Omani-Portuguese relations

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Omani-Portuguese relations
Location of Portugal and Oman
PortugalPortugal OmanOman
Portugal Oman

The Omani-Portuguese relations describe the intergovernmental relationship between Oman and Portugal . The countries have had direct diplomatic relations since 1979.

Historically, the two countries first crossed in the 16th century, with the arrival of Portuguese sailors in the Gulf of Oman . The Portuguese stayed in Muscat and their other possessions in what is now Oman for almost 150 years , until they were expelled from 1648. Some fortresses and other structures in Oman today bear witness to this time.

Today bilateral relations are good, but not very intensive. The points of contact are the comparatively low exchange of goods and the still underdeveloped mutual tourism.

In 2015, three Omani citizens were registered in Portugal, one in Porto and two in Évora . In 2010, 37 citizens were registered in the Portuguese consulate in Oman.

history

The Portuguese fortress Fort Al Jalali in Muscat

To 1900

The Portuguese admiral Afonso de Albuquerque built up a network of bases in the Persian Gulf from 1507. The island of Hormuz became the military and logistical center . Albuquerque, second viceroy of Portuguese India , subjugated a number of other cities on the coasts of the Persian Gulf, which from then on were tributary to the Portuguese crown and secured the Portuguese Indian trade.

The places and factories that Albuquerque subjugated or re-established also included some localities in present-day Oman, including Soar ( Suhar ), Sur and, above all, Muscat , which became the military and administrative center of the Portuguese in the region.

Portugal has been ruled in personal union with Spain since 1582 and then experienced the decline of its colonial empire. It found it increasingly difficult to repel attacks, especially against the aspiring British who were in conflict with Spain. The Portuguese and English met for the first time militarily in the Gulf region from the naval battle at Dschask in December 1620 / January 1621. On May 12, 1622, Portugal had to give up the island of Hormus, and the approximately 2,000 Portuguese moved to Muscat, which now inherited Hormus and became the central military and trade base of the Portuguese in the region under Admiral Rui Freire de Andrade . This now built new bases and fortresses, including the fortress Caçapo ( al-Chasab ) and others, also on the Musandam peninsula. In 1633 Rui Freire de Andrade, the most important Portuguese official in the Gulf of Persia, died. He was buried in the Igreja de Santo Agostinho church in Muscat.

Portuguese trade in the region's own factories continued to flourish. In 1648, however, after the siege of Muscat, the Portuguese were forced to abandon and demolish the fortresses of Qurayyat ( Curiate ), Dibba ( Doba ) and Matrah ( Matara ) until the Omani Yaruba dynasty finally captured Muscat in 1650. This marked the end of the Portuguese presence in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. In addition, Oman then conquered a number of earlier Portuguese possessions in East Africa, including Zanzibar , Lamu , and Mombasa with Fort Jesus (now a UNESCO World Heritage Site ).

As a result of the persistently good Persian-Portuguese relations , however, the Portuguese continued to be present in the region, even if the Gulf region increasingly came under British influence. Portuguese warships fought against Muscat together with the Persian military, especially in 1715 and 1718.

In the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, other earlier Portuguese possessions in East Africa came under the rule of Oman, including Mogadishu , Baraawe , Kilwa Kisiwani and Malindi .

The restored Portuguese fort of Sohar

Since 1900

After Oman isolated itself under Sultan Said ibn Taimur and was under British influence in terms of foreign policy, his son, Sultan Qabus ibn Said , began modernizing and opening up the country in 1970.

On October 26, 1979, Portugal and Oman established direct diplomatic relations. In 1988, José Manuel Matos Parreira , the Portuguese ambassador to Saudi Arabia, was accredited as the first Portuguese ambassador to Oman . Portugal has not yet opened its own embassy in Oman, and Oman also has no representation in Portugal.

Since the 2000s in particular, Oman has restored a large number of its buildings from Portuguese colonial history .

diplomacy

Portugal does not have its own embassy in Oman, it belongs to the administrative district of the Portuguese representative in the Qatari capital Doha . There is a Portuguese honorary consulate in Muscat .

Oman also does not have its own embassy in Portugal, but is double accredited there with its representative in the Spanish capital Madrid . Oman does not have a consulate in Portugal either.

economy

Tanker truck for the Portuguese Galp at Lajes Air Base : In 2016, Portugal exported fuel to the oil-rich Oman for the first time

The Portuguese Chamber of Commerce AICEP does not have a branch in Oman, the AICEP office in Qatar is responsible .

In 2016, Portugal exported goods worth 18.46 million euros to Oman (2015: 20.10 million; 2014: 12.10 million; 2013: 25.63 million; 2012: 46.66 million) , of which 27.4% fuel, 23.8% food, 17.6% machines and devices and 7.5% ores and minerals.

In the same period, Oman delivered goods worth 1.10 million euros to Portugal (2015: 8.89 million; 2014: 1.30 million; 2013: 6.04 million; 2012: 1.04 million) , of which 72.7% plastics, 26.7% metals and 0.3% textiles.

This put Oman in 84th place as a buyer and in 132nd place as a supplier for Portuguese foreign trade. In Omani foreign trade, Portugal ranked 54th among buyers and 53rd among suppliers.

Web links

Commons : Omani-Portuguese Relations  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Overview of diplomatic relations between Portugal and Oman , diplomatic institute in the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs , accessed on May 4, 2019
  2. ↑ a b c Fernando Cristóvão (Ed.): Dicionário Temático da Lusofonia. Texto Editores, Lisbon / Luanda / Praia / Maputo 2006 ( ISBN 972-47-2935-4 ), p. 815ff.
  3. ↑ Official aliens statistics by district , Portuguese Aliens and Border Authority SEF, accessed on April 2, 2017
  4. ↑ Website on Omani-Portuguese migration (Table A.3) at the Portuguese scientific Observatório da Emigração , accessed on April 2, 2017
  5. ↑ List of Portuguese diplomatic missions abroad , website of the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accessed on April 2, 2017
  6. ^ List of the Omani consulates on www.embaixadas.net, accessed on April 2, 2017
  7. ^ Bilateral economic relations between Portugal and Oman , Excel file retrieval from the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce AICEP , accessed on April 2, 2017