Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor-general Prime minister: Danny Philip
Sultan, prime minister, foreign minister: Qaboos Bin Said Al Said
Population
584,578
3,090,150
Life Expectancy
74.420 years
74.470 years
Capital City
Muscat
Largest city
Honiara (population: 56,298)
Muscat (population: 797,000)
Human Development Index
0.591
0.839
GDP per capita
$26,900 US
Literacy Rate
%
81.4%
Corruption Perception Index
2.9
5.5
Percentage of Women in Parliament
0%
9.1%
Wealthiest Citizens
Unemployment Rate
15.000%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Legal
Political System
parliamentary democracy
monarchy
Independence date
1650 (expulsion of the Portuguese)
Religions
Church of Melanesia 32.8%, Roman Catholic 19%, South Seas Evangelical 17%, Seventh-Day Adventist 11.2%, United Church 10.3%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.4%, other Christian 4.4%, other 2.4%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.2% (1999 census)
Ibadhi Muslim 75%, other (includes Sunni Muslim, Shi'a Muslim, Hindu) 25%
Languages
Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English (official; but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population); 120 indigenous languages
Arabic (official), English, Baluchi, Urdu, Indian dialects
Exports
petroleum, reexports, fish, metals, textiles
External Debt
$9,054,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
Omani rials (OMR) per US dollar - 0.3845 (2008 est.), 0.3845 (2007), 0.3845 (2006), 0.3845 (2005), 0.3845 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
11.400%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
Location
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea
Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, and Persian Gulf, between Yemen and UAE
Area
28,896 km sq
309,500 km sq
Coastline
5,313 km
2,092 km
Climate
tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather
dry desert; hot, humid along coast; hot, dry interior; strong southwest summer monsoon (May to September) in far south
