ABSTRACT
The landscape along the coast has been dramatically transformed in one generation. Cross-country tracks and wadi bottoms served as roads until the mid-1960s. Often called the Oman Mountains, al-Hajar (literally, "the Rock") is a high rugged chain of mountains paralleling the Batinah in a 435-mi/700-km arc from the northern tip of the Musandam Peninsula to Ras al-Hadd. The Oman Mountains are a virtually unique geomorphic feature, both scientifically and scenically. Facing the open ocean, the highlands, if never exactly verdant, do catch monsoon rains and, by the standards of most of the rest of the Arabian peninsula, are markedly more temperate in clime. Development of huge oil resources onshore and offshore in Abu Dhabi and modest fields elsewhere enabled phenomenal development, with elaborate competition among main principalities. Dubai especially innovative, attracting huge investment: trade and tourism, offshore residential islands and world's tallest building.
