Country · Asia
Oman
Sultanate of Oman
Oman is a country in Western Asia. About 4.8 million people live there, in an area of 309 500 square kilometres. Its capital city is Muscat.
Picture credit: Sakralamn (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Bernhard Dunst (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Leon petrosyan (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Domenico Convertini (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Oman?
Oman lies in Western Asia, on the continent of Asia.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 2 338 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 2 092 km long.
It shares a border with 3 countries: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
How big is Oman?
Oman covers 309 500 square kilometres.
That is about 7.5 times the size of Switzerland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 71st largest.
If everybody spread out evenly, there would be about 15.6 people on every square kilometre.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Oman?
About 4.8 million people live in Oman.
That is the 122nd biggest population in the world.
People here speak Arabic.
They pay with the Omani rial (ر.ع.).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 72 years.
The land of Oman
The land of Oman sits on average 310 metres above sea level.
Its coast runs for about 2 092 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 105 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Oman different?
Websites from here often end in .om.
Oman and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about one lives in Oman.
It takes up about 0.23 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Asia the country ranks 21st of 46 by size, and 36th by population.
Oman and its neighbours
Saudi Arabia, its largest neighbour, is about 6.9 times bigger.
Saudi Arabia has more people: 33.7 million against 4.8 million.
Nature and animals
The highest mountain in the country is Jabal Shams, at 3 018 metres.
Where this country lands in the record lists
How big is Oman compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 30 times as big as Oman: 9 372 610 km² against 309 500 km².
- Oman is about 1.3 times as big as the United Kingdom: 309 500 km² against 242 900 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Oman?
The capital of Oman is Muscat. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Oman?
About 4.8 million people live in Oman, which makes it the 122nd most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Oman?
Oman borders Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen — 3 neighbours in total.
How big is Oman?
Oman covers 309 500 square kilometres, making it the 71st largest country in the world. That is about 7.5 times the size of Switzerland.
What is the highest mountain in Oman?
The highest mountain in Oman is Jabal Shams, 3 018 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
Are there rivers in Oman?
Oman has no permanent river. Rain runs off in dry valleys that fill only after a downpour, so the water comes from wells, springs or desalination plants.
Which continent is Oman in?
Oman is in Asia, in the part called Western Asia.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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