1981 Edition

Area

194,250 km2 (parts of border with Saudi Arabia and Southern Yemen undefined); 20% agricultural, 1% forested, 79% desert, waste, or urban

Coastline

523 km

Communists

unknown number

Elections

elections for legislative body, Supreme People's Council, called for in constitution; none have been held Political parties and leaders: Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP), the only legal party, is coalition of National Front, Ba'th, and Communist Parties

Land boundaries

1,528 km

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

12 nm (plus 6 nm "necessary supervision zone")

Member of

Arab League, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ISCON, ITU, NAM, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO

Suffrage

granted by constitution to all citizens 18 and over

Ethnic divisions

90% Arab, 10% Afro-Arab (mixed)

Labor force

almost entirely agriculture and herding

Language

Arabic

Literacy

15% (est.)

Nationality

noun — Yemeni(s); adjective — Yemeni

Population

5,490,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.3%

Religion

100% Muslim

Branches

President, Prime Minister, Cabinet; Constituent Assembly

Capital

Sanaa

Communists

small number

Government leaders

Col. 'Ali 'Abdallah SALIH, President; 'Abd Al-KARIM IRYANI, Prime Minister

Legal system

based on Turkish law, Islamic law, and local customary law; first constitution promulgated December 1970, suspended June 1974; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Member of

Arab League, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ISCON, ITU, NAM, UN," UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

National holiday

Proclamation of the Republic, 26 September

Official name

Yemen Arab Republic

Political parties or pressure groups

conservative tribal groups, some Muslim Brotherhood followers, leftist sentiment represented by pro-Iraqi Ba'thists, Nasirists, small clandestine groups supported by Yemen (Aden)

Political subdivisions

8 provinces

Type

republic; military regime assumed power in June

Agriculture

sorghum and millet, qat (a mild narcotic), cotton, coffee, fruits and vegetables; largely self-sufficient in food

Agriculture (all outside Aden)

cotton is main cash crop; cereals, dates, kat (qat), coffee, and livestock are raised and there is a growing fishing industry; large amount of food must be imported (particularly for Aden); cotton, hides, skins, dried and salted fish are exported

Budget

(1979) total receipts $423 million, current expenditures $209 million, development expenditures $214 million

(1978-79) total receipts $909 million, current expenditure $409 million, development expenditure $590 million

Electric power

142,100 kW capacity (1980); 349 million kWh produced (1980), 181 kWh per capita

100,500 kW capacity (1980); 220 million kWh produced (1980), 41 kWh per capita

Exports

$44.3 million (1979), excluding petroleum products but including re-exports

$12.7 million (f.o.b., 1980); qat, cotton, coffee, hides, vegetables

Fiscal year

calendar year

1 July-30 June

GNP

$792 million (1978 est.), $430 per capita

$3.8 billion (FY79), $740 per capita

Imports

$391.0 million (f.o.b., 1979)

$1,685.0 million (f.o.b., 1980); textiles and other manufactured consumer goods, petroleum products, sugar, grain, flour, other foodstuffs, and cement

Major industries

petroleum refinery at Little Aden operates on imported crude; 1981 output about one-half of rated capacity of 170,000 b/d; oil exploration activity

cotton textiles and leather goods produced on a small scale; handicraft and some fishing; small aluminum products factory

Major trade partners

Yemen, East Africa, but some cement and sugar imported from Communist countries; crude oil imported from Persian Gulf, exports mainly to UK and Japan

China, Yemen (Aden), USSR, Japan, UK, Australia, Saudi Arabia

Monetary conversion rate

1 S. Yemeni dinar=US$2.90

1 Yemeni rial=US$0.22 (1980)

Official foreign reserves

$800 million (December 1981)

Airfields

98 total, 52 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways; 10 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 25 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

26 total, 15 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 8 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

14 major transport aircraft, 1 leased in

10 major transport aircraft

Highways

5,311 km total; 322 km bituminous treated, 290 km crushed stone and gravel, 4,699 km motorable track

3,477 km total; 467 km bituminous; 435 km crushed stone and gravel; 2,575 km earth, sand, and light gravel

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 31 December 1977, $56 million; about 22.4% of central government budget

for fiscal year ending 30 June 1979, $156 million; 22% of central government budget

Military manpower

males 15-49, 428,000; 238,000 fit for military service

males 15-49, 1,008,000; 560,000 fit for military service; about 59,000 reach military age (18) annually

Pipelines

refined products, 32 km

Ports

1 major (Aden)

1 major (Al Hudaydah), 2 minor

Railroads

none

none

Telecommunications

small system of open-wire, troposcatter multiconductor cable, and radiocommunications stations; only center Aden; estimated 10,000 telephones (0.6 per 100 popl.); 1 AM, no FM, and 5 TV stations DEFENSE FORCES

system inadequate; consists of meager open-wire lines and low-power radiocommunication stations; 5,000 telephones (0.1 per 100 popl.); 2 AM stations, no FM, 2 TV stations; 1 Indian Ocean satellite station DEFENSE FORCES