an
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Geography

Location: Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman,
and Persian Gulf, between Yemen and UAE

Geographic coordinates: 21 00 N, 57 00 E

Map references: Middle East

Area:
total: 212,460 sq km
land: 212,460 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area--comparative: slightly smaller than Kansas

Land boundaries:
total: 1,374 km
border countries: Saudi Arabia 676 km, UAE 410 km, Yemen 288 km

Coastline: 2,092 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: dry desert; hot, humid along coast; hot, dry interior;
strong southwest summer monsoon (May to September) in far south

Terrain: vast central desert plain, rugged mountains in north and
south

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m
highest point: Jabal Shams 2,980 m

Natural resources: petroleum, copper, asbestos, some marble,
limestone, chromium, gypsum, natural gas

Land use:
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 5%
forests and woodland: NA%
other: 95% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 580 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: summer winds often raise large sandstorms and
dust storms in interior; periodic droughts

Environment--current issues: rising soil salinity; beach pollution
from oil spills; very limited natural fresh water resources

Environment--international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ship Pollution, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography--note: strategic location with small foothold on
Musandam Peninsula adjacent to Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit
point for world crude oil

People

Population: 2,446,645 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 41% (male 508,681; female 489,453)
15-64 years: 57% (male 856,062; female 535,123)
65 years and over: 2% (male 30,083; female 27,243) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.45% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 37.98 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 4.29 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.84 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.6 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.1 male(s)/female
total population: 1.33 male(s)/female (1999 est.)