The Dhofar (Arabic ظفار Ẓufār) region lies in Southern Oman, on the eastern border with Yemen. Its mountainous area covers 99,300 km2 (38,300 sq mi) and has a population of 215,960 as of the 2003 census. The largest town in the region is Salalah. Historically, it was the chief source of frankincense in the world. However, its frankincense is now mostly used locally. (Somalia is now the leading exporter.)
Salalah (Arabic: صلالة; transliterated Ṣalālah), is the capital and seat of the governor or Wali of the southern Omani province of Dhofar. The population of Salalah was 197,169 in 2009.
Salalah is the second largest city in the Sultanate of Oman, and the largest city in the Dhofar Provence. The coastal city of Salalah is a traditional stronghold and birthplace of the Sultan, Qaboos bin Said. The Sultan traditionally lives in Salalah rather than in Muscat, the capital and largest city in Oman; Qaboos has bucked this trend, and has lived in Muscat since he ascended to the throne in 1970. He does, however, visit Salalah fairly regularly to meet with influential tribal and local leaders; his last visit was in 2006 and before that he visited in 2002. In mid-2009 the massive Sultan Qaboos Mosque was opened in Salalah, 39 years after he had taken the throne.
In 2010, during the 40th anniversary of Sultan Qaboos' taking the throne, he decided to spend his time in Salalah. The 40th anniversary celebrations consisted of a massive parade [1][2][3][4][5] from the Sultan Qaboos Mosque until his palace in Al-Haffa. The parade lasted several hours and had an estimated 100,000 attenders.