Oman Governorates (original) (raw)

Buy data Donate

Updates:

"Geopolitical Entities, Names, and Codes, Edition 2" (GENC), a U.S. standard that's supposed to correspond to ISO 3166-2, was issued on 2014-03-31. It implicitly replaces the codes for Al Batinah and Ash Sharqiyah with codes for the governorates into which they were split. OM-BA is replaced by OM-JB and OM-SB, and OM-SH by OM-JS and OM-SS. The new codes are based on the Arabic names, transcribed into the Roman alphabet; for example, JB for Janub al Batinah (Al Batinah South). Its codes for all the other governorates match the ISO codes. ISO issued an update on 2015-11-27 with ISO codes for the governorates, including the new ones, as shown below.

Update 9 to Geopolitical Entities and Codes is dated 2012-09-01. It assigns new codes to the northern halves of the governorates that were split in 2011.

Update 3 to Geopolitical Entities and Codes, the successor to FIPS PUB 10-4, was issued on 2011-02-28. It changes the status of Muscat from region to governorate.

Al Buraymi governorate was created in 2006. This change is shown in FIPS PUB 10-4 Change Notice 13, issued on 2008-02-04, and in Newsletter II-2, an update to the ISO 3166-2 standard, dated 2010-06-30. The ISO update also changes the code for Dhofar from JA to ZU, apparently only because it has changed the preferred version of the name from Al Janubiyah to Zufar.

International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on December 15, 1998. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard). For Oman, the draft standard showed eight provinces. The final standard showed the same eight divisions, now identified as regions. The codes for Adh Dhahirah, Ash Sharqiyah, and Dhofar were changed, the other five remaining the same as before. The new codes are shown in this table.

Country overview:

Short name OMAN
ISO code OM
GEC code MU
Language Arabic (ar)
Time zone +4
Capital Muscat

In 1900, Oman was an independent country. It was officially called the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman. The name Oman was used to refer to what is now Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Muscat and Oman. However, the territory was in reality a collection of sheikhdoms and emirates. The inland boundaries with Arabia were indefinite. By 1916, Britain had concluded treaties with Qatar and the seven emirates that in effect made them protectorates. Oil discoveries made it increasingly important to settle questions of sovereignty. By 1950, maps were showing boundaries between Qatar, Trucial Oman (now the United Arab Emirates), and the sultanate. In 1970, Sultan Qaboos ibn Said overthrew his father and changed the country's name to Oman. Oman's boundaries with Saudi Arabia and Yemen were finally delimited in the early 1990s.

Other names of country:

  1. Arabic: Saltanat `Uman (formal)
  2. Danish: Oman
  3. Dutch: Oman, Sultanaat Oman (formal)
  4. English: Sultanate of Oman (formal), Muscat and Oman (obsolete)
  5. Finnish: Oman
  6. French: Oman m
  7. German: Oman m
  8. Icelandic: �man
  9. Italian: Oman m
  10. Norwegian: Oman, Sultanatet Oman (formal)
  11. Portuguese: Oman, Om�o, Om� (Brazil), Sultanato m do Om� m (formal)
  12. Russian: Султанат Оман (formal)
  13. Spanish: Om�n, Sultan�a f de Om�n (formal), Sultanato m de Om�n (formal), Mascat y Om�n (obsolete)
  14. Swedish: Oman
  15. Turkish: Umman Sultanlığı (formal)

Primary subdivisions:

Oman is divided into eleven muhafazat (sing. muhafazah: governorates).

Governorate HASC ISO GEC Population Area(km.�) Area(mi.�) Capital
Ad Dakhliyah OM.DA DA MU01 326,651 31,900 12,300 Nizwa
Adh Dhahirah OM.DH ZA MU09 151,664 44,000 17,000 Ibri
Al Batinah North OM.BN BS MU11 483,582 12,500 4,800 Sohar
Al Batinah South OM.BS BJ MU02 289,008 Rustaq
Al Buraymi OM.BU BU MU10 72,917 Al Buraymi
Al Wusta OM.WU WU MU03 42,111 79,700 30,800 Haima
Ash Sharqiyah North OM.SN SS MU12 162,482 36,800 14,200 Ibra
Ash Sharqiyah South OM.SS SJ MU04 188,032 Sur
Dhofar OM.JA ZU MU08 249,729 99,300 38,300 Salalah
Musandam OM.MU MU MU07 31,425 1,800 700 Khasab
Muscat OM.MA MA MU06 775,878 3,500 1,400 Muscat
11 governorates 2,773,479 309,500 119,500
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO standard 3166-2. GEC: Codes from GEC. Population: 2010-12-12 census Area: Source: Europa World Year Book 2001.

Postal codes:

Oman uses three-digit postal codes. The first digit represented a region or governorate, before the changes of 2006 and 2011.

Further subdivisions:

See the Districts of Oman page.

Below the governorates, Oman is divided into wilayat (districts).

Territorial extent:

  1. Ash Sharqiyah includes the islands of Masirah and Mahawt.
  2. Dhofar includes the Kuria Muria Islands, also known as the Halaniyat after their largest member.
  3. Musandam is a discontiguous part of Oman, at the northern tip of the Musandam Peninsula.
  4. Part of Musandam (Mahda district) is enclaved within United Arab Emirates, and contains a counterenclave in which the village of Nahwa belongs to the U.A.E.

The UN LOCODE page for Oman lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names:

  1. Adh Dhahirah: = back (rear or inland side of the Western Hajar (Stone) Mountains)
  2. Al Batinah: = belly (front or seaward side of the Western Hajar (Stone) Mountains)
  3. Al Wusta: = central
  4. Ash Sharqiyah: = eastern

Change history:

The administrative divisions of Oman had little significance or definition until very recently. Between ~1960 and ~1990, the number of primary divisions has varied from eight to ten, and their status was liwa (province). Most of the divisions have kept approximately the same territory.

  1. 1958-09-08: Gwadar (a coastal enclave in Baluchistan) ceded to Pakistan.
  2. 1967-11-30: Kuriya Muriya Islands transferred from British control to Dhofar province.
  3. 2006-10: Al Buraymi governorate split from Adh Dhahirah region (former HASC code OM.ZA, GEC MU05).
Region HASC ISO GEC Typ Pop-2010 Pop-2003 Pop-1993 Area(km.�) Area(mi.�) Capital Pc
Ad Dakhliyah OM.DA DA MU01 r 326,651 267,140 229,791 31,900 12,300 Nizwa 6
Adh Dhahirah OM.DH ZA MU09 r 151,664 130,177 181,224 44,000 17,000 Ibri 5
Al Batinah OM.BA BA MU02 r 772,590 653,505 564,677 12,500 4,800 Sohar, Rustaq 3
Al Buraymi OM.BU BU MU10 g 72,917 76,838 Al Buraymi 5
Al Wusta OM.WU WU MU03 r 42,111 22,983 17,067 79,700 30,800 Haima 7
Ash Sharqiyah OM.SH SH MU04 r 350,514 313,761 258,344 36,800 14,200 Sur 4
Dhofar OM.JA ZU MU08 g 249,729 215,960 189,094 99,300 38,300 Salalah 2
Musandam OM.MU MU MU07 g 31,425 28,378 28,727 1,800 700 Khasab 8
Muscat OM.MA MA MU06 g 775,878 632,073 549,150 3,500 1,400 Muscat 1
9 divisions 2,773,479 2,340,815 2,018,074 309,500 119,500
Name: English name of region or governorate, as listed by the Oman Ministry of Development. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO standard 3166-2. GEC: Codes from GEC. Typ: r = region, g = governorate. Pop-2010: 2010-12-12 census. Pop-2003: 2003 census (Al Buraymi proleptic). Pop-1993: 1993-12-01 census. Area: Source [5]. Pc: First digit of postal code for this division.
  1. 2011-10-28: Al Batinah region split into Al Batinah North and Al Batinah South governorates. Al Batinah North consists of Al Khaburah, As Suwayq, Liwa, Saham, Shinas, and Sohar districts. Ash Sharqiyah region split into Ash Sharqiyah North and Ash Sharqiyah South governorates. Ash Sharqiyah North consists of Al Mudaybi, Al Qabil, Bidiyah, Dima Wa Attaiyyin, Ibra, and Wadi Bani Khalid districts. The other regions became governorates as well.

Other names of subdivisions:

  1. Ad Dakhliyah: A'Dakhliya, Ad Dakhiliyah, Al Jauf, Al Joof, Dakhlia, Interior (variant); Al Goof (German)
  2. Adh Dhahirah: A'Dhahirah, Az Zahirah (variant)
  3. Al Batinah: Ad Batinah
  4. Al Wusta: Al Wosta, Central Oman, Oman Proper, Rub al Khali, `Umān al-Wusţā (variant)
  5. Ash Sharqiyah: Al Hajar, A'Shariqiyah, Eastern (variant)
  6. Dhofar: Dhufar, Al Janubiyah, Southern Region, Zufar (variant)
  7. Musandam: Mussandam, Ru'us al-Jibal (variant)
  8. Muscat: Mascate (French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish); Maskat (German, Norwegian); Muscat and Matrah, Masqat (variant)

Sources:

  1. [1] Khaleej Times Online (retrieved 2011-11-16).
  2. [2] Times of Oman (retrieved 2011-11-16).
  3. [3] Ministry of Information (retrieved 2011-11-16).
  4. [4] Census Report, Census Administration at the Ministry of National Economy of Oman, has data for the 2003 census. It included region maps. Retrieved on 2004-11-16 from http://www.moneoman.gov.om/arabic/census1.pdf (dead link).
  5. [5] Europa World Year Book 2001. Europa Publications, London, 2001.
  6. [6] Census 2010. Document found at omancensus.net (2011-11-17).