Asian Cup Football Geography: Oman, the last opponent of the national football team in 2023, has a set of enclaves with the United Arab Emirates
At 11 o'clock Beijing time tonight, the Chinese team is about to face Oman, the last opponent of 2023. Oman is one of the 24 teams participating in this Asian Cup.
Chinese fans are no strangers to Oman. In 2001, the Chinese team defeated Oman 1-0 at Shenyang Wulihe Stadium with Yu Genwei's goal and advanced to the 2002 South Korea-Japan World Cup in advance.
Asian Cup Football Geography, let's walk into Oman together.
Geographical overview of Oman
Oman is a country located in the southeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. Oman borders Saudi Arabia to the west and Yemen to the southwest. Oman's coast is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the south and east, and to the northeast by the Gulf of Oman.
Oman covers an area of 309,000 square kilometres, between China's Yunnan Province (390,000 square kilometres) and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (236,700 square kilometres). The population is about 5.1 million (2020 data).
The Arabian Peninsula, where Oman is located, is mostly horizontal and vertical. The exception is Oman's border with the UAE, which is a tortuous one. Moreover, the two countries also have enclaves between each other.
Oman is divided into 11 provinces, and the other 10 provinces are located in Oman proper. The northern province of Musandam in Oman is separated from Oman by the UAE proper.
Musandam province covers an area of 1,800 square kilometres, equivalent to 0.6% of Oman.
Musandam province is not only an enclave of Oman, it also has an enclave of its own - Madha State (Oman's province is larger than the state).
Madha State covers an area of only 75 square kilometres and is surrounded by the United Arab Emirates. More specifically, there is also a village called Nakhwa within Madha, which is owned by the UAE.
▲ Madha and Nakhwa enclaves
The land of the UAE and Oman is like a nesting doll, you have me, I have you.
The capital of Oman, which was once the capital of Africa
Today, Oman is a real Asian country. Historically, Oman is a country that straddles two continents: Asia and Africa.
After the fall of the Arab Empire, Oman became one of the few independent states in the Arabian Peninsula. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Oman faced two major challenges – the Ottoman Empire (the predecessor of Turkey) and Portugal. Later, with the help of the British, Oman defeated the Ottomans and Portugal and became one of the few independent states in Asia.
In 1659, Oman took Zanzibar from Portugal and occupied territory on the east coast of Africa.
Muscat, the capital of Oman, is located in Asia, and historically, Oman moved its capital to Zanzibar.
It all started in the 19th century. It is well known that the west coast of Africa has long been a port for the slave trade. At the beginning of the 19th century, with the influence of modern Enlightenment ideas, Europe abolished the slave trade on the west coast of Africa. The slave trade shifted from the west coast of Africa to the east coast. Zanzibar developed a trading point for the slave trade.
In addition, the island of Zanzibar, occupied by Oman, is suitable for the cultivation of cloves. Oman's native climate is dominated by a tropical desert climate, where it is warm and humid.
During the 19th century, large oil resources had not yet been discovered in the Persian Gulf region. The economy of the Arabian Peninsula, including Oman, is mainly based on fishing and pearl diving. Zanzibar is the treasure land of Oman.
In 1834, in order to preserve this treasure area. Oman made the decision to move the capital from Muscat to Zanzibar, 3,000 kilometers away.
In the 50-60s of the 19th century, the British colonizers extended their colonial power to the Asian, African, and Indian Ocean regions. For the British colonists, a strong Oman was an obstacle to their colonial expansion. Therefore, the British made a decision - to dismember Oman.
After the death of Said the Great, his two sons went to war for the throne.
This gave Britain a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Out of the need to dismember Oman, Britain supported Zanzibar as a sultanate of its own, separated from Oman proper. Zanzibar turned into a British protectorate. Oman's territory in Africa was completely lost.
With the loss of Zanzibar, Oman lost its African territory and became a fully Asian country.
And that's not all. Even after losing its African territory, Oman still owns a piece of land in South Asia – the Gwadar region.
In 1954, civil war broke out in Oman. In 1955, the Omani Civil War ended. But opposition remains inland. In order to solve the domestic economic problems and also to solve the rebel forces to raise military funds, Oman sold Gwadar to Pakistan for a transfer fee of 3 million pounds.
The current state of football in Oman
In the final FIFA annual ranking for 2023, Oman is ranked 74th and 10th in Asia, higher than the national football team (79th in FIFA and 11th in Asia).
Oman has not played in a single World Cup in its history. In the past 17 Asian Cups, Oman has participated in four Asian Cups: 2004, 2007, 2015 and 2019.
Only in the 2019 Qatar Asian Cup, Oman qualified for the group stage. However, they lost 0-2 to Iran in the 1/8 finals. Missed the top 8.
In this Asian Cup, Oman is in the same group as Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Kyrgyzstan. So, what kind of record can Oman achieve?