Oman
| Country summary | |
|---|---|
|
Capital |
Muscat |
|
Borders |
Saudi Arabia 676 km, UAE 410 km, Yemen 288 km |
|
Government type |
monarchy |
|
Population |
3,418,085[1] |
|
Population growth |
3.138% (2010 est.)[1] |
|
Life expectancy |
74.16 years[1] |
|
Unemployment |
15% (2004 est.)[1] |
|
43[2] | |
|
39[3] | |
|
65[4] | |
The inhabitants of the area of Oman have long prospered on Indian Ocean trade. In the late 18th century, a newly established sultanate in Muscat signed the first in a series of friendship treaties with Britain. Over time, Oman's dependence on British political and military advisors increased, but it never became a British colony. In 1970, QABOOS bin Said Al-Said overthrew the restrictive rule of his father; he has ruled as sultan ever since. His extensive modernization program has opened the country to the outside world while preserving the longstanding close ties with the UK. Oman's moderate, independent foreign policy has sought to maintain good relations with all Middle Eastern countries.[1]
Economical characteristics
- Currency: Rial (ISO code: OMR)
- Central bank discount rate: 0.91% (31 December 2008)[1]
- Commercial banks lending rate: 7.1% (31 December 2008)[1]
- Stock of money (M1): $5.25 billion (31 December 2008)[1]
- Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $14.57 billion (31 December 2008)[1]
Statistics
| Statistic / Year | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP (million USD)[5] | 15 710 | 19 868 | 19 949 | 20 049 | 21 542 | 24 674 | 30 905 | 36 804 | 41 638 | |
| Govt. debt (% of GDP)[6] | 26.678 | 19.071 | 19.867 | |||||||
| Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[7] | 23.086 | 23.910 | 26.994 | |||||||
| Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[8] | 28.380 | 26.187 | 26.927 | |||||||
| Debt to revenue (years) | 1.156 | 0.798 | 0.736 |
References
Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Oman", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ Heritage Foundation. "Oman", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ Transparency International. "Oman", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ Doing Business. "Oman", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ World Bank. "Oman: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ World Bank. "Oman: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ World Bank. "Oman: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
- ↑ World Bank. "Oman: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
Links
- Oman on Wikipedia
- Central bank of Oman
- Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
- Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
- BBC country profile
