Map references: Middle East
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 nm 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%