;

Muscat--Muscat*, Quriyat

_#_Independence: 1650, expulsion of the Portuguese

_#_Constitution: none

_#_Legal system: based on English common law and Islamic law; ultimate
appeal to the sultan; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

_#_Executive branch: sultan, Cabinet

_#_Legislative branch: State Consultative Assembly (advisory
function only)

_#_Judicial branch: none; traditional Islamic judges and a nascent
civil court system

_#_National holiday: National Day, 18 November

_#_Leaders:

Chief of State and Head of Government--Sultan and Prime Minister
QABOOS bin Said Al Said (since 23 July 1970)

_#_Political parties: none

_#_Suffrage: none

_#_Elections: none

_#_Other political or pressure groups: outlawed Popular Front for the
Liberation of Oman (PFLO), based in Yemen

_#_Member of: ABEDA, AFESD, AL, AMF, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, GCC, IBRD,
ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC,
ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU,
WHO, WMO

_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Awadh Bader AL-SHANFARI;
Chancery at 2342 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone
(202) 387-1980 through 1982;

US--Ambassador Richard W. BOEHM; Embassy at address NA, Muscat
(mailing address is P. O. Box 50200 Madinat Qaboos, Muscat); telephone
698-989

_#_Flag: three horizontal bands of white (top, double width), red,
and green (double width) with a broad, vertical, red band on the hoist
side; the national emblem (a khanjar dagger in its sheath
superimposed on two crossed swords in scabbards) in white is centered at
the top of the vertical band

_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Economic performance is closely tied to the fortunes of
the oil industry. Petroleum accounts for nearly all export earnings,
about 80% of government revenues, and roughly 40% of GDP. Oman has
proved oil reserves of 4 billion barrels, equivalent to about 20 years'
supply at the current rate of extraction. Although agriculture employs a
majority of the population, urban centers depend on imported food.

_#_GDP: $9.2 billion, per capita $5,870 (1990); real growth rate
- 3.0% (1987 est.)

_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.3% (1989)

_#_Unemployment rate: NA%

_#_Budget: revenues $3.5 billion; expenditures $4.3 billion,
including capital expenditures of $675 million (1989 est.)

_#_Exports: $3.9 billion (f.o.b., 1989);