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Nizwa vs Samarkand

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Nizwa edges it, 52 to 49, winning 4 of the 9 factors. Nizwa is stronger on quality of life, safety; Samarkand on nothing outright. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Cost of living: 4.7 of 52 points (scores 42/100)Safety: 9.6 of 52 points (scores 87/100)Healthcare: 7.3 of 52 points (scores 66/100)Internet: 6.4 of 52 points (scores 57/100)Visa ease: 3.8 of 52 points (scores 34/100)Getting there & around: 5.4 of 52 points (scores 49/100)Climate: 4.6 of 52 points (scores 42/100)Air quality: 2.9 of 52 points (scores 26/100)Quality of life: 7.1 of 52 points (scores 64/100)52
Nizwa
out of 100

Oman's old capital of forts and Friday goat markets under Jebel Akhdar

Full Nizwa profile →Where to stay in Nizwa →
Safety: 8.8 of 49 points (scores 70/100)Healthcare: 8.6 of 49 points (scores 69/100)Internet: 7.2 of 49 points (scores 58/100)Visa ease: 4.1 of 49 points (scores 33/100)Getting there & around: 6.0 of 49 points (scores 48/100)Climate: 5.2 of 49 points (scores 42/100)Air quality: 4.0 of 49 points (scores 32/100)Quality of life: 5.1 of 49 points (scores 41/100)49
Samarkand
out of 100

Timurid Silk Road city with the Registan at its heart

Full Samarkand profile →Where to stay in Samarkand →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricNizwaSamarkand
Cost of living42no data
Safety87 ✓70
Healthcare6669 ✓
Internet5758 ✓
Visa ease34 ✓33
Getting there & around49 ✓48
Climate4242
Air quality2632 ✓
Quality of life64 ✓41

Cost

MetricNizwaSamarkand
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one city$1,588no data
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricNizwaSamarkand
Homicides per 100k0.14 ✓1.4
Political stability (0–100)76 ✓67.4
UHC service coverage (0–100)7379 ✓
Life expectancy72.5 yrs ✓72.2 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricNizwaSamarkand
Download18.2 Mbps ✓16.3 Mbps
Upload10 Mbps18.5 Mbps ✓

Visa

MetricNizwaSamarkand
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passportvisa on arrival ✓e-visa required
Entry, EU passportvisa on arrival ✓30 days
Entry, UK passportvisa on arrival ✓30 days

Getting there and around

MetricNizwaSamarkand
Non-stop airport destinations84 ✓28
Walkability (1–5, editorial)23 ✓
Transit (1–5, editorial)12 ✓

Climate and air

MetricNizwaSamarkand
Comfortable months per year55
Annual mean PM2.538.2 µg/m³35.8 µg/m³ ✓

✓ marks the better value in each row; ties and missing data are left unmarked.

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Nizwa or Samarkand?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Nizwa or Samarkand safer?
Nizwa scores higher on safety (87 vs 70), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Nizwa or Samarkand?
Nizwa: a measured median of 18.2 Mbps versus 16.3 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

More comparisons

Sources: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows); 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level); Digital Nomad Visas 2026; Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100); Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year); UHC service coverage index; Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes; M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024); Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables); NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means); SatPM2.5 satellite-derived annual PM2.5 (V6.GL.02.04); Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023); EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band); Walkability and transit ratings (editorial); Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations); WhereNext city cost estimates 2026 (city pages); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.10.7. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.