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Guide to Yemen

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
Area - comparative: slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 1,906 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea
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
Natural resources: petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west
Land use: arable land
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
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
Median age: total
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
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
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
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

Government

Country name: conventional long form
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
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
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
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders: there are more than 12 political parties active in Yemen, some of the more prominent are
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, WTO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
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

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
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%
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
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 - production by source: fossil fuel
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: Thailand 33.8%, China 30.3%, Singapore 7.8% (2004)
Imports: $3.734 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: food and live animals, machinery and equipment, chemicals
Imports - partners: UAE 12.2%, Saudi Arabia 9.7%, China 8.8%, France 7.3%, India 4.4%, US 4.4%, Kuwait 4.2% (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)
Currency code: 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
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

Highways: total
Pipelines: gas 88 km; oil 1,174 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Aden, Nishtun
Merchant marine: total
Airports: 44 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total

Military

Military branches: Army (includes Special Forces), Naval Forces and Coastal Defenses (includes Marines), Air Force (includes Air Defense Forces), Republican Guard (2002)
Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 2 years (2004)
Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $885.5 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 7.8% (2003)
Military - note: a Coast Guard was established in 2002

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)
Last updated: 20 October, 2005


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