Country profile
Oman
Saltanat Uman
Asia · Western Asia
OM · OMN
- Capital
- Muscat
- Population
- 5,343,630
- Area
- 309,500 km²
- Democracy index
- 15
- Regime type
- Closed Autocracy
Events
Ballots from Oman
The latest elections, referendums, and opinion polls from Oman. Community totals are not official results.
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Classification
Democracy profile
The score and regime label are assigned by Porto Voto using our in-house democracy index and classification framework, not ratings from governments or external agencies.
Democracy index
15/100
Regime type
Closed Autocracy
The Sultanate of Oman operates as an absolute monarchy where all executive, legislative, and judicial powers remain concentrated in the hands of Sultan Haitham bin Tarik. While the Council of Oman serves an advisory purpose and features an elected lower house, political parties are strictly prohibited, preventing any genuine power competition. Comprehensive executive authority is routinely demonstrated through sweeping structural mandates, such as the numerous royal decrees issued throughout early 2026 that reorganized cabinet offices and the official oversight bodies. Independent civil society organizations and media pluralism are practically nonexistent because the state tightly monitors public discourse, actively suppressing dissent and filtering online content. Isolated efforts to reform state institutions, including the restructuring of the national human rights commission by royal decree, function inside a highly controlled environment that leaves fundamental civil liberties severely restricted.
Last evaluation:
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Country background
A concise introduction to Oman, together with notes on how power and law are organized, to put local ballots in context.
The inhabitants of the area of present-day Oman have long prospered from Indian Ocean trade. In the late 18th century, the nascent sultanate in Muscat signed the first in a series of friendship treaties with Britain. Over time, Oman's dependence on British political and military advisors increased, although the sultanate never became a British colony.
In 1970, QABOOS bin Said Al Said overthrew his father and ruled as sultan for the next five decades. His extensive modernization program opened the country to the outside world. He prioritized strategic ties to the UK and US, and his moderate, independent foreign policy allowed Oman to maintain good relations with its neighbors and avoid external entanglements.
In 2011, the popular uprisings that swept the Middle East and North Africa inspired demonstrations in Oman that called for more jobs and economic benefits and an end to corruption. In response, QABOOS implemented economic and political reforms such as granting Oman’s legislative body more power and authorizing direct elections for its lower house. Additionally, the sultan increased unemployment benefits and issued a royal directive mandating a national public- and private-sector job creation plan.
As part of the government's efforts to decentralize authority and allow greater citizen participation in local governance, Oman successfully conducted its first municipal council elections in 2012. QABOOS, Oman's longest reigning monarch, died in 2020. His cousin, HAYTHAM bin Tariq Al Said, former Minister of Heritage and Culture, was sworn in as Oman's new sultan the same day.