Map of Yemen | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

top of page


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.


top of page


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 reference: Middle East

Area
Total: 527,970 km²
Land: 527,970 km²
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)
Water: 0 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming

Land boundaries
Total: 1,746 km
Border countries: (2) Oman 288 km; , Saudi Arabia 1,458 km

Coastline: 1906 km

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 24 NM
Territorial sea: 12 NM
Continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin
Exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

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
Extremes 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: 2.75%
Permanent crops: 0.21%
Other: 97.04% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 4,900 km² (1998 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: sandstorms and dust storms in summer

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


top of page


Population: 18,701,257 (July 2002 est.)
Growth rate: 3.4% (2002 est.)
Below poverty line: NA

Nationality
Noun: Yemeni
Adjective: Yemeni

Ethnic groups: predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab South Asians Europeans

Languages: Arabic

Religions: Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi'a) small numbers of Jewish Christian and Hindu

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 47% (male 4,468,928; female 4,317,648)
15-64 years: 50.1% (male 4,783,769; female 4,587,309)
65 years and over: 2.9% (male 273,282; female 270,321) (2002 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 3.4% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 43.3 births/1000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 9.31 deaths/1000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (2002 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: very limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
International agreements signed but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male/female
65 years and over: 1.01 male/female
Total population: 1.04 male/female (2002 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 66.78 deaths/1000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 60.59 years
Female: 62.46 years (2002 est.)
Male: 58.81 years

Total fertility rate: 6.9 children born/woman (2002 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.01% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: NA

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 38%
Male: 53%
Female: 26% (1990 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


top of page


Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Yemen
Conventional short form: Yemen
Local short form: Al Yaman
Local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah

Government type: republic

Capital: Sanaa

Administrative divisions
Note: there may be one additional governorate of the capital city of Sanaa

Dependent areas

Independence: 22 May 1990 Republic of Yemen was 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]; 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: 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

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Field Marshall 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
Election results: Ali Abdallah SALIH elected president; percent of vote - Ali Abdallah SALIH 96.3%, Najib Qahtan AL-SHAABI 3.7%
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

Legislative branch
Election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - GPC 189, Islah 52, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Baath Party 2, independents 54, election pending 1; seats by party as of January 2002: GPC 223, Islah 64, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Baath Party 2, YSP 2, independents 7
Elections: last held 27 April 1997 (next to be held 27 April 2003)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders
Note: President SALIH's General People's Congress or GPC won a landslide victory in the April 1997 legislative election and no longer governs in coalition with Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR's Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah - the two parties had been in coalition since the end of the civil war in 1994; the YSP, a loyal opposition party, boycotted the April 1997 legislative election, but announced that it would participate in Yemen's first local elections which were held in February 2001; these local elections aim to decentralize political power and are a key element of the government's political reform program

International organization participation: ACC AFESD AL AMF CAEU CCC ESCWA FAO G-77 IAEA IBRD ICAO ICFTU ICRM IDA IDB IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Interpol IOC IOM ITU NAM OAS (observer) OIC OPCW UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO (observer)

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Abd al-Wahhab Abdallah al-HAJRI
In the us fax: [1] (202) 337-2017
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 965-4,760
In the us chancery: Suite 705, 2,600 Virginia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,037
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Edmund J. HULL
From the us embassy: Dhahar Himyar Zone, Sheraton Hotel District, Sanaa
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 22,347, Sanaa
From the us telephone: [967] (1) 303-161
From the us fax: [967] (1) 303-182

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

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


top of page


Economy overview: Yemen one of the poorest countries in the Arab world reported strong growth in the mid-1990s with the onset of oil production but has been harmed by periodic declines in oil prices. 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. Aided by higher oil prices in 1999-2000 Yemen worked to maintain tight control over spending and implement additional components of the IMF program. A high population growth rate and internal political dissension complicate the government's task.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 4% (2001 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $820 (2001 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 17%
Industry: 40%
Services: 43% (1998)

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

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Labor force: NA
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: 30% (1995 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: NA

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 3%
Highest 10: 26% (1998) (1998)

Distribution of family income gini index: 33 (1998)

Budget
Revenues: $3 billion
Expenditures: $3.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 10% (2001 est.)

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $3.9 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.)
Commodities: crude oil coffee dried and salted fish
Partners: Thailand 34% China 26% South Korea 14% Singapore 9% Japan 3% Saudi Arabia 3% (1999)

Imports: $3 billion f.o.b. (2001 est.)
Commodities: food and live animals machinery and equipment
Partners: Saudi Arabia 10% UAE 8% France 7% US 7% Italy 6% (1999)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $4.7 billion (2001)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Yemeni rials per US dollar - 171.860 (December 2001) 168.678 (2001) 161.718 (2000) 155.718 (1999) 135.882 (1998) 129.281 (1997)


top of page


Electricity
Production: 3.2 billion kWh (2000)
Production by source fossil fuel: 100%
Production by source hydro: 0%
Production by source other: 0% (2000)
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Consumption: 2.976 billion kWh (2000)
Exports: 0 kWh (2000)
Imports: 0 kWh (2000)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


top of page


Telephones
Main lines in use: 291,359 (1999)
Mobile cellular: 32,042 (2000)

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: 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

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .ye
Service providers isps: 1 (2000)
Users: 17,000 (2002)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


top of page


Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $482.5 million (FY01)
Percent of gdp: 5.2% (FY01)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


top of page


National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 49 (2001)
With paved runways total: 16
With paved runways over 3047 m: 3
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 9
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 2
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1
With paved runways under 914 m: 1 (2002)
With unpaved runways total: 28
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 2
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 7
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 4
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 11
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 4 (2002)

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil 644 km; petroleum products 32 km

Railways: 0 km

Roadways

Waterways: none

Merchant marine
Total: 4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 15,002 GRT/23,752 DWT
Ships by type: cargo 1, petroleum tanker 3
Note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Hong Kong 2 (2002 est.)

Ports and terminals


top of page


Disputes international: demarcation of delimited boundary with Saudi Arabia involves nomadic tribal affiliations; Yemen has asserted traditional fishing rights to islands ceded to Eritrea in ICJ ruling

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs