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Oman Population
A comprehensive population census has never been
conducted,
but in 1992 the sultanate solicited help from the United
Nations
(UN) Fund for Technical and Financial Assistance in taking
a full
census. For planning purposes, the government in 1992
estimated
the population at 2 million, but the actual figure may be
closer
to 1.5 million, growing at a rate of 3.5 percent per
annum. The
population is unevenly distributed; the coastal regions,
the Al
Batinah plain, and the Muscat metropolitan area contain
the
largest concentration.
The population is heterogeneous, consisting of an
ethnic and
religious mix derived in large part from a history of
maritime
trade, tribal migrations, and contacts with the outside
world.
Although Arabs constitute the majority, non-Arab
communities
include Baluchis--from the Makran coast of Iran and
Pakistan--who
are concentrated in Muscat and the Al Batinah coast and
play a
significant role in the armed forces; ex-slaves (a legacy
of
Oman's slave trade and East African colonies); and
Zanzibari
Omanis, who are well represented in the police force and
the
professions. The integration of Omanis of African descent
is
often circumscribed by a language barrier (they often
speak
Swahili and English but not always Arabic). The presence
of
Omanis of Indian descent in Muscat reflects the historical
commercial ties between the sultanate and the Indian
subcontinent. The Khoja community in Matrah, of Indian
origin, is
perhaps the richest private group in Oman, and its members
are
among the best educated. The Shihuh of the northern
Musandam
Peninsula numbered about 20,000 in the early 1990s. They
speak
Arabic and a dialect of Farsi and engage primarily in
fishing and
herding.
Because of the small indigenous population, the
government
has been obliged to use foreign labor. In 1992 about 60
percent
of the labor force was foreign. Some 350,000 foreign
workers and
their families (primarily Indians, Pakistanis,
Bangladeshis,
Filipinos, and Sri Lankans) live in Oman. The high
percentage of
foreigners in the work force, combined with improvements
in the
country's education system, has prompted the government to
institute a program of indigenization whereby Omani
nationals
gradually replace foreigners
(see Labor
, this ch.).
Data as of January 1993
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