Separated by the Gulf of Oman and Straits of Hormuz from Iran and by the Arabian Sea from the Indian subcontinent, its culture has as much in common with those two regions as with its Arabian neighbours. Oman stands very much apart from other Arab countries.
Oman is the oldest independent state in the Arab world.
Its Portuguese rulers were ousted in 1650, whereafter it became itself a considerable naval power in the Indian Ocean, with colonies on the East African coast. But the twentieth century saw the country decline into ever greater obscurity, reaching its nadir in the later years of the reign of Sultan Said, who came to power in 1938 and ruled until overthrown by his son Qabus in 1970. Sultan Said ensured that Oman became a medieval anachronism. Travel inside the country was severely restricted, one could only leave or depart with a visa signed by the Sultan himself and anybody who complained was imprisoned. Slavery was common, the prisons were overcrowded, there were few roads, schools or hospitals and little in the way of infrastructure.