Omani Arabs
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Omanis ( ar, الشعب العماني) are the nationals of
Sultanate of Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
, located in the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Omanis have inhabited the territory that is now Oman. In the eighteenth century, an alliance of traders and rulers transformed
Muscat Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate was ...
(Oman's capital) into the leading port of the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...
. Omani people are ethnically diverse; the Omani citizen population consists of many different ethnic groups. The majority of the population consists of
Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
, with many of these Arabs being Swahili language speakers and returnees from the Swahili Coast, particularly
Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...
. Additionally, there are ethnic
Balochis The Baloch or Baluch ( bal, بلۏچ, Balòc) are an Iranian people who live mainly in the Balochistan region, located at the southeasternmost edge of the Iranian plateau, encompassing the countries of Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. There ar ...
, Lurs,
Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. ...
and Mehri. There are also Omanis from
South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
like the
Lawati Al-Lawatia ( ar, اللواتية, sing. Lawati) is a tribe primarily based in the province of Muscat, Oman, Muscat, Oman. Lawatis are a prominent tribe. Many Lawati families of successful merchants of the past are now involved in large multi-fa ...
s and others. Moreover, in
Dhofar The Dhofar Governorate ( ar, مُحَافَظَة ظُفَار, Muḥāfaẓat Ẓufār) is the largest of the 11 Governorates in the Sultanate of Oman in terms of area. It lies in Southern Oman, on the eastern border with Yemen's Al Mahrah G ...
, Sur and
Muscat Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate was ...
,
Afro-Omanis Afro-Omanis are Omani people of African Zanj heritage. Most are usually living in the coastal cities of Oman, with many speaking Arabic and adhering to Islam. Their origins date back to the time of the Arab slave trade and era Slavery in Oman, ...
can be found. They are the descendants of the slaves who were brought from Africa centuries ago. Omani citizens make up the majority of Oman's total population. Over one and a half million other Omanis live in other areas of the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
and the Swahili Coast.


History

Omani presence in the Swahili Coast can be traced since the
Nabhani dynasty The Nabhani dynasty (or Nabhanids; ar, أسرة بني نبهان ''ʾusrat banī nabhān''), members of the Bani Nabhan family, were rulers of Oman from 1154 until 1624, when the Yaruba dynasty took power. One of their most visible legacies is th ...
. In the late seventeenth century, Zanzibar became part of the overseas holdings of Oman after Saif bin Sultan, the imam of Oman, defeated the
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
in
Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...
, in what is now
Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...
. Large numbers of Omanis settled in the Swahili Coast — especially after 1832, when the Omani Sultan
Said bin Sultan Sayyid Saïd bin Sultan al-Busaidi ( ar, سعيد بن سلطان, , sw, Saïd bin Sultani) (5 June 1791 – 19 October 1856), was Sultan of Muscat and Oman, the fifth ruler of the Busaid dynasty from 1804 to 4 June 1856. His rule commenced fol ...
moved his court to Zanzibar. To the Omanis, the region became a land of economic opportunity. Omanis who migrated to the Swahili Coast looked forward to a better life. The Omani community in the Swahili Coast grew and became financially successful. Omanis stopped moving to Zanzibar after a
revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
occurred in Zanzibar in 1964. The Omani descendant,
sultan of Zanzibar The sultans of Zanzibar ( ar, سلاطين زنجبار) were the rulers of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, which was created on 19 October 1856 after the death of Said bin Sultan, who had ruled Oman and Zanzibar as the sultan of Oman since 1804. Th ...
, Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah was overthrown, and thousands of Omanis were killed, among many other Arabs. Soon after the revolution, many Omanis fled Zanzibar to avoid persecution and returned to their ancestral homeland in Oman, but others chose to remain on the Swahili Coast. Gwadar, a region of Balochistan in Pakistan, was a Colony of Oman for more than a century and in the 1960s, Pakistan gained the land. Hence, many people in this region are Omani.


Notable Omanis

*
Qaboos bin Said al Said Qaboos bin Said Al Said ( ar, قابوس بن سعيد آل سعيد, ; 18 November 1940 – 10 January 2020) was Sultan of Oman from 23 July 1970 until his death in 2020. A fifteenth-generation descendant of the founder of the House of Al Said ...
, the Sultan of Oman from 1970 to 2020. *
Mohammed Al Rumhi Dr Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhi is the current Ministry of Energy and Minerals in the Sultanate of Oman and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Petroleum Development Oman Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is the leading exploration and produ ...
, Oman's Minister of Oil and Gas. *Haifa Al Khaifi, Interim CEO - Energy Development Oman SAOC & Finance Director - Petroleum Development Oman LLC. * Ahmad Al Harthy, Oman's top racing driver and a leading international sportsman. * Samira bint Mohamed Al-Moosa, Oman's ambassador and permanent delegate to
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
. * Ali Al Habsi,
Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
and
Reading F.C. Reading Football Club ( ) is a professional football club based in Reading, Berkshire, England. The team play in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is managed by Paul Ince. Reading are nicknamed ...
footballer * Ahmed bin Hamad al-Khalili, grand mufti of Oman. * Mohammed Al Barwani, billionaire and the richest man in Oman. * Madeeha bint Ahmed bin Nassir al Shibaniyah, the Minister of Education Oman. * Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. * Rawya Saud Al Busaidi, Minister of Higher Education. * Sultan bin Mohammed al Nu'amani, Minister of Royal Office. *
Ahmed Al-Harrasi Ahmed Sulaiman Al-Harrasi ( ar, أحمد سليمان الحراصي; born 13 October 1974) is an Omani scientist and a professor of organic chemistry at the University of Nizwa, Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman. Education Ahmed Al-Harrasi completed ...
, is an Omani scientist and a professor of organic chemistry at
University of Nizwa The University of Nizwa (UoN) was established in 2002 by the Decree of Sultan Qaboos as the first non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or ...
. * Jokha Al-Harthi, Omani writer


See also

*
Manga Arabs The Manga or Wamanga Arabs are Omani Arabs, specifically from the region of Muscat, who have immigrated to parts of East Africa such as Zanzibar. They are different from the Omanis who already were there since the first immigration wave, not only b ...


References and notes

{{Demographics of Oman Ethnic groups in the Middle East Ethnic groups in Oman Arabs