Concepts and Terms
Building

A building is defined as any independent structure fixed on the ground, temporarily or permanently, regardless of the material used in its construction. This building should have one or more entrances each of which will lead to all its components. The building must be occupied, or housing any kind of economic or other activity or should – at least – be prepared for that purpose even it is unoccupied.

Therefore, the building may be an edifice, a villa, an Arabic house, or improvised housing units (Sandaqa or Areesh), or a tent. It may also be a school, a hospital, a factory, a mosque, a hotel, a ministry, a government department or others.


Housing Unit

A housing unit is a building or part of a building which was originally prepared to accommodate a single family even if it was occupied by more than one during the census time, or was primarily unoccupied. The housing unit must have one or more entrances that enable its occupants to enter without passing through another house.

Thus, the housing unit may be a villa, an apartment, an Arabic house, a rural house, an improvised housing unit or a tent. It may also be an institutional housing unit like a hotel, a university campus, a labour camp or any similar group residence.

For the purpose of the census, every physically occupied construction at the time of the census taking will be considered a housing unit, even if it was not primarily built for the purpose of residence, such as a shop used for work and residence.



Institutional Housing Unit

Is the place particularly assigned a residence for a group of individuals who are linked to common situations and share special conditions or joint objectives.

Institutional housing unit should:

1. Have common components or facilities such as cooking place, bathrooms...etc.

2. Be physically occupied at the time of the census taking, or prepared to receive occupants.

For the purpose of the census, the institutional housing units are grouped in three categories:

1. Service construction, such as: Prisons, Hospitals, Orphanages... etc.

2. Hotels and Hotel Apartments.

3. Collective Housing Units, such as: nurses and physicians residences, labour camps, army & police barracks... etc.

While applying this definition, the following shall be kept in mind:

1. Hotels and Hotel-Apartments are considered institutional housing units and establishments as well.

2. All residents of an institutional housing unit are deemed as one household.

Types of Housing Units

Villa
An independent one-story or multi-story housing unit, having an indoor staircase and normally surrounded with a boundary wall enclosing the building and its surrounding area, which might be a garden.

Apartment
Is a part of a building comprises one room or more, having private utilities such as toilet, bathroom and kitchen, and all are totally locked off by an outer entrance. The apartment is mainly part of at least a two-story building comprising a number of apartments.

Arabic House
Is formed of a number of rooms and utilities lined up or locate adjacent to one another.  In-between them is an open sky-roofed area forming an integral part of the housing units. The Arabic house is normally surrounded by a boundary wall, and is originally constructed to accommodate one household. The pyramid-roofed houses commonly seen in Dhofar Governorate are still considered Arabic type housing units although they are akin to a single-architectural construction lacking an open space area similar to other traditional Arabic house.

Rural House
It comprises one room or more lined up or locate adjacent to one another, and could be totally or partially surrounded by a boundary wall. The rural house is mostly built of mud, wood and sometimes cement. Each part of it could be built with materials different from the materials used in other parts.

Improvised Housing Unit (Areesh/ Sandaqa)
Areesh is a residence made of wood, sticks, hay or palm leaves, whereas the Sandaqa is a makeshift building of wood, mostly inside or adjacent to a construction fence, and meant to accommodate a household or a person guarding the construction or working in it.

Room
Is a residence formed of one room built from mud, cement or stones . A separate building are mostly found on farms.

Tent
Is a mobile housing unit made of canvas or woven of wool and used to accommodate one nomadic household.

Service Establishment
A type of an institutional housing unit primarily prepared to accommodate a group of persons of similar conditions or special situations such as a hospital, prison, orphanage and other similar establishments.

Hotel/ Hotel Apartments
A type of a commercial institutional housing unit designed to temporarily accommodate a group of persons or (households).

Collective Housing
A type of an institutional housing unit prepared to accommodate a big group of persons sharing a common purpose, such as labour camps, nurses' accommodation, student boarding houses, military and police barracks.

Other:
This applies to all types of housing units found occupied at the time of the census, although they were not primarily prepared for accommodation, such as shops and other establishments.

Room

Is the roofed space surrounded by walls and represents a house or part of a house. It is used for dining, sleeping, living or more than one of these purposes.

According to this definition, the rooms designated for service persons, study rooms and for physical training are considered part of the rooms of the housing unit.

However, the following shall not be considered as rooms of a house: Balconies, kitchens, bathrooms, pantries and stores, and rooms used for work or for animals.


Household

A household is a one person or group of persons sharing a housing unit and living arrangements, notwithstanding whether they are related or not, and they spent the census reference night in the same housing units.

Based on the above definition, a household consists of:

1. The members particularly available in a housing unit at the census reference moment.

2. Guests (relatives or not) who spent the census night in the said a housing unit.

3. Domestic-helpers: including drivers, cooks and the like who live in the household's housing unit and spent the night of the census reference moment.

For the purpose of the census, the following household members shall be counted with their original households even if they do not spend the night of the census reference moment with their households:

1. Original members of the household, but were absent on the census reference night, provided that they were available in places inaccessible to enumerators, such as:

1. On night watch at factories, hospitals, airports or such places.

2. Traveling on the road within the Sultanate's borders, or spending the night in living places attached to mosques.

3. Fishermen who spent the census night on board their fishing boats, or those on board ships anchoring in the Sultanate’s territorial waters.

4. Hospitalized inpatients and their companions.

1. Members of the Royal Guard, Royal Oman Police or Armed Forces regardless of their whereabouts at the census reference moment.

2. Omani members temporarily abroad for the purpose of business, tourism, medical treatment, study, or other reasons.

Head of Household

The head of the household is a member of the household who is considered to be its head. This is not necessarily the eldest member or the one who earns the highest income, or a specific sex (male or female). Also he/she should not necessarily be a relative of some or all of the household members, but it is necessary that he/she should be a mature adult and included among its members at the time of enumeration.


Live Birth

This refers to an infant (male or female) born after a pregnancy that lasted more than seven months and that the infant showed a sign of life after birth such as a pulse, cry or movement, even if it died moments after birth.

An infant born after pregnancy less than seven months is not considered as a live birth, even if the born infant showed signs of life, unless it stayed alive thereafter.

 

Establishment

An establishment is a permanent building (or part of it) constructed particularly for some economic activity or is designed for that purpose. The establishment may be any of the following: a plant (or factory), shop, or services office. It may also be a school, a mosque, an institutional housing unit, a government department, a police station, a Wali's Office… etc.

Agriculture possessions were not classified as establishments unless they were livestock breeding farms or poultry or agricultural service providers mainly for the purpose of making profit.  Constructions such as animal pens, vehicle garages, public parks, watch kiosks and public car parks (apart from pay-machine-controlled parking areas) were not classified as establishments unless they were built for the purpose of making profit. However, central public markets for selling fish, vegetables and fruits were classified as one establishment unless vendors operating in these markets were assigned separate and independent areas for each vendor. In this case each area will be considered as an independent establishment.