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Introduction | Yemen

Background: | North Yemen became independent of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. The British, who had set up a protectorate area around the southern port of Aden in the 19th century, withdrew in 1967 from what became South Yemen. Three years later, the southern government adopted a Marxist orientation. The massive exodus of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis from the south to the north contributed to two decades of hostility between the states. The two countries were formally unified as the Republic of Yemen in 1990. A southern secessionist movement in 1994 was quickly subdued. In 2000, Saudi Arabia and Yemen agreed to a delimitation of their border.

Geography | Yemen

Location: | Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia
Geographic coordinates: | 15 00 N, 48 00 E
Map references: | Middle East
Area: | total: 527,970 sq km land: 527,970 sq km note: includes Perim, Socotra, the former Yemen Arab Republic (YAR or North Yemen), and the former People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY or South Yemen) water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative: | slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming
Land boundaries: | total: 1,746 km border countries: Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km
Coastline: | 1,906 km
Maritime claims: | territorial sea: 12 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate: | mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east
Terrain: | narrow coastal plain backed by flat-topped hills and rugged mountains; dissected upland desert plains in center slope into the desert interior of the Arabian Peninsula
Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,760 m
Natural resources: | petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west
Land use: | arable land: 2.78% permanent crops: 0.24% other: 96.98% (2001)
Irrigated land: | 4,900 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: | sandstorms and dust storms in summer
Environment - current issues: | very limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Environment - international agreements: | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: | strategic location on Bab el Mandeb, the strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, one of world's most active shipping lanes

People | Yemen

Population: | 20,024,867 (July 2004 est.)
Age structure: | 0-14 years: 46.6% (male 4,751,776; female 4,582,277) 15-64 years: 50.6% (male 5,166,437; female 4,973,543) 65 years and over: 2.8% (male 273,199; female 277,635) (2004 est.)
Median age: | total: 16.5 years male: 16.5 years female: 16.5 years (2004 est.)
Population growth rate: | 3.44% (2004 est.)
Birth rate: | 43.16 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Death rate: | 8.78 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Net migration rate: | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.98 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2004 est.)
Infant mortality rate: | total: 63.26 deaths/1,000 live births female: 58.15 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) male: 68.12 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 61.36 years male: 59.53 years female: 63.29 years (2004 est.)
Total fertility rate: | 6.75 children born/woman (2004 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.1% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 9,900 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: | NA
Nationality: | noun: Yemeni(s) adjective: Yemeni
Ethnic groups: | predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans
Religions: | Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi'a), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu
Languages: | Arabic
Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 50.2% male: 70.5% female: 30% (2003 est.)

Government | Yemen

Country name: | conventional long form: Republic of Yemen conventional short form: Yemen local short form: Al Yaman local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah
Government type: | republic
Capital: | Sanaa
Administrative divisions: | 19 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Abyan, 'Adan, Ad Dali', Al Bayda', Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit, 'Amran, Dhamar, Hadramawt, Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Ma'rib, Sa'dah, San'a', Shabwah, Ta'izz note: for electoral and administrative purposes, the capital city of Sanaa is treated as an additional governorate
Independence: | 22 May 1990 (Republic of Yemen established with the merger of the Yemen Arab Republic [Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen] and the Marxist-dominated People's Democratic Republic of Yemen [Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen]); note - previously North Yemen had become independent in November of 1918 (from the Ottoman Empire) and South Yemen had become independent on 30 November 1967 (from the UK)
National holiday: | Unification Day, 22 May (1990)
Constitution: | 16 May 1991; amended 29 September 1994 and February 2001
Legal system: | based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local tribal customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: | chief of state: President Ali Abdallah SALIH (since 22 May 1990, the former president of North Yemen, assumed office upon the merger of North and South Yemen); Vice President Maj. Gen. Abd al-Rab Mansur al-HADI (since 3 October 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Abd al-Qadir BA JAMAL (since 4 April 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister election results: Ali Abdallah SALIH elected president; percent of vote - Ali Abdallah SALIH 96.3%, Najib Qahtan AL-SHAABI 3.7% elections: president elected by direct, popular vote for a seven-year term (recently extended from a five-year term by constitutional amendment); election last held 23 September 1999 (next to be held NA 2006); vice president appointed by the president; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president
Legislative branch: | a new constitutional amendment ratified on 20 February 2001 created a bicameral legislature consisting of a Shura Council (111 seats; members appointed by the president) and a House of Representatives (301 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - GPC 228, Islah 47, YSP 7, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Ba'th Party 2, independents 14 elections: last held 27 April 2003 (next to be held NA April 2009)
Judicial branch: | Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders: | there are more than 12 political parties active in Yemen, some of the more prominent are: General People's Congress or GPC [President Ali Abdallah SALIH]; Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah [Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR]; National Arab Socialist Ba'th Party [Dr. Qassim SALAAM]; Nasserite Unionist Party [Abdel Malik al-MAKHLAFI]; Yemeni Socialist Party or YSP [Ali Salih MUQBIL] note: President SALIH's General People's Congress or GPC won a landslide victory in the April 1997 legislative election and no longer governs in coalition with Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR's Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah - the two parties had been in coalition since the end of the civil war in 1994; the YSP, a loyal opposition party, represents the remnants of the former South Yemeni leadership; leaders of the 1994 secessionist movement have been pardoned by President SALIH and some are now returning to Yemen from exile
Political pressure groups and leaders: | NA
International organization participation: | AFESD, AMF, CAEU, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, ONUB, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNOCI, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Abd al-Wahhab Abdallah al-HAJRI FAX: [1] (202) 337-2017 telephone: [1] (202) 965-4760 chancery: Suite 705, 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037
Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas C. KRAJESKI embassy: Saawan Street, Sanaa mailing address: P. O. Box 22347, Sanaa telephone: [967] (1) 303-151 through 159 FAX: [967] (1) 303-160/161/162/164/165
Flag description: | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black; similar to the flag of Syria, which has two green stars and of Iraq which has three green stars (plus an Arabic inscription) in a horizontal line centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Egypt, which has a heraldic eagle centered in the white band

Economy | Yemen

Economy - overview: | Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, reported strong growth in the mid-1990s with the onset of oil production. It has been harmed by periodic declines in oil prices, but now benefits from current high prices. Yemen has embarked on an IMF-supported structural adjustment program designed to modernize and streamline the economy, which has led to substantial foreign debt relief and restructuring. International donors, meeting in Paris in October 2002, agreed on a further $2.3 billion economic support package. Yemen has worked to maintain tight control over spending and to implement additional components of the IMF program. A markedly high population growth rate and internal political dissension complicate the government's task. Plans include a diversification of the economy, encouragement of tourism, and more efficient use of scarce water resources.
GDP: | purchasing power parity - $15.09 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: | 2.8% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita: | purchasing power parity - $800 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 15.2% industry: 45% services: 39.7% (2003)
Investment (gross fixed): | 29.1% of GDP (2003)
Population below poverty line: | 15.7% (2001)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 3% highest 10%: 25.9% (2003)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: | 33.4 (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 10.8% (2003 est.)
Labor force: | 5.79 million (2003 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: | most people are employed in agriculture and herding; services, construction, industry, and commerce account for less than one-fourth of the labor force
Unemployment rate: | 35% (2003 est.)
Budget: | revenues: $3.729 billion expenditures: $4.107 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.)
Public debt: | 39.5% of GDP (2003)
Agriculture - products: | grain, fruits, vegetables, pulses, qat (mildly narcotic shrub), coffee, cotton; dairy products, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), poultry; fish
Industries: | crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; small aluminum products factory; cement
Industrial production growth rate: | 3% (2003 est.)
Electricity - production: | 3.01 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - consumption: | 2.8 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports: | 0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports: | 0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production: | 438,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: | 74,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: | NA (2001)
Oil - imports: | NA (2001)
Oil - proved reserves: | 3.2 billion bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production: | 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: | 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports: | 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports: | 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: | 480 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance: | $157 million (2003)
Exports: | $3.92 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities: | crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish
Exports - partners: | China 31.7%, Thailand 20.3%, India 15.6%, South Korea 4.9%, Malaysia 4.3% (2003)
Imports: | $3.042 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities: | food and live animals, machinery and equipment, chemicals
Imports - partners: | UAE 12.9%, Saudi Arabia 10.2%, China 8.9%, US 4.9%, Kuwait 4.4%, France 4.1% (2003)
Reserves of foreign exchange & gold: | $5.009 billion (2003)
Debt - external: | $6.044 billion (2003)
Economic aid - recipient: | $2.3 billion (2003-07 disbursements)
Currency: | Yemeni rial (YER)
Currency code: | YER
Exchange rates: | Yemeni rials per US dollar - NA (2003), 175.625 (2002), 168.672 (2001), 161.718 (2000), 155.718 (1999)
Fiscal year: | calendar year

Communications | Yemen

Telephones - main lines in use: | 542,200 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular: | 411,100 (2002)
Telephone system: | general assessment: since unification in 1990, efforts have been made to create a national telecommunications network domestic: the national network consists of microwave radio relay, cable, tropospheric scatter, and GSM cellular mobile telephone systems international: country code - 967; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 2 Arabsat; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia and Djibouti
Radio broadcast stations: | AM 6, FM 1, shortwave 2 (1998)
Radios: | 1.05 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: | 7 (plus several low-power repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: | 470,000 (1997)
Internet country code: | .ye
Internet hosts: | 138 (2004)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 1 (2000)
Internet users: | 100,000 (2002)

Transportation | Yemen

Highways: | total: 67,000 km paved: 7,705 km unpaved: 59,295 km (1999 est.)
Pipelines: | gas 88 km; oil 1,174 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: | Aden, Al Hudaydah, Al Mukalla, As Salif, Ras Issa, Mocha, Nishtun
Merchant marine: | total: 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 19,766 GRT/24,794 DWT by type: cargo 1, livestock carrier 1, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 1 foreign-owned: Hong Kong 2, Lebanon 1 registered in other countries: 5 (2004 est.)
Airports: | 44 (2003 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: | total: 16 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 28 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 4 (2004 est.)

Military | Yemen

Military branches: | Army (including Special Forces), Naval Forces and Coastal Defenses (including Marines), Air Force (including Air Defense Forces), Republican Guard
Military manpower - military age and obligation: | 18 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 2 years (2004)
Military manpower - availability: | males age 15-49: 4,617,064 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: | males age 15-49: 2,590,720 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: | males: 255,426 (2004 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: | $885.6 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 7.9% (2003)
Military - note: | establishment of a Coast Guard, scheduled for May 2001, has been delayed

Transnational Issues | Yemen

Disputes - international: | Yemen protests Eritrea fishing around the Hanish Islands awarded to Yemen by the ICJ in 1999; nomadic groups in border region with Saudi Arabia resist demarcation of boundary in accordance wih 2000 Jeddah Treaty; Yemen protests Saudi erection of a concrete-filled pipe as a security barrier in 2004 to stem illegal cross-border activities in sections of the boundary
Refugees and internally displaced persons: | refugees (country of origin): 60,901 (Somalia) (2004)

This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005