Today I will introduce you to a very interesting country. In this amazing country, traders reduce the price you name by themselves. Some 40 years ago this region was considered to be one of the most backward and rotten regions on the planet. This country is one of the safest places on earth. There are almost no cases of theft. Hotel rooms do not even have individual safes, which are an indispensable attribute of prestigious hotels around the world. This country is called the "fairytale of the East" because of the rare combination of different natural and climatic zones. Here is free education and medical care, 350 sunny days per year. Here every citizen on reaching the age of majority is given a plot of land for the construction of a house, and on the main holiday in the country the sultan announces a credit amnesty. There are no homeless people here. There are no taxes for individuals, they are imprisoned for treason. There is no unemployment in this country, no homeless people, no beggars, the national health care system is one of the best in the world.
This is Oman.
To the east of the Arabian Peninsula, where the desert meets the Indian Ocean, is located the Sultanate of Oman. Its history has more than two millennia.
When Sultan Qaboos came to power in 1970 with the help of the British, replacing his father, Sultan Said, Oman was a poor, backward imamat. In terms of living standards, the country was on a par with the poorest African countries, suffering from countless tribal struggles and being almost isolated from the outside world. There were no hospitals, no schools, no roads, and no radio. Even boots and sunglasses were forbidden.
After Sultan Qaboos came to power, Oman, as locals say, woke up. And he remains awake to this day.
This country is an absolute monarchy, which is also rare in our time. Sultan Qaboos bin Said has been ruling the country for 42 years. His numerous portraits hanging all over the city and what the Arabs themselves say about him speaks of the love of the people for their ruler.
During these forty years, Sultan managed to pull the country out of distress, a country with only one kilometer of road to a rapidly developing, well-developed country, in terms of wealth not inferior to such financial giants as the UAE or Qatar.
There were only three schools in Oman. On the contrary, there was no health care system, and the whole country stretched for one and a half thousand kilometers was 10 "versts of paved roads.
But all this did not confuse the young and ambitious ruler, who from 16 years lived in England and after a decade and a half returned to his homeland. First of all, Qaboos literally "squeezed" corrupt officials out of state structures, taking under his personal control the flow of oil revenues into the budget. In addition, in the 1970s several new oil fields were discovered in Oman, which are now key to the country. And if in 1970 the income per capita in Oman was about 300 U.S. dollars, in 1991 - already 7000 U.S. dollars. And now, according to some estimates, it is more than 60 thousand dollars.
The land for the construction of the first house is given to any citizen upon reaching 18 years. This applies to both men and women.
- The area of the standard plot of land is 400 square meters. The land is given in the state where you are registered. However, the land must wait for several years. At the time of receipt of a citizen pays a lump-sum tax. Housing will have to build on their own savings. You can take a loan. And the rate on it will be fixed - no more than 6% per annum. This is fixed at the legislative level.
If the family income is less than a thousand dollars, will give and free apartment. Of course, a small and not in the most elite place.
- This is the so-called social housing, which is given to the desperately needy - usually widows, disabled people, Bedouins. Such houses are built at a distance from the city; they may be in the mountains or in the desert.
In the houses of middle-class Omanis (at least in Salala) there are usually 6-7 rooms and several bathrooms.
Oman has something to fill its treasury with besides the income from oil exports. The authorities of the neighboring Emirates, with their seven-star hotels growing like on yeast and billion-dollar investments in the construction of tourist complexes, have started a kind of "hotel arms race" in the Gulf.
Now the country is preparing to use its biggest "asset" - natural gas. Proven oil reserves in Oman are 5.3 billion barrels.
This is a very modest figure, and at the current rate of production the reserves will only last for 15 years. For comparison: Saudi Arabia's oil reserves are designed for 70 years, the UAE - for 100 years, Kuwait - for 110 years.
"People of the Sultan not only love him, they worship him! - And this is their attitude - gratitude for what he did".
In every office, hotel is necessarily hanging a portrait of the monarch. Songs are dedicated to His Majesty, in the stores they sell scarves with his profile, even phone stickers.
I would love to live in this country.