Introduction

 
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

 

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; water: 0 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)

 

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; contiguous zone: 24 nm; exclusive economic zone: 200 nm; continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

 

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, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, 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

 

Population: 20,727,063 (July 2005 est.)

 

Age structure: 0-14 years: 46.5% (male 4,905,831/female 4,727,177); 15-64 years: 50.8% (male 5,364,711/female 5,172,811); 65 years and over: 2.7% (male 274,166/female 282,367) (2005 est.)

 

Median age: total: 16.54 years; male: 16.53 years; female: 16.56 years (2005 est.)

 

Population growth rate: 3.45% (2005 est.)

 

Birth rate: 43.07 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

 

Death rate: 8.53 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

 

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 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: 0.97 male(s)/female; total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

 

Infant mortality rate: total: 61.5 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 66.26 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 56.49 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

 

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 61.75 years; male: 59.89 years; female: 63.71 years (2005 est.)

 

Total fertility rate: 6.67 children born/woman (2005 est.)

 

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2001 est.)

 

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 12,000 (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

 

Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Yemen; conventional short form: Yemen; local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah; local short form: Al Yaman; former: Yemen Arab Republic [Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen] and People's Democratic Republic of Yemen [Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen]

 

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

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; election results: Ali Abdallah SALIH elected president; percent of vote - Ali Abdallah SALIH 96.3%, Najib Qahtan AL-SHAABI 3.7%

 

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); elections: last held 27 April 2003 (next to be held NA April 2009); 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

 

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

 

Economy

 

Economy - overview: Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, has reported strong growth since 2000, but its economic fortunes depend mostly on oil. 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. Yemen has worked to maintain tight control over spending and to implement additional components of the IMF program, but a 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 - $16.25 billion (2004 est.)

 

GDP - real growth rate: 1.9% (2004 est.)

 

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $800 (2004 est.)

 

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 15.5%; industry: 44.7%; services: 39.7% (2004 est.)

 

Labor force: 5.98 million (2004 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.)

 

Population below poverty line: 45.2% (2003)

 

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): 12.2% (2004 est.)

 

Investment (gross fixed): 16.1% of GDP (2004 est.)

 

Budget: revenues: $4.251 billion; expenditures: $4.568 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)

 

Public debt: 46.4% of GDP (2004 est.)

 

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; commercial ship repair

 

Industrial production growth rate: 3% (2003 est.)

 

Electricity - production: 3.04 billion kWh (2002 est.)

 

Electricity - consumption: 2.827 billion kWh (2002 est.)

 

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)

 

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2002)

 

Oil - production: 417,500 bbl/day (2004 est.)

 

Oil - consumption: 78,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

 

Oil - exports: 370,300 bbl/day (2003)

 

Oil - imports: NA

 

Oil - proved reserves: 4 billion bbl (2004 est.)

 

Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2003 est.)

 

Natural gas - consumption: 0 cu m (2003 est.)

 

Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2003 est.)

 

Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2003 est.)

 

Natural gas - proved reserves: 480 billion cu m (2004)

 

Current account balance: $369.9 million (2004 est.)

Exports: $4.468 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities: crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish

 

Exports - partners: China 33.5%, Thailand 31.4%, Singapore 7.2%, South Korea 6.1% (2004)

 

Imports: $3.734 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

 

Imports - commodities: food and live animals, machinery and equipment, chemicals

 

Imports - partners: UAE 12.8%, Saudi Arabia 10.2%, China 9%, France 7.9%, Kuwait 4.4%, US 4.4%, India 4.3%, Turkey 4.1% (2004)

 

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $5.3 billion (2004 est.)

 

Debt - external: $5.4 billion (2004 est.)

 

Economic aid - recipient: $2.3 billion (2003-07 disbursements) (2003-07 disbursements)

 

Currency (code): Yemeni rial (YER)

 

Exchange rates: Yemeni rials per US dollar - 184.78 (2004), 183.45 (2003), 175.63 (2002), 168.67 (2001), 161.72 (2000)

 

Fiscal year: calendar year

 

Communications

 

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)

 

Television broadcast stations: 7 (plus several low-power repeaters) (1997)

 

Internet country code: .ye

 

Internet hosts: 138 (2004)

 

Internet users: 100,000 (2002)

 

Transportation

 

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: 5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 19,766 GRT/24,794 DWT; by type: cargo 1, chemical tanker 1, petroleum tanker 2, roll on/roll off 1; registered in other countries: 2 (2005)

 

Airports: 44 (2004 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.)

 

Transnational Issues

 

Disputes - international: Yemen protests Eritrea fishing around the Hanish Islands awarded to Yemen by the ICJ in 1999; despite resistance from nomadic groups, the demarcation of the Saudi Arabia-Yemen boundary established under the 2000 Jeddah Treaty is almost complete; 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).