Environment - current issues:
rising soil salinity; beach pollution from oil spills; very limited
natural fresh water resources
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
strategic location on Musandam Peninsula adjacent to Strait of
Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil
People Oman
Population: 2,807,125 note: includes 577,293 non-nationals (July 2003 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 42.2% (male 603,664; female 580,469)
15-64 years: 55.4% (male 934,621; female 620,158)
65 years and over: 2.4% (male 36,504; female 31,709) (2003 est.)
Median age:
total: 19.4 years
male: 22.3 years
female: 16.5 years (2002)
Population growth rate:
3.38% (2003 est.)
Birth rate:
37.47 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate:
3.97 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)