Madinat Al Sultan Qaboos
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Madinat Al Sultan Qaboos (Arabic: مدينة السلطان قابوس) is a suburb of Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Oman. The Name "Madinat Al Sultan Qaboos" is an Arabic phrase that means "City of Sultan Qaboos." Sultan Qaboos is the incumbent monarchist ruler of the Sultanate of Oman. Madinat Al Sultan Qaboos (or Madinat Qaboos and MQ for short) is a predominantly residential area located in the center of Muscat Governate. Most of the land used to belong to W.J. Towell, a prominent contracting firm in the country, and in the late 1970s they sold plots of land for residential development. It was in this period that the area was given the name Madinat Al Sultan Qaboos.
Nearby suburbs include Al-Khuwair, Shatti Al Qurum and Qurum 16. It is situated less than one kilometer from the sea and is well connected to the rest of the city by the arterial highway, Sultan Qaboos Street that separates the suburb from Shatti Al Qurum and the sea. Until the growth of Shatti Al Qurum in the 1990s, Madinat Qaboos was the most expensive residential locale in Muscat. It is also a popular choice of residence for expatriate workers in Muscat, particularly Westerners.
Madinat Qaboos contains one of the oldest shopping centres in the city and it is currently undergoing a period of expansion following the demolition of Matrah Cold Stores supermarket. While the expansion plans include a cinema, there are already several shops and restaurants located in the shopping centre including KFC, Starbucks, Pavo Real (a Mexican restaurant famed for its Karaoke Monday Nights) and Kargeens (a popular open-air sheesha cafe).