Omán

Official name: 
Sutlanate of Omán
Name in local language: 
Sultanat Oman, transliterated from Arabic سلطنة عُمان
Form of government: 
Monarchy
Political system: 
Non-parliamentary
  • Founding date/ Date of independence: 1971, from UK
  • Date of constitution/reform: Semi-constitution or “de facto” constitution, the Basic Statute of the State (1996), renovated in 2011 by the protests.
  • Form of state: Centralized 
  • Administrative divisions: 11 governorates, in turn divided into 60 wilayat or provinces.
  • Official language(s): Arabic
  • Other spoken languages: English, Baluchi, Urdu.
  • Official religion: Islam (Kharijite or Ibadi School).
  • Minorities: Minorities from India, as Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, and the other hand also Christians.
  • Dominant actor(s): Royal family (as-Said).
  • Elected institutions of government: Consultative Council (Majlis ash-Shura), with limited and shared powers to legislate.
  • Non-elected  institutions of government: Government, the Senate (Majlis ad-Dawla) and local authorities.
  • Party system: There are no Parties.

Current authorities

  • Head of State: As of January 11th of 2020, Haitham bin Tariq sworn in as new sultan of Oman, after the death of Qabus ben Said as-Said.
  • Head of government: Fahd ben Mahmud as-Said
  • Minister of Foreign Affairs: Yusuf ben Alawi
  • Minister of Interior: Sayid Hamud ben Faysal
  • Head of Legislative Branch: Jaled ben Hilal
  • Head of Judiciary: Ishaq ben Ahmed al Busaidi 
  • Schematic representation of the political system: Link to PDF

Links