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 Governorate. 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.