Location:
Middle East, along the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, south of Saudi Arabia
Map references:
Africa, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
527,970 km2
land area:
527,970 km2
comparative area:
slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming
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)
Land boundaries:
total 1,746 km, Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km
Coastline:
1,906 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone:
18 nm in the North
24 nm in the South
continental shelf:
200 m depth in the North
200 nm in the South or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
territorial sea:
12 nm
International disputes:
undefined section of boundary with Saudi Arabia; Administrative Line with
Oman; a treaty with Oman to settle the Yemeni-Omani boundary was ratified in
December 1992
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
Natural resources:
petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead,
nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west
Land use:
arable land:
6%
permanent crops:
0%
meadows and pastures:
30%
forest and woodland:
7%
other:
57%
Irrigated land:
3,100 km2 (1989 est.)
*Yemen, Geography
Environment:
subject to sand and dust storms in summer; scarcity of natural freshwater
resources; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Note:
controls Bab el Mandeb, the strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden,
one of world's most active shipping lanes
*Yemen, People
Population:
10,742,395 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
3.31% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
51 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
15.37 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
-2.56 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
115.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
50.94 years
male:
49.83 years
female:
52.11 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate: 7.27 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Yemeni(s)
adjective:
Yemeni
Ethnic divisions:
predominantly Arab; Afro-Arab concentrations in coastal locations; South
Asians in southern regions; small European communities in major metropolitan
areas; 60,000 (est.) Somali refugees encamped near Aden
Religions:
Muslim (including Sha'fi, Sunni, and Zaydi Shi'a), Jewish, Christian, Hindu
Languages:
Arabic
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
total population:
38%
male:
53%
female:
26%
Labor force:
North:
NA
by occupation:
agriculture and herding 70%, expatriate laborers 30% (est.)
South:
477,000
by occupation:
agriculture 45.2%, services 21.2%, construction 13.4%, industry 10.6%,
commerce and other 9.6% (1983)
*Yemen, Government
Names:
conventional long form:
Republic of Yemen
conventional short form:
Yemen
local long form:
Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah
local short form:
Al Yaman
Digraph:
YM
Type:
republic
Capital:
Sanaa
Administrative divisions:
17 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Abyan, 'Adan, Al Bayda',
Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit, Dhamar, Hadramawt, Hajjah, Ibb,
Lahij, Ma'rib, Sa'dah, San'a', Shabwah, Ta'izz
note:
there may be a new capital district of San'a'
Independence:
22 May 1990 Republic of Yemen was established on 22 May 1990 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}; previously North Yemen had become independent on NA November
1918 (from the Ottoman Empire) and South Yemen had become independent on 30
November 1967 (from the UK)
Constitution:
16 April 1991
Legal system:
based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local customary
law; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday:
Proclamation of the Republic, 22 May (1990)
Political parties and leaders:
General People's Congress, 'Ali 'Abdallah SALIH; Yemeni Socialist Party
(YSP; formerly South Yemen's ruling party - a coalition of National Front,
Ba'th, and Communist Parties), Ali Salim al-BIDH; Yemen Grouping for Reform
or Islaah, Abdallah Husayn AHMAR
Other political or pressure groups:
conservative tribal groups; Muslim Brotherhood; Islamist parties; pro-Iraqi
Ba'thists; Nasirists
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Elections:
House of Representatives:
last held NA (next to be held 27 April 1993); results - percent of vote NA;
seats - (301); number of seats by party NA; note - the 301 members of the
new House of Representatives come from North Yemen's Consultative Assembly
(159 members), South Yemen's Supreme People's Council (111 members), and
appointments by the New Presidential Council (31 members)
Executive branch:
five-member Presidential Council (president, vice president, two members
from northern Yemen and one member from southern Yemen), prime minister
Legislative branch:
unicameral House of Representatives
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court
*Yemen, Government
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government:
President 'Ali 'Abdallah SALIH (since 22 May 1990, the former president of
North Yemen); Vice President Ali Salim al-BIDH (since 22 May 1990);
Presidential Council Member Salim Salih MUHAMMED; Presidential Council
Member Kadi Abdul-Karim al-ARASHI; Presidential Council Member Abdul-Aziz
ABDUL-GHANI; Prime Minister Haydar Abu Bakr al-'ATTAS (since 22 May 1990,
the former president of South Yemen)
Member of:
ACC, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD,
IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OIC, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Muhsin Ahmad al-AYNI
chancery:
Suite 840, 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037
telephone:
(202) 965-4760 or 4761
consulate general:
Detroit
consulate:
San Francisco
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Arthur H. HUGHES
embassy:
Dhahr Himyar Zone, Sheraton Hotel District, Sanaa
mailing address:
P. O. Box 22347 Sanaa or Sanaa, Department of State, Washington, DC
20521-6330
telephone:
[967] (2) 238-842 through 238-852
FAX:
[967] (2) 251-563
Flag:
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 symbolic eagle
centered in the white band
*Yemen, Economy