Muscat is the largest city in Oman. Aside from being the largest city in the country Muscat is also the capital of Oman. The population of Muscat as of 2008 was already at an astounding 1,090,797 just for the metropolitan area of the city.

Muscat has had its share of different rulers that took dominance over the city. Ever since the first century, Muscat has been used as a central trading port between the west and the east. Because of its worth, everyone wanted to be able to get a piece of this property.

Muscat has been owned by many indigenous tribes which include Persian powers, the Portuguese Empire, as well as East Africa and Zanzibar. Known for being a vital port, Muscat attracted a plethora of different visitors that were simply trying to find an easy way to trade between countries.

The immense amount of interest in Muscat caused the city to experience rapid growth in a short period of time. Today, Muscat has an incredibly vibrant economic stature as well as a multi-cultural society. It seems as though every culture that visited Muscat, Oman were happy with what they found so they all inadvertently decided to inhabit the town.

The city of Muscat is dominated by trade. In fact, the economy runs off of trade between other foreign powers. Aside from trade, Muscat’s economy is also shaped by petroleum as well as porting. Muscat is located right on the Gulf of Oman. The location is perfect for trade from all sides, which inadvertently is what attracted many different groups of people to the city in the first place.

As mentioned prior, Muscat’s economy is completely dominated by trade. Muscat exports mother of pearl, dates and fish mostly. Muttrah souq, which is located in Muscat has these exported items for sale , along with Omani artifacts.

Petroleum development has been a major trade selling unit for Oman. In fact, since 1962, the petroleum companies have been the country’s largest employer after the Omani government.

There are a plethora of notable landmarks that are located in Muscat. Amongst these landmarks are two Hindu temples as well as several Christian churches, the Roman Catholic Church, and a plethora of mosques.
Muscat also has a wide array of different museums located throughout the city as well. Some of the most popular museums of the Oman natural history museum, Sultan’s armed forces museum, and the Omani aquarium and marine science and fisheries centre.

Known to many as one of the most exciting places in Oman to visit, the capital of Oman, Muscat definitely has an immense amount of things to see and do. In many accounts people that find themselves visiting Muscat often times forget that they are actually visiting an Arabian desert.

Of course, the one thing that will give off the fact that they are presently visiting a desert is the fact that the heat can get a little daunting at times. You simply cannot take a holiday to Oman without seeing what the capital has to offer.