Oman Governorates

Oman fills the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, from the Strait of Hormuz in the north to the Yemeni border in the south, and it is a country better known for its coast than for its interior. Its 11 governorates (muhafazat) cover it without a gap, from Musandam, cut off from the rest of the country by the United Arab Emirates, to Dhofar, which alone is two fifths of the country.

The quiz: Name to place, on the map
Grouped by: The North coast, the East coast, the Interior and the South
In the game: 11 governorates

Start

What you are looking at

The 11 governorates of today. The Batinah, the coastal plain behind the Gulf of Oman, and the Sharqiyah, the eastern end of the Hajar Mountains and the coast below it, are each split into a north and a south governorate, which is the easy thing to confuse. Al Buraymi, on the border with the UAE oasis town of Al Ain, is the smallest of the mainland governorates. Al Wusta and Dhofar between them make up most of the south, and most of the land area, but little of the population.

The groups are not an official classification. They are the four parts of the country it is usually described in, and a way to learn the map a piece at a time.

How to place one

Start at the capital. Muscat is a short strip of coast on the Gulf of Oman, with the two Batinah governorates running north-west along the same coast from it.
Find Musandam. It is the small piece of land on its own at the very top, across the UAE from the rest of Oman.
Cross the mountains. Ad Dakhliyah, Al Dhahira and Al Buraymi are the interior, behind the Hajar range from the coast.
Follow the coast south. Ash Sharqiyah North and South come before Al Wusta, and then Dhofar fills the south to the Yemeni border.

Every governorate, by group

North coast4 governorates: Al Batinah North, Al Batinah South, Musandam, Muscat
East coast2 governorates: Ash Sharqiyah North, Ash Sharqiyah South
Interior3 governorates: Ad Dakhliyah, Al Buraymi, Al Dhahira
South2 governorates: Al Wusta, Dhofar

Worked examples

Muscat

The capital

Muscat is a narrow governorate on the Gulf of Oman, with Al Batinah South to its north-west and Ash Sharqiyah North to its south-east, and it holds the capital and the largest share of the population.

Dhofar

The largest

Dhofar is the largest governorate, filling the southwest of the country from the Arabian Sea coast at Salalah to the borders with Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Musandam

The exclave

Musandam is a rocky peninsula on the Strait of Hormuz, separated from the rest of Oman by the UAE, and it is the one governorate that is not connected to the others by land.

Frequently asked questions

How many governorates does Oman have?

11. The Batinah and the Sharqiyah were each split into a north and a south governorate in 2011, and Al Buraymi has been a governorate of its own since 2006.

Why is there no game for the wilayats?

Below the governorates Oman has 63 wilayats, after Al Jabal Al Akhdar and Sinaw were added to the older 61, and no boundary file we can use draws all 63 yet.

Does Oman group its governorates into regions?

Not in a way this game relies on. The groups here are the four parts the country is commonly described in, and they will not match every list you find.