The Middle East's Economy: Oil

Since I am one of the last to post on this topic I decided to choose a semi-extraneous country: Oman. Before reading this textbook I had never even heard of Oman so I thought it would be interesting to research. First off, I notice it's location is favorable because it is on the ocean which makes it easier to trade. Also the trip to India, Pakistan, and Iran is not far by boat which is a definite plus. One thing that I notice right off the bat is that it is noticeably smaller compared to it's neighbor Qatar. This could factor into it's local political power and respect. Now to analyze some statistics. Like I thought Oman has always thrived because of it's location and it's easiness with trade. Another thing I learned was that it has always had strong ties to England. It's climate is dry and humid and it's countryside contains desert. Oman has a small population with a little more than 3 million, however it's population growth rate is around 3%. Another thing I learned was that Oman gained it's independence in 1650 from Portugal which is a lot earlier than the majority of the African colonies. To explain it's economy CIA-The World Factbook explains, "Oman is a middle-income economy that is heavily dependent on dwindling oil resources, but sustained high oil prices in recent years have helped build Oman's budget and trade surpluses and foreign reserves. As a result of its dwindling oil resources, Oman is actively pursuing a development plan that focuses on diversification, industrialization, and privatization, with the objective of reducing the oil sector's contribution to GDP to 9% by 2020." To conclude, it looks to me that the country of Oman fits the mold of the majority of Middle Eastern countries: it's economy thrives off of oil.