The Batinah Plain, Oman's vegetable garden

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The Batinah Plain is a strip of coastline around 400 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide that runs between the western Hadjar Mountains and the Gulf of Oman. It is the Sultanate's common garden. A large number of refuge castles and fortresses, such as that of Nakhl, protected its inhabitants from raids for centuries.

Dates, bananas, limes, mangoes, tomatoes, carrots, aubergines, courgettes, potatoes — all these and many other vegetables are grown on a 270-kilometre-long strip of coastline between Muscat and Sohar. Plantation follows plantation, village follows village. A quarter of Oman's population lives here. It largely meets the country's own demand for agricultural produce, but of course also consumes a lot of it itself. This is why the Batina Plain is often referred to by Omanis as the country's stomach.

The people owe the water needed for cultivation to the mountains in the west of the plain - the western Hadjar Mountains. The rising humid air masses rain down there and replenish the groundwater level on the coast.

Cultivable land has been rare in this region since time immemorial and has therefore always been coveted. The inhabitants of this coastal strip had to protect themselves against invaders for centuries. They built a dense network of simple refuge castles, but also fortifications such as those at Nakhl, Barka, Rostaq, Al Hazm and Sohar, which are still among the most important and worth seeing in the country today.

Sohar - the "gateway to China"

Already traceable from the 3rd century AD under the Persian name Mazun, the name Sohar appears in various sources with the Islamisation and the end of Persian rule in the 7th century.

The city is also known as the "Gateway to China", as the Omanis were already sailing from here to China at this time. Sindbad the Sailor is said to have been born here. The fortress, which today houses an interesting museum, is well worth a visit. The museum vividly depicts different eras of Omani history.
After its destruction in the 10th century, the city was never able to regain its former glory. The harbour town led a shadowy existence for a long time, but has developed into one of the most important industrial locations in the country in recent years. It is home to an aromatics complex, a steel factory, plants for the production of polypropylene, methanol and fertilisers as well as an aluminium and copper smelter. The sea freight traffic of the port of Muttrah has now also been transferred to the new large port of Sohar.

➤ more pictures of the Batinah plain

➤ Hotels in the Batinah region