Sohar

24.34256.729888888889Koordinaten: 24 ° 21 ' N, 56 ° 44'

Sohar (Arabic صحار, Sohar DMG ) is a town in northeastern Oman on the Gulf of Oman, 230 kilometers north- west of the capital Muscat. It is the principal city of the coastal plain and the capital of the wilaya Sohar. Suhat is also the capital of the governorate Schamal al - Batina. Sohar is the fifth largest city in Oman with about 140,000 inhabitants.

History

The city had a great importance as a center of maritime trade in the history of Oman. As early as the 3rd millennium BC, copper and diorite from Magan ( former name) to India and Mesopotamia seems to have been shipped.

After the city had been expanded under the Persian Sassanids to the commercial center, it increased under Muslim rule on a major trade center of the Islamic world. Maritime trade was enough in the 9th century via India to China and East Africa. The extensive trade relations are also evident in the stories of Sinbad, which seems to originate from Sohar. The Persian Buyids destroyed in the year 965 Sohar, well off to the competition for Basra. In the following years it came to the domination of the Seljuks and the Persians of Hormuz.

After Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India in 1498, Portugal rose to become the leading trading and maritime power of the 15th and 16th century. 1507 Sohar came under the rule of the Portuguese. After expulsion of the Portuguese in 1649 by Nasir ibn Murshid the city could not repeat her great past as a trading center. One reason was probably the siltation of lagoons, which had previously served as a port.

Seaport

Just north of the city of new 20 km ² large " Port of Sohar " was built - as 50/50-Joint-Venture with the port of Rotterdam - and opened in 2004. On the grounds is the actual port and extensive industrial facilities, including a refinery, several power plants and a methane plant. The aluminum melt ( Sohar Aluminium ) is a few kilometers inland.

Tourism

  • The Sohar Fort.

Educational Facilities

  • Sohar University
  • Al Batinah International School
DIN 31635 Muscat, Oman Al Batinah Region Magan (civilization) Sinbad the Sailor
754143
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