Sohar (Arabic: صُحَار, romanized: Ṣuḥār) is the capital and largest city of the Al Batinah North Governorate in Oman.

An ancient capital of the country that once served as an important Islamic port town on the Gulf of Oman,[4] Sohar has also been credited as the mythical birthplace of Sinbad the Sailor.

The present-day town of Buraimi is part of a historical region that Tabari referred to as 'Tawam', which is now believed to have encapsulated much of the present day United Arab Emirates, and to have been named for St Thomas the Apostle of the East.

It was praised by Ibn Hawqal and Al-Maqdisi, who called it "flourishing, populous, beautiful, pleasant and delightful", and compared it favourably with the ports of China.

[10] After a period of ruin, Sohar was re-established in the 15th century as a minor port under the Hormuzi-Qalhati sphere of influence.

[12] In the early 16th century, Sohar was conquered by the Portuguese Empire, which used the city to control the entrances to the Persian Gulf and trade in the region.

[13] Starting on 26 February 2011, Sohar was the site of mass protests, part of the Arab Spring uprisings.

Investments include more than $5 billion in the steel industry in which Oman aims to be one of the Gulf Cooperation Council's leading producers.

The Sohar Aluminium Company was established in 2004[17] and it is considered one of the leading projects that play a major role in the sultanate’s economic diversification strategy.

Precipitation is low; more than half of the year's total rainfall falls in February, and summers are almost completely dry.