Map of Yemen | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: The Kingdom of Yemen (colloquially known as North Yemen) became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1918 and in 1962 became the Yemen Arab Republic. 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 the People's Republic of Southern Yemen (colloquially known as South Yemen). Three years later, the southern government adopted a Marxist orientation and changed the country's name to the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. 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 and brief civil war in 1994 was quickly subdued. In 2000, Saudi Arabia and Yemen agreed to delineate their border. Fighting in the northwest between the government and the Houthis, a Zaydi Shia Muslim minority, continued intermittently from 2004 to 2010, and then again from 2014-present. The southern secessionist movement was revitalized in 2007.


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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: 527,968 km²
Land: 527,968 km²
Water: 0 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)
Comparative: almost four times the size of Alabama; slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming

Land boundaries
Total: 1,601 km
Border countries: (2) Oman 294 km; Saudi Arabia 1,307 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
Highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,666 m
Lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m
Mean elevation: 999 m

Natural resources: petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble; small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper; fertile soil in west

Land use
Agricultural land: 44.5% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land arable land: 2.2% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent crops: 0.6% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent pasture: 41.7% (2018 est.)
Forest: 1% (2018 est.)
Other: 54.5% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land: 6,800 km² (2012)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal
Municipal: 270 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
Industrial: 70 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
Agricultural: 3.24 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources: 2.1 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

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


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Population
Distribution: the vast majority of the population is found in the Asir Mountains (part of the larger Sarawat Mountain system), located in the far western region of the country: 31,565,602 (2023 est.)
Growth rate: 1.83% (2023 est.)
Below poverty line: 48.6% (2014 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Yemeni(s)
Adjective: Yemeni

Ethnic groups: predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asian, European

Languages: Arabic (official); note - a distinct Socotri language is widely used on Socotra Island and Archipelago; Mahri is still fairly widely spoken in eastern Yemen
Major-language samples:

Religions: Muslim 99.1% (official; virtually all are citizens, an estimated 65% are Sunni and 35% are Shia), other 0.9% (includes Jewish, Baha'i, Hindu, and Christian; many are refugees or temporary foreign residents) (2020 est.)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 35.14% (male 5,641,548/female 5,449,491)
15-64 years: 61.52% (male 9,829,725/female 9,590,956)
65 years and over: 3.34% (2023 est.) (male 464,548/female 589,334)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 71.7
Youth dependency ratio: 69.4
Elderly dependency ratio: 4.7
Potential support ratio: 19.9 (2021 est.)

Median age
Total: 21.6 years (2023 est.)
Male: 21.5 years
Female: 21.8 years

Population growth rate: 1.83% (2023 est.)

Birth rate: 24.1 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Death rate: 5.5 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Population distribution: the vast majority of the population is found in the Asir Mountains (part of the larger Sarawat Mountain system), located in the far western region of the country

Urbanization
Urban population: 39.8% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization: 3.71% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: 3.292 million SANAA (capital), 1.080 million Aden, 941,000 Taiz, 772,000 Ibb (2023)

Environment
Current issues: limited natural freshwater resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
International agreements signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban

Air pollutants
Particulate matter emissions: 41.61 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions: 10.61 megatons (2016 est.)
Methane emissions: 8.03 megatons (2020 est.)

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 20.8 years (2013 est.)
Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49

Maternal mortality ratio: 183 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 45.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
Male: 50.9 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 40 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 67.8 years (2023 est.)
Male: 65.5 years
Female: 70.3 years

Total fertility rate: 2.91 children born/woman (2023 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 33.5% (2013)

Drinking water source
Improved urban: 98.5% of population
Improved rural: 84.2% of population
Improved total: 99.6% of population
Unimproved urban: 1.5% of population
Unimproved rural: 15.8% of population
Unimproved total: 10.4% of population (2020 est.)

Current health expenditure: 4.3% of GDP (2015)

Physicians density: 0.53 physicians/1,000 population (2014)

Hospital bed density: 0.7 beds/1,000 population (2017)

Sanitation facility access
Improved urban:
Unimproved urban:

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases
Degree of risk: high (2023)
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
Vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria
Water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
Note: on 31 August 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Asia; Yemen is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, the CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 17.1% (2016)

Alcohol consumption
Per capita total: 0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita beer: 0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita wine: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita spirits: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

Tobacco use
Total: 20.3% (2020 est.)
Male: 32.5% (2020 est.)
Female: 8.1% (2020 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 39.9% (2013)

Education expenditures: NA

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 70.1%
Male: 85.1%
Female: 55% (2015)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment
Rate ages 15 24 total: 25.5% (2021 est.)
Rate ages 15 24 male: 24.3%
Rate ages 15 24 female: 36.3%


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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]
Etymology: name derivation remains unclear but may come from the Arab term "yumn" (happiness) and be related to the region's classical name "Arabia Felix" (Fertile or Happy Arabia); the Romans referred to the rest of the peninsula as "Arabia Deserta" (Deserted Arabia)

Government type: in transition

Capital
Name: Sanaa
Geographic coordinates: 15 21 N, 44 12 E
Time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Etymology: the name is reputed to mean "well-fortified" in Sabaean, the South Arabian language that went extinct in Yemen in the 6th century A.D.

Administrative divisions: 22 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Abyan, 'Adan (Aden), Ad Dali', Al Bayda', Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit, Amanat al 'Asimah (Sanaa City), 'Amran, Arkhabil Suqutra (Socotra Archipelago), Dhamar, Hadramawt, Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Ma'rib, Raymah, Sa'dah, San'a' (Sanaa), Shabwah, Ta'izz

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]); notable earlier dates: North Yemen became independent on 1 November 1918 (from the Ottoman Empire) and became a republic with the overthrow of the theocratic Imamate on 27 September 1962; South Yemen became independent on 30 November 1967 (from the UK)

National holiday: Unification Day, 22 May (1990)

Constitution
History: adopted by referendum 16 May 1991 (following unification); note - after the National Dialogue ended in January 2015, a Constitutional Drafting Committee appointed by the president worked to prepare a new draft constitution that was expected to be put to a national referendum before being adopted; however, the start of the current conflict in early 2015 interrupted the process
Amendments: amended several times, last in 2009

Legal system: mixed legal system of Islamic (sharia) law, Napoleonic law, English common law, and customary law

International law organization participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

Citizenship
Citizenship by birth: no
Citizenship by descent only: the father must be a citizen of Yemen; if the father is unknown, the mother must be a citizen
Dual citizenship recognized: no
Residency requirement for naturalization: 10 years

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: Chairperson, Presidential Council Rashad Muhammad al-ALIMI, Dr. (since 19 April 2022); Vice Chairperson, Presidential Council Sultan al-ARADA (since 19 April 2022); Vice Chairperson, Presidential Council Faraj Salmin al- BAHSANI, Brig. Gen. (since 19 April 2022); Vice Chairperson, Presidential Council Abdullah Al-Alimi BA WAZIR (since 19 April 2022); Vice Chairperson, Presidential Council Uthman Hussain Faid al-MUJALI (since 19 April 2022); Vice Chairperson, Presidential Council TARIQ Muhammad Abdallah Salih, Brig. Gen. (since 19 April 2022); Vice Chairperson, Presidential Council 'Abd-al-Rahman ABU ZARA'A al-Muharrami al-Yafai, Brig. Gen. (since 19 April 2022); Vice Chairperson, Presidential Council Aydarus Qasim al-ZUBAYDI, Maj. Gen. (since 19 April 2022)
Head of government: Chairperson, Presidential Council Rashad Muhammad al-ALIMI, Dr. (since 19 April 2022); Vice Chairperson, Presidential Council Sultan al-ARADA (since 19 April 2022); Vice Chairperson, Presidential Council Faraj Salmin al- BAHSANI, Brig. Gen. (since 19 April 2022); Vice Chairperson, Presidential Council Abdullah Al-Alimi BA WAZIR (since 19 April 2022); Vice Chairperson, Presidential Council Uthman Hussain Faid al-MUJALI (since 19 April 2022); Vice Chairperson, Presidential Council TARIQ Muhammad Abdallah Salih, Brig. Gen. (since 19 April 2022); Vice Chairperson, Presidential Council 'Abd-al-Rahman ABU ZARA'A al-Muharrami al-Yafai, Brig. Gen. (since 19 April 2022); Vice Chairperson, Presidential Council Aydarus Qasim al-ZUBAYDI, Maj. Gen. (since 19 April 2022)
Cabinet: 25 members from northern and southern Yemen, representing all of Yemen's major political parties
Elections/appointments: formerly, the president was directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 7-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 21 February 2012 (next election NA); note - a special election was held on 21 February 2012 to remove Ali Abdallah SALIH under the terms of a Gulf Cooperation Council-mediated deal during the political crisis of 2011; vice president appointed by the president; prime minister appointed by the president
Election results: Abd Rabuh Mansur HADI (GPC) elected consensus president
Note: on 7 April 2022, President Abd Rabuh Mansur HADI announced the dismissal of Vice President ALI MUHSIN al-Ahmar and the formation of a Presidential Council, an eight-member body chaired by former minister Rashad AL-ALIMI; on 19 April 2022, the Council was sworn in before Parliament and began assuming the responsibilities of the president and vice president and carrying out the political, security, and military duties of the government

Legislative branch
Description:
Elections:
Election results: percent of vote by party - GPC 58.0%, Islah 22.6%, YSP 3.8%, Unionist Party 1.9%, other 13.7%; seats by party - GPC 238, Islah 46, YSP 8, Nasserist Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party 2, independent 4

Judicial branch
Highest courts: Supreme Court (consists of the court president, 2 deputies, and nearly 50 judges; court organized into constitutional, civil, commercial, family, administrative, criminal, military, and appeals scrutiny divisions)
Judge selection and term of office: judges appointed by the Supreme Judicial Council, which is chaired by the president of the republic and includes 10 high-ranking judicial officers; judges serve for life with mandatory retirement at age 65
Subordinate courts: appeal courts; district or first instance courts; commercial courts

Political parties and leaders:

International organization participation: AFESD, AMF, CAEU, CD, EITI (temporarily suspended), FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAS, MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSMA, MONUSCO, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNMHA, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNVIM, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Mohammed Abdullah Mohammed AL-HADHRAMI (since 7 June 2022)
In the us chancery: 2,319 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 965-4,760
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 337-2017
In the us email address and website:
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Steven H. FAGIN (since 1 June 2022); note - the embassy closed in March 2015; Yemen Affairs Unit currently operates out of US Embassy Riyadh
From the us embassy: previously - Sa'awan Street, Sanaa
From the us mailing address: 6,330 Sanaa Place, Washington DC 20,521-6,330
From the us telephone:
From the us FAX: US Embassy Riyadh [966] 11-488-7,360
From the us email address and website:

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black; the band colors derive from the Arab Liberation flag and represent oppression (black), overcome through bloody struggle (red), to be replaced by a bright future (white)
Note: similar to the flag of Syria, which has two green stars in the white band, and of Iraq, which has an Arabic inscription centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Egypt, which has a heraldic eagle centered in the white band

National symbols: golden eagle; national colors: red, white, black

National anthem
Name: "al-qumhuriyatu l-muttahida" (United Republic)
Lyrics/music: Abdullah Abdulwahab NOA'MAN/Ayyoab Tarish ABSI
Note: adopted 1990; the music first served as the anthem for South Yemen before unification with North Yemen in 1990

National heritage
Total World Heritage Sites: 4 (3 cultural, 1 natural)
Selected World Heritage Site locales:


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Economy overview: low-income Middle Eastern economy; infrastructure, trade, and economic institutions devastated by civil war; oil/gas-dependent but decreasing reserves; massive poverty, food insecurity, and unemployment; high inflation

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real gdp growth rate:

Real gdp per capita:
Note: data are in 2017 dollars

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use
Household consumption: 116.6% (2017 est.)
Government consumption: 17.6% (2017 est.)
Investment in fixed capital: 2.2% (2017 est.)
Investment in inventories: 0% (2017 est.)
Exports of goods and services: 7.5% (2017 est.)
Imports of goods and services: -43.9% (2017 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 20.3% (2017 est.)
Industry: 11.8% (2017 est.)
Services: 67.9% (2017 est.)

Agriculture products: mangoes/guavas, potatoes, sorghum, onions, milk, poultry, watermelons, grapes, oranges, bananas

Industries: crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale production of cotton textiles, leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; aluminum products; cement; commercial ship repair; natural gas production

Industrial production growth rate: -5.23% (2018 est.)

Labor force: 7.299 million (2021 est.)

Unemployment rate:

Youth unemployment
Rate ages 15 24 total: 25.5% (2021 est.)
Rate ages 15 24 male: 24.3%
Rate ages 15 24 female: 36.3%

Population below poverty line: 48.6% (2014 est.)

Gini index
Coefficient distribution of family income: 36.7 (2014 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10%: 2.6%
Highest 10%: 30.3% (2008 est.)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $2.207 billion (2019 est.)
Expenditures: $3.585 billion (2019 est.)
Surplus  or deficit: -5.2% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Taxes and other revenues: 9% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Public debt:

Revenue
From forest resources: 0.04% of GDP (2018 est.)
From coal: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices:

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:
Partners: China 53%, Saudi Arabia 10%, United Arab Emirates 7%, Australia 5% (2019)
Commodities: crude petroleum, gold, fish, industrial chemical liquids, scrap iron (2019)

Imports:
Partners: China 25%, Turkey 10%, United Arab Emirates 9%, Saudi Arabia 8%, India 7% (2019)
Commodities: wheat, refined petroleum, iron, rice, cars (2019)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

Debt external:

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates:


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Electricity
Access population without electricity: 16 million (2020) 17 million
Access electrification-total population: 74.8% (2021)
Access electrification-urban areas: 93.1% (2021)
Access electrification-rural areas: 63.4% (2021)
Installed generating capacity: 1.772 million kW (2020 est.)
Consumption: 2,677,920,000 kWh (2019 est.)
Exports: 0 kWh (2020 est.)
Imports: 0 kWh (2020 est.)
Transmission/distribution losses: 753 million kWh (2019 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels: 84.6% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources solar: 15.4% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources wind: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources biomass and waste: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)

Coal
Production: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
Consumption: 22,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
Exports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
Imports: 22,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
Proven reserves: 0 metric tons (2019 est.)

Petroleum
Total petroleum production: 70,100 bbl/day (2021 est.)
Refined petroleum consumption: 75,700 bbl/day (2019 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate exports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate imports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil estimated reserves: 3 billion barrels (2021 est.)

Crude oil

Refined petroleum
Products production: 20,180 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products exports: 12,670 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products imports: 75,940 bbl/day (2015 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 89.906 million cubic meters (2019 est.)
Consumption: 89.906 million cubic meters (2019 est.)
Exports: 0 cubic meters (2020 est.)
Imports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
Proven reserves: 478.554 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions: 10.158 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From coal and metallurgical coke: 79,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From petroleum and other liquids: 9.896 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From consumed natural gas: 183,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

Energy consumption per capita: 5.453 million Btu/person (2019 est.)


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Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 1.24 million (2021 est.)
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 4 (2021 est.)
Mobile cellular total subscriptions: 15 million (2021 est.)
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 46 (2021 est.)

Telephone system

Broadcast media: state-run TV with 2 stations; state-run radio with 2 national radio stations and 5 local stations; stations from Oman and Saudi Arabia can be accessed

Internet
Country code: .ye
Users total: 8,229,624 (2022 est.)
Users percent of population: 26.6% (2022 est.)

Broadband fixed subscriptions
Total: 391,000 (2020 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 1 (2020 est.)


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Military expenditures

Military and security forces:
Note 1: under the 2019 Riyadh Agreement, the STC forces were to be incorporated into Yemen’s Ministries of Defense and Interior under the authority of the HADI government
Note 2: a considerable portion--up to 70 percent by some estimates--of Yemen’s military and security forces defected in whole or in part to former president SALAH and the Houthi opposition in 2011-2015

Military service age and obligation: 18 is the legal minimum age for voluntary military service; conscription abolished in 2001; 2-year service obligation (note - limited information since the start of the civil war in 2014) (2022)
Note: as late as 2022, all parties to the ongoing conflict were implicated in child soldier recruitment and use; during the beginning of the truce in April 2022, the Houthis signed a plan with the UN to end the recruitment and use of child soldiers; Houthi leaders previously pledged to end the use of child soldiers in 2012, as did the Government of Yemen in 2014 

Space program

Terrorist groups
Terrorist groups: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)/Qods Force; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham - Yemen; al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Hizballah
Note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in terrorist organizations


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National air transport system
Number of registered air carriers: 2 (2020)
Inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 8
Annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 336,310 (2018)
Annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 3.27 million (2018) mt-km

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix: 7O

Airports: 57 (2021)
With paved runways: 17
With paved runways note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
With unpaved runways: 40
With unpaved runways note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control

Heliports

Pipelines: 641 km gas, 22 km liquid petroleum gas, 1,370 km oil (2013)

Railways

Roadways
Total: 71,300 km (2005)
Paved: 6,200 km (2005)
Unpaved: 65,100 km (2005)

Waterways

Merchant marine
Total: 30 (2022)
By type: general cargo 2, oil tanker 1, other 27

Ports and terminals
Major seaports: Aden, Al Hudaydah, Al Mukalla


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Disputes international: Yemen-Oman: none identified

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Refugees country of origin: 45,608 (Somalia), 17,812 (Ethiopia) (2023)
IDPs: 4.523 million (conflict in Sa'ada Governorate; clashes between al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula and government forces) (2022)

Illicit drugs