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Updates: 

Fons Cuppen pointed out that I had assigned Al Qabil district to Ash Sharqiyah South governorate, but it belongs in Ash Sharqiyah North. This correction affects the populations of the two governorates, which have been fixed below.

Update 9 to Geopolitical Entities and Codes (formerly FIPS 10-4) is dated 2012-09-01. It assigns new codes to the northern halves of the governorates that were split in 2011.

Oman has done some reorganizing. Thanks to Fabien Antoine for sending me the news. I have also added the results of the 2010 census, provided by Sorin Cosoveanu. Populations for the new governorates were calculated by adding the populations of their constituent districts.

Update 3 to Geopolitical Entities and Codes, the successor to FIPS PUB 10-4, was issued on 2011-02-28. It changes the status of Muscat from region to governorate.

Al Buraymi governorate was created in 2006. This change is shown in FIPS PUB 10-4 Change Notice 13, issued on 2008-02-04, and in Newsletter II-2, an update to the ISO 3166-2 standard, dated 2010-06-30. The ISO update also changes the code for Dhofar from JA to ZU, apparently only because it has changed the preferred version of the name from Al Janubiyah to Zufar.

International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on December 15, 1998. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard). For Oman, the draft standard showed eight provinces. The final standard showed the same eight divisions, now identified as regions. The codes for Adh Dhahirah, Ash Sharqiyah, and Dhofar were changed, the other five remaining the same as before. The new codes are shown in this table.

Country overview: 

Short name	OMAN
ISO code	OM
FIPS code	MU
Language	Arabic (ar)
Time zone	+4
Capital	Muscat

 

In 1900, Oman was an independent country. It was officially called the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman. The name Oman was used to refer to what is now Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Muscat and Oman. However, the territory was in reality a collection of sheikhdoms and emirates. The inland boundaries with Arabia were indefinite. By 1916, Britain had concluded treaties with Qatar and the seven emirates that in effect made them protectorates. Oil discoveries made it increasingly important to settle questions of sovereignty. By 1950, maps were showing boundaries between Qatar, Trucial Oman (now the United Arab Emirates), and the sultanate. In 1970, Sultan Qaboos ibn Said overthrew his father and changed the country's name to Oman. Oman's boundaries with Saudi Arabia and Yemen were finally delimited in the early 1990s.

Other names of country: 

1. Arabic: Saltanat `Uman (formal)
2. Danish: Oman
3. Dutch: Oman, Sultanaat Oman (formal)
4. English: Sultanate of Oman (formal), Muscat and Oman (obsolete)
5. Finnish: Oman
6. French: Oman m
7. German: Oman m
8. Icelandic: Óman
9. Italian: Oman m
10. Norwegian: Oman, Sultanatet Oman (formal)
11. Portuguese: Oman, Omão, Omã (Brazil), Sultanato m do Omã m (formal)
12. Russian: Султанат Оман (formal)
13. Spanish: Omán, Sultanía f de Omán (formal), Sultanato m de Omán (formal), Mascat y Omán (obsolete)
14. Swedish: Oman
15. Turkish: Umman Sultanlığı (formal)

Primary subdivisions: 

Oman is divided into eleven muhafazat (sing. muhafazah: governorates).

Governorate	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital
Ad Dakhliyah	OM.DA	DA	MU01	326,651	31,900	12,300	Nizwa
Adh Dhahirah	OM.DH	ZA	MU09	151,664	44,000	17,000	Ibri
Al Batinah North	OM.BN	BA	MU11	483,582	12,500	4,800	Sohar
Al Batinah South	OM.BS		MU02	289,008			Rustaq
Al Buraymi	OM.BU	BU	MU10	72,917			Al Buraymi
Al Wusta	OM.WU	WU	MU03	42,111	79,700	30,800	Haima
Ash Sharqiyah North	OM.SN	SH	MU12	162,482	36,800	14,200	Ibra
Ash Sharqiyah South	OM.SS		MU04	188,032			Sur
Dhofar	OM.JA	ZU	MU08	249,729	99,300	38,300	Salalah
Musandam	OM.MU	MU	MU07	31,425	1,800	700	Khasab
Muscat	OM.MA	MA	MU06	775,878	3,500	1,400	Muscat
11 governorates				2,773,479	309,500	119,500
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO standard 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Population: 2010-12-12 census Area: Source: Europa World Year Book 2001.

Postal codes: 

Oman uses three-digit postal codes. The first digit represented a region or governorate, before the changes of 2006 and 2011.

Further subdivisions:

See the Districts of Oman page.

Below the governorates, Oman is divided into wilayat (districts).

Territorial extent: 

1. Ash Sharqiyah includes the islands of Masirah and Mahawt.
2. Dhofar includes the Kuria Muria Islands, also known as the Halaniyat after their largest member.
3. Musandam is a discontiguous part of Oman, at the northern tip of the Musandam Peninsula.
4. Part of Musandam (Mahda district) is enclaved within United Arab Emirates, and contains a counterenclave in which the village of Nahwa belongs to the U.A.E.

Origins of names: 

1. Adh Dhahirah: = back (rear or inland side of the Western Hajar (Stone) Mountains)
2. Al Batinah: = belly (front or seaward side of the Western Hajar (Stone) Mountains)
3. Al Wusta: = central
4. Ash Sharqiyah: = eastern

Change history: 

The administrative divisions of Oman had little significance or definition until very recently. Between ~1960 and ~1990, the number of primary divisions has varied from eight to ten, and their status was liwa (province). Most of the divisions have kept approximately the same territory.

1. 1958-09-08: Gwadar (a coastal enclave in Baluchistan) ceded to Pakistan.
2. 1967-11-30: Kuriya Muriya Islands transferred from British control to Dhofar province.
3. 2006-10: Al Buraymi governorate split from Adh Dhahirah region (former HASC code OM.ZA, FIPS MU05).

Region	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Typ	Pop-2010	Pop-2003	Pop-1993	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital	Pc
Ad Dakhliyah	OM.DA	DA	MU01	r	326,651	267,140	229,791	31,900	12,300	Nizwa	6
Adh Dhahirah	OM.DH	ZA	MU09	r	151,664	130,177	181,224	44,000	17,000	Ibri	5
Al Batinah	OM.BA	BA	MU02	r	772,590	653,505	564,677	12,500	4,800	Sohar, Rustaq	3
Al Buraymi	OM.BU	BU	MU10	g	72,917	76,838				Al Buraymi	5
Al Wusta	OM.WU	WU	MU03	r	42,111	22,983	17,067	79,700	30,800	Haima	7
Ash Sharqiyah	OM.SH	SH	MU04	r	350,514	313,761	258,344	36,800	14,200	Sur	4
Dhofar	OM.JA	ZU	MU08	g	249,729	215,960	189,094	99,300	38,300	Salalah	2
Musandam	OM.MU	MU	MU07	g	31,425	28,378	28,727	1,800	700	Khasab	8
Muscat	OM.MA	MA	MU06	g	775,878	632,073	549,150	3,500	1,400	Muscat	1
9 divisions					2,773,479	2,340,815	2,018,074	309,500	119,500
Name: English name of region or governorate, as listed by the Oman Ministry of Development. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO standard 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Typ: r = region, g = governorate. Pop-2010: 2010-12-12 census. Pop-2003: 2003 census (Al Buraymi proleptic). Pop-1993: 1993-12-01 census. Area: Source [5]. Pc: First digit of postal code for this division.

1. 2011-10-28: Al Batinah region split into Al Batinah North and Al Batinah South governorates. Al Batinah North consists of Al Khaburah, As Suwayq, Liwa, Saham, Shinas, and Sohar districts. Ash Sharqiyah region split into Ash Sharqiyah North and Ash Sharqiyah South governorates. Ash Sharqiyah North consists of Al Mudaybi, Al Qabil, Bidiyah, Dima Wa Attaiyyin, Ibra, and Wadi Bani Khalid districts. The other regions became governorates as well.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Ad Dakhliyah: A'Dakhliya, Ad Dakhiliyah, Al Jauf, Al Joof, Dakhlia, Interior (variant); Al Goof (German)
2. Adh Dhahirah: A'Dhahirah, Az Zahirah (variant)
3. Al Batinah: Ad Batinah
4. Al Wusta: Al Wosta, Central Oman, Oman Proper, Rub al Khali, `Umān al-Wusţā (variant)
5. Ash Sharqiyah: Al Hajar, A'Shariqiyah, Eastern (variant)
6. Dhofar: Dhufar, Al Janubiyah, Southern Region, Zufar (variant)
7. Musandam: Mussandam, Ru'us al-Jibal (variant)
8. Muscat: Mascate (French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish); Maskat (German, Norwegian); Muscat and Matrah, Masqat (variant)

Sources: 

1. [1] Khaleej Times Online  (retrieved 2011-11-16).
2. [2] Times of Oman  (retrieved 2011-11-16).
3. [3] Ministry of Information  (retrieved 2011-11-16).
4. [4] Census Report, Census Administration at the Ministry of National Economy of Oman, has data for the 2003 census. It included region maps. Retrieved on 2004-11-16 from http://www.moneoman.gov.om/arabic/census1.pdf (dead link).
5. [5] Europa World Year Book 2001. Europa Publications, London, 2001.
6. [6] Census 2010. Document found at omancensus.net (2011-11-17).