@World, Communications
Railroads:
239,430 km of narrow gauge track; 710,754 km of standard gauge track;
251,153 km of broad gauge track; includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km
of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in
the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and only
4,160 km in North America; fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr
attained by France's SNCF TGV-Atlantique line
Highways:
total:
NA
paved:
NA
unpaved:
NA
Ports:
Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille,
New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama
Merchant marine:
23,943 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 397,225,000 GRT/652,025,000
DWT, bulk carrier 5,473, freighter 12,581, passenger-cargo 347, tanker
5,542 (all data as of January 1992)
@World, Defense Forces
Branches:
ground, maritime, and air forces at all levels of technology
Defense expenditures:
somewhat less than $1.0 trillion, 3% of total world output; decline of
5%-10% (1993 est.)
@Yemen, Geography
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 sq km
land area:
527,970 sq km
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; a treaty with Oman
defining 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 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues:
scarcity of natural freshwater resources (shortages of potable water);
overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
natural hazards:
subject to sandstorms and dust storms in summer
international agreements:
party to - Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea; signed, but not
ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change
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:
11,105,202 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
3.34% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
50.72 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
14.94 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
-2.44 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
112.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
51.47 years
male:
50.34 years
female:
52.65 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
7.2 children born/woman (1994 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 est.)
total population:
38%
male:
53%
female:
26%
Labor force:
no reliable estimates exist, most people are employed in agriculture
and herding or as expatriate laborers; services, construction,
industry, and commerce account for less than half of the labor force
@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, Hadramaut,
Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Marib, Sadah, Sana, Shabwah, Taizz
note:
there may be a new capital district of Sana
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)
National holiday:
Proclamation of the Republic, 22 May (1990)
Constitution:
16 May 1991
Legal system:
based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local
customary law; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state and head of government:
President Ali Abdallah SALIH (since 22 May 1990, the former president
of North Yemen); note - Sanaa dismissed Vice President Ali Salim
al-BIDH, Prime Minister Haydar Abu Bakr al-ATTAS (the former
president of South Yemen), and 14 other southern officials following
the outbreak of civil war on 4 May 1994
five-member Presidential Council:
president, vice president, two members from General People's Congress
party, two members from Yemeni Socialist Party, and one member from
Yemeni Grouping for Reform, or Islaah party
cabinet:
Council of Ministers
Legislative branch:
unicameral
House of Representatives:
elections last held 27 April 1993 (next to be held NA); results -
percent of vote NA; seats - (301 total) GPC 124, YSP 55, Islaah 61,
Ba'thist parties 7, Nasserist parties 4, Hizb al-Haqq 2, Independents
47, election nullified 1
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders:
Ba'thist parties; General People's Congress (GPC), Ali Abdallah SALIH;
Hizb al Haqq, Ibrahim al-WAZIR, Sheikh Ahmad ibn Ali SHAMI (Secretary
General); Nasserist parties; Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP), Ali Salim
al-BIDH; Yemeni Grouping for Reform or Islaah, Shaykh Abdallah bin
Husayn al-AHMAR
Other political or pressure groups:
NA
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 705, 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037
telephone:
(202) 965-4760 or 4761
FAX:
(202) 337-2017
consulate general(s):
Detroit
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] (1) 238-842 through 238-852
FAX:
[967] (1) 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