EP Introduction
ASEAN Be Extremely Skillful Today
Islam Al Gharbawi
WHAT WILL HE BE DOING DURING THE PROJECT?
A Little About Oman
Oman
- Capital: Muscat
- Largest city: Muscat
- Official languages Omani Arabic
- Religion: Islam (Ibadi)
- Geographical Area: 309,501 km
- Population: 4,055,418
- GDP: $95.342 billion
- Currency: Rial (OMR)
Cuisine
Arsia, a festival meal served during celebrations (Eid), consists of mashed rice and meat (sometimes chicken).
Tourist Attraction
The Sharqiya Sands (formerly known as Wahiba Sands, or Ramlat al-Wahiba) is a region of desert in Oman. The region was named for the Bani Wahiba tribe. The area is defined by a boundary of 180 kilometers north to south and 80 kilometers east to west, with an area of 12,500 square kilometers.
Festivals
Muscat Festival
The Muscat Festival fall from late Jan to late Feb. The highlight of the festival calendar, with a wide-ranging programme of events offering a mix of traditional arts, culture and heritage (including a special Oman Heritage and Culture Village in Qurum Park) along with fun events like the Muscat Fashion Show, Oman Food Festival and concerts at the Qurum Park Amphitheatre. The festival has a special flavour – a mixture of old and new, history and progression – from folk poetry and dance evenings, to lectures on solar energy, a chocolate festival and fashion shows.
Fun Trivia
- Oman was once one of the richest countries in the world: its wealth came from the trade in incense.
- The legendary city of Ubar controlled the Frankincense trade. It is said that Ubar was destroyed, buried beneath the desert because its wealth led the people away from religion.
- A necklace known as hirz is often worn: this piece of jewellery is worn for protective reasons as it has compartments for carrying verses from the Koran.
- Tourists were only allowed into Oman at the beginning of the 1990s.