the renovation in 2005. The port of Matrah is the most important in the country. Due to a lack of space, Ruwi is a new district and business center that emerged from the “Matrah Business District” after 1970. Muscat's central bus station is located here.

At Cape Ras al-Hamra there are prehistoric excavations from the fifth millennium BC. One kilometer east of it is the modern oil port of Mina al-Fahal , and four kilometers north of the coast is the island of Al Fahal , to the west of the coast the richer districts of Qurum , Medinat Qaboos and Al-Khuwair with villas, embassies, banks and ministries .

Bawshar has old, relatively original districts in the wadi . The Bait Maqham residential estate is set in green gardens and palm groves . Until a few years ago, Sib was a fishing village on the western edge of the Capital Area , now the international airport is located there and it has developed into a large city.

The Al-Batina coastal plain

The Al-Batina extends over 400 kilometers west to the United Arab Emirates between the Hajar Mountains and the Gulf of Oman . So much water is brought in through the wadis that citrus fruits, mangoes, tomatoes and many other fruits and vegetables thrive on the fertile plain. In earlier centuries conquerors came again and again, against whom forts, city walls and other structures were used to defend themselves. Some were also built by successful conquerors.

Barka is the first town beyond the Capital Area with a mighty fortress and a bullring. A tourist complex is being built on the attractive beach at Cape Ras as-Sawadi . Immediately in front of the headland are the Sawadi Islands . The Daimaniyyat Islands , a few kilometers to the northeast, are an uninhabited nature reserve. as-Suwaiq used to be important as a port and is now a prime example of Omani urban development: the old center around the fort with the souq is losing its importance as a trading center because of the newly created shopping streets and the area is largely sprawled.

The historically significant Suhar had its heyday as a trading port over a thousand years ago when Arab seafarers sailed as far as China. Allegedly Sindbad comes from this city. Evidence from early epochs can be seen in the museum, the fortress is one of the largest in the country. Today Suhar begins to transform into an industrial city. In the port of Schinas some are dhows . 35 kilometers further on one reaches the Emirate of Fujairah .

The mountains of Oman

The Musandam Peninsula

The Musandam exclave , a foothills of the Hajar Mountains , protrudes far into the Persian Gulf in the north of Oman . This forms the Strait of Hormuz , through which tankers carry much of the world's oil. Musandam is separated from the rest of Oman by the United Arab Emirates . Chasab is the capital of the region characterized by rugged fjords and spectacular mountain landscapes. Kumzar is the northernmost town of Oman, right on the Strait of Hormuz.

Dibba al-Baya is a city in the south of Musandam, which is located in both Oman and the Emirates of Sharjah and Fujairah . Madha is another, even smaller, enclave within the United Arab Emirates.

Telegraph Island

In Khor-al-shame -Fjord also located Telegraph Island , a 160-meter-long island on which the British middle of a telegraph cable from Basra in Iraq to India built the 19th century in the course of laying a telegraph station. The idiom "Going 'round the bend" also came from the apparently bored residents on the island. Today the island is only visited by tourists.

The western Hajar Mountains

The Hajar Mountains (sometimes also called the Oman Mountains) form the backbone south of the coast in all of Nordoman. It is very attractive for geologists, rock layers come to the surface that are otherwise many kilometers deep. It rains a lot, the water is captured in Falaj canals that supply the mountain oases. Imams had religious power in the mountains, whereas political power was mostly concentrated in the hands of the sultan on the coast.

The places from Nachl to al-Hazm are more accessible from the Batina , but are already in the mountains. The fort of Nachl is particularly exposed on a rock, date palms gave the place its name. Spectacular wadis, which bring water from the high mountains to the coast, characterize the landscape, the white Wadi Wadi Abyad impresses with blue or milky ponds. Bilad Sait in the gorgeous Wadi Bani Auf is a beautiful, secluded mountain oasis. Rustaq , the largest city in this region, was a religious center and often the seat of the imams who lived in the large fortress. In al-Hazm is the youngest of the great fortresses (from 1708) with impressive gates with wood carvings and a canal that keeps the interior cool. Winding corridors and stairs confuse the visitor.

Fandscha and Bidbid at the lower end of Wadi Suma'il , the deep gorge between the western and eastern Hajjar , have been strategic locations for coastal access to the mountains. Izki , an oasis whose existence has been documented for 2,700 years, consists of two clay places of two warring tribes. In the lush green Birkat al-Mauz ( Banana Lake) there is a magnificent living space, Bait ar-Rudaida . Here the access road to Jebel al-Achdar ( green mountain ) branches off, a mountain range with the 3,075 m high Jabal Shams , the highest mountain in the country.

Nizwa is considered the secret capital and is still the religious center of the country today. In the souk there is cattle, fruit and vegetables, but also silversmithing, e.g. B. the curved daggers Khandjar . The fascinating thing about Mana is the decaying ruined city made of clay.

Tanuf is home to the source of the Omani mineral water. The old place was bombed in 1959 in the fighting between the Imam and the Sultan, a bizarre landscape of mud ruins remained. Behind it begins the narrow Wadi Tanuf with a reservoir. Al-Hamra is one of the many interesting oases with an old clay part with red houses on stone foundations and a modern concrete part. The Misfah district is unusually located on the steep mountain slope. A visitor center with a geology museum was built in 2005 at the Al Hoota Cave karst cave . The Wadi Ghul is the gateway to the Jabal Shams. In the area valleys are cut very deep, z. B. the Grand Canyon of Oman.

Bahla is surrounded by a 13 kilometer long city wall. Well known is the clay fortress Hisn Tamah , which is included in the UNESCO list of cultural monuments . Jabrin is famous as the city with the most beautiful palace. After a long period of oblivion, it was restored in the 1990s. Behind the city begins the Hamra ad-Duru desert , which is now used for oil drilling. There are many prehistoric sites in the mountains, the most impressive of which is the more than 4000 year old necropolis of Bat , which was only rediscovered in the 1970s and is also a world heritage site. The beehive graves near al-Ain , also protected by UNESCO, are worth seeing . The modern market town of Ibri has an old, abandoned part of town made of clay as-Sulaif . In Yanqul there is one of the few not yet restored massive forts.

The huge Buraimi oasis is largely located in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi ( al-Ain ). There is a long history that may a. documented in archaeological finds.

The Eastern Hajar Mountains

In the eastern Hajar Mountains it is not quite as high as in the western section, but the mountains are no less rugged. There are 1,000 year old burial towers on the high plateau.

Hawiyyat Nadschm (Dabab Sinkhole), a sinkhole on the coast, south of Quriat

On the coast between Quriat and Sur there is the Hawiyyat Nadschm (English Dabab Sinkhole). Part of a cave collapsed here and today forms a sinkhole that is partially filled with water and connects to the sea about 500 meters away.

Many wadis flow into the coast, some of which have water all year round. The city of Quriat was an important port until 1507, the beginning of the Portuguese occupation, and is now quite tranquil. The Wadi Dhaiqa with the Devil's Gorge forms a real river . The following valleys, Wadi Schab and Tiwi, are also considered to be extremely beautiful in their combination of lush greenery and craggy rocks. Shortly before Sur you reach the ruins of Qalhat , a city that was an important trading center in the 12th and 13th centuries.

Sur has a long history as a port city with trade links to East Africa and dhows are still being built here on the lagoon. In the past, Oman formed a state with Zanzibar , which is still evident today in the appearance of the people. Until 1960 Sur was the largest city in Oman.

Ibra , like many other cities , was inhabited by warring tribes, but today its Wednesday market, which originally only allowed women, is more significant. The first thing you see from al-Mudairib are the many towers, the wooden doors are also noteworthy in detail. The oasis al-Qabil dried up in the middle of the 19th century, and the inhabitants often emigrated to Zanzibar. 100 years later, many Zanzibaris of Omani origin returned. The fort of al-Mintirib was built with vaults instead of wood. The gardens were lowered in order to have better access to the precious water. al-Hawaiya is a similar oasis that can also be viewed from above from the surrounding sand dunes of the Ramlat al-Wahiba desert .

Wadi Bani Chalid behind colorful mountains is a lush green valley in stark contrast to the surrounding desert landscape. Mukal's pent-up pools are among the most beautiful places in the country.

Pool in Wadi Bani Khalid

The almost 1,000 meter high southeast face of the Jebel Misht presents a particular challenge for mountaineers .

Ja'alan

The easternmost section of the Hajar Mountains is called Dscha'alan . The coast east of Sur is still beautiful and defined by lagoons protruding far inland. Cape Ras al-Hadd forms the easternmost point of the Arabian Peninsula . A little to the south is the nature reserve at the cliff cape Ras al-Jinz , where turtles lay their eggs at night. To the south of it are several large but poor fishing villages. The 108 km long Wadi Batha forms the border to the southwestern Wahiba desert, the formerly hostile oases Bani Bu Ali and Bani Bu Hasan lie on its edge.

The center and south of the Sultanate of Oman

In terms of area, the large Rub al-Chali desert defines the south, but the coastline offers varied landscapes.

The east coast

On the way to the lonely east coast you pass the Wadi Samad with graves from the Iron Age and the oases Al-Mudhaibi and Sanau , which, like many others, consist of an (almost) abandoned old town center and new districts.

The Ramlat al-Wahiba desert extends for more than 200 km to the south and reaches the coast with a width of about 80 km. A seemingly endless dune landscape stretches over petrified old sand dunes: in the north it is reddish, straight and up to 200 m high, in the south it is smaller, sickle-shaped and honey-colored. Inside there are sand-free areas with diverse vegetation and wildlife.

The coastal strip is long and difficult to reach, but it is varied. Sandy beaches like at al-Chaluf or Ras al-Duqm , impassable mountains like at Ras Madraka and bays and wadis like in Shuwaymiyah alternate. Modernity is finding its way in the form of seawater desalination plants . The oryx , which had already been extinct in the wild, had found a new home in a 25,000 km² protected area and were looked after by Bedouins. Between 1996 and 2007, however, the number of animals fell from 450 to 65, and the protected area was reduced by 90% in favor of oil production. The title of World Natural Heritage was therefore deleted by UNESCO in 2007 .

Masira Island is 10 km from the mainland. It is 80 km long, but almost only populated at the northern tip. The Kuria Muria Islands of Juzur al-Hallaniyyat are sparsely populated and difficult to reach.

The "Empty Quarter" Rub al-Kali

The almost deserted Rub al-Kali is mostly in the neighboring state of Saudi Arabia , but it also determines more than half of the Sultanate of Oman. There are both sand dunes and gravel deserts. Adam is the last great oasis on the road to the south . The special thing about this city is the clay architecture with a confusing floor plan. In Haima one can hardly speak of a city, but the shops form a central place for nomadic Bedouins. At the settlement of Schisr in the middle of the desert, it is believed to have found the legendary rich Ubar .

Dhofar

The Dhofar region in the south of the Sultanate of Oman begins in the hundreds of kilometers long gravel plain, but then becomes very varied. The landscape rises to the coast up to 1800 m in the mountain areas Jabal Qamar , Jabal Qara and Jabal Samhan . At the water line, palm trees line the sandy beaches. From June to September the drizzly and foggy Charif turns the region into a green paradise. The once very important commodity, frankincense , also grows here .

The large town of Thumrait lies in front of the northern edge of the Jebel Qara . In Nadschd , the strip on the northern edge of the Dhofar Mountains, the gnarled incense trees that cannot be cultivated grow. The south of the Jabal Qara is very green in summer and autumn, otherwise rather brown. The gorge of Ayun and some spring areas are worth seeing.

Salalah and the Jebel Qarar mountain range in a satellite photo (Photo: NASA)

Salala is the capital of the Dhofar and thus the south of the country. Due to the rapid growth, not much of the old structure remained. Green plantations make the city appear pleasant. In the al-Hafa district there are still some of the typical houses made of limestone blocks.

At the fishing village of Taqa there is a small residential fort of the Wali . The remains of the ancient incense port of the Kingdom of Hadramaut Samhuram , also a UNESCO World Heritage Site , can be found by the Khor Rori lagoon . The walls of the ruins are still impressive today. The still very original place Mirbat was an important trading center in the 17th and 18th centuries, large trading houses can still be seen from the earlier wealth. Like the other mountains of the sultanate, the Jabal Samhan is spectacular, there are large sinkholes , karst caves, the ceilings of which have collapsed. Further to the east the mountains meet the coastline, the Wadi Raikut is cut extremely deep and so inaccessible that leopards still live here.

The Churiya Muriya Islands are located in the Churiya Muriya Bay off the coast of Dhofar .

To the west in the direction of Yemen one reaches the place Mughsail , which lies between the lagoons . A spectacular serpentine road leads to the plateau of the rugged Jabal Qamar with deeply cut wadis.

Human geography

Political geography

National territory

Oman is located on the south-eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula between 26 ° 25 'and 16 ° 36' "north latitude and 52 ° 00 'and 59 ° 51' east longitude.

The Sultanate of Oman has an official land area of around 309,500 km². Older data, which indicate the national territory as only 212,000 km² (82,000 sqm), date from the early 1950s and do not take into account the current state borders based on border treaties with neighboring countries. The neighboring states are Yemen with a common border of 288 km, the United Arab Emirates with 410 km and Saudi Arabia with 676 km.

literature

Farouk El-Baz: Wadis of Oman - Satellite Image Atlas. Stacey International, London 2002, ISBN 1-900988-56-9 .
Peter Franzisky, Kirstin Kabasci: Oman. Reise-Know-How-Verlag Rump, Bielefeld 2002, ISBN 3-8317-1059-7 .
Lorenz Töpperwien, Julietta Baums: Oman. On the way between Muscat and Salalah Trescher Verlag, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-89794-235-6 .

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