An Omani Village Emerges from Isolation

Kumzar is a village located in Musandam, the northernmost province of Oman. It is the most northerly inhabited part of the country, located on the Strait of Hormuz. The village is isolated and only accessible by boat.

Kumzar has been inhabited for approximately 500 years, although exact records are difficult. Early Portuguese maps of the area highlight a settlement in the area.
The isolated location of the village has harbored a separate language, Kumzari, which is the only Iranian language native in the Arabian Peninsula. The culture is distinct from the other settlements in the area.

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Each summer the entire village, which speak its unique language which is a mix of Arabic and Persian, migrates for three months heading to the nearest main town of Khasab for the date harvest and to stave of summer boredom, as it has done for centuries.

On the uppermost tip of the spectacular Musandam peninsula lies Kumzar, the most northerly inhabited village in Oman. Isolated and only accessible by boat, Kumzar retains its unique language and way of living. An Omani enclave was overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, it is separated from the rest of the country by the UAE.

Kumzar has been inhabited for approximately 500 years, and villagers speak a local dialect, believed to be a mixture of Arabic and the only Iranian language native to the Arabian Peninsula.

Kumzaris practice Islam and have traditional folk values. Hemmed in by towering brown cliffs, which appear to be almost falling into the sea, the village is reliant on the water. Fishing is the dominant source of income, tuna and sardines being the major catch. In the summer, the extreme heat makes the village almost uninhabitable.

Life is rustic and simple, far removed from the fast pace of modern life, which carries on only a few hours away in the sprawling cities. Only a tinge of the 21st century has encroached on the Kumzari way of life. In the main, things carry on as they have always done.