Muscat

Muscat is the capital and largest city of the Sultanate of Oman. It is the largest city in the muhafazah (governorate) of Muscat .


The greater metropolitan area of Muscat, known locally as the "Capital Area", currently covers an area of approximately 1500 km². Since the ascession of Qaboos bin Said as Sultan of Oman, Muscat has seen a growth of infrastructural development and urbanisation. Pockets of dense residents and commercial districts are interspersed with undeveloped land. The major centers of development can be split into three main groups:

-West Muscat: Al-Seeb, Udhaybah, Bawsher, Al-Ghubbrah and Ghala
-Central Muscat: Al-Khuwair, Madinat Al Sultan Qaboos, Shati-Al Qurm, Qurm and Ras Al Hamra
-East Muscat: Wuttayah, Ruwi, Matrah, Kalbuh, Old Muscat, Sidab and Al-Bustan


In general, Muscat presents a relatively homogeneous appearance of low (rarely more than five story), generally white buildings, with residential, government, and commercial architecture frequently recalling, at least by allusion, historic regional styles. For a city at the edge of the Arabian peninsula and in Oman's sometimes fierce climate, Muscat is remarkably green, with tree-lined main streets linking the various districts, several sizeable public parks, and grass, shrubs, and flowers decorating many traffic circles and other public areas.