Columbia Encyclopedia World Factbook American Heritage Coll. A sultanate of the southeast Arabian Peninsula on the Gulf of Oman, an arm of the Arabian Sea. Much of the area was controlled by the Portuguese from 1508 to 1659 and the Turks until 1741, when the present royal line was founded. Oman established close ties with Great Britain in the late 18th century.
Muscat is the capital.
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