The Sultanate of Oman is really my favorite in the Arab world. It is a country with a far backreaching history and ancient civilisation, having played a major role not only in the Arab Gulf Area, but also in East Africa and Baluchistan. In the 19th century Sultans moved from Masqat to Zanzibar and made the city on the likewise named island their capital for quite a time. In those days, fortunes were made in trading with slaves, ivory and cloves. Later on, the island gained strategic importance and became a playball in the hands of the then powerful European nations and America. In the 1860s the lineage of the Sultans split up, one section staying there, the other moving back to the mainland and making Masqat its capital once again. In the 1960s and 1970s,  after unification between Tanganyika and Zanzibar had taken place, many Zanzibaris of Arabic origin moved back to the Gulf area, giving the region an important impulse. It was only in the 1970s that the Sultanate of Oman, until that time a very self-isolated country, opened up. Under the leadership of Sultan Qaboos Bin Said it began to change from a medieval-like country with hardly any schools, roads or other modern infrastructure to one of the best developed countries in the Arab world with all the modern facilities to attract visitors and tourists from abroad while, at the same time, trying to keep old values and traditions. Among the attractions, the country has to offer are, just to name a few, the capital Masqat with its new and old parts of the city, Nizwa, the Dhofar Region in the south of the country and the Musandam Peninsula at the Strait of Hormuz, the most northern part of  Oman, separated totally from the mainland by the United Arab Emirates. On these pages, you will see some parts of the mainland, mainly Masqat Region, one page is dedicated to Salalah and the southern region, and some impressions of Musandam, the remotest part of the Sultanate. Just go on!

           Copyright © 2000-2001 Matthias Toedt Photography                                                               Last update: November 15, 2001