Oman is slowly emerging from its hermit shell, revealing a land of friendly people and dramatic landscapes peppered with forts. Although Oman remains, in many ways, the most traditional country in the region, it is often more outward looking than it has been given credit for.

Oman is bordered to the west by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Yemen. The Musandam Peninsula forms a coastal enclave on the Strait of Hormuz. The 2,700km of coastline is surrounded by the Arabian and Indian Seas. The Hajir Mountains divide the land stretching from the Musandam Peninsula to the southeast, to the west lies the fertile narrow plain of the Batinah coast dominated by the Jebel Akhdar. Dhofar in the south is divided from the north by a desert and has a coastal plain beyond which there are mountains. Out to sea are the Kuria Muria Islands. The Batinah coast is inhabited by descendants of Asian merchants, Baluchi traders and other Arab nationals, who are more aware of the outside world than the tribesmen of the interior and mountain regions.

The climate varies from region to region. In the coastal areas it is hot and humid in summer. In the interior, it is hot and dry with the exception of some higher locations, where it is temperate all year round. In the southern region, the climate is more benign. The rainfall is generally low and irregular, although heavy local rains are sometimes experienced with the exception of the southern region, where heavy monsoon rains regularly occur between June and September.