1983 Edition

Agriculture

sorghum and millet, qat (a mild narcotic), cotton, coffee, fruits and vegetables

cotton is main cash crop; cereals, dates, qat (a mild narcotic), 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

Airfields

23 total, 15 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways; 5 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 6 with runways 1,2202,439 m

Area

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

Branches

President, Prime Minister, Cabinet; People's Constituent Assembly

Army, Navy, Air Force

unicameral legislature (People's Assembly); Supreme Cabinet

Budget

(1981) total receipts $1,066 million, current expenditure $1,569 million, development expenditure $590 million

Capital

Sanaa

Aden; Madinat ash Sha'b, administrative capital

Civil air

9 major transport aircraft

CNP

$792 million (1978 est), $430 per capita (1980)

Coastline

523 km People

1,383 km People

Communists

small number

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

Electric power

164,900 kW capacity (1983); 361 million kWh produced (1983), 62 kWh per capita

238,600 kW capacity (1983); 400 million kWh produced (1983), 191 kWh per capita

Ethnic divisions

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

almost all Arabs; a few Indians, Somalis, and Europeans

Exports

$11 million (f.o.b., 1981); qat, cotton, coffee, hides, vegetables

$38 million (1980)

Fiscal year

1 July-30 June Communications

GNP

$3.8 billion (FY79), $740 per capita

Government leaders

Col. 'Ali 'Abdallah SALIH, President; 'Abd al-'Aziz 'ABD ALGHANI, Prime Minister

'Ali Nasir Muhammad al-HASANI, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Council, YSP Secretary General, and Prime Minister

Highways

4,000 km total; 1,775 km bituminous; 500 km crushed stone and gravel; 1 ,725 km earth, sand, and light gravel

Imports

$1,748 million (f.o.b., 1981); textiles and other manufactured consumer goods, petroleum products, sugar, grain, flour, other foodstuffs, and cement

$670 million (f.o.b., 1980)

Labor force

almost entirely agriculture and herding Government

Land boundaries

1,528 km Water

1,802 km Water

Language

Arabic

Arabic

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

based on Islamic law (for personal matters) and English common law (for commercial matters); highest judicial organ, Federal High Court, interprets constitution and determines disputes between states

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

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

12 nm (plus 6 nm "necessary supervision zone"); fishing 200 nm, economic 200 nm

Literacy

15% (est.)

25% Government

Major industries

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

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

Major trade partners

China, South Yemen, USSR, Japan, UK, Australia, Saudi Arabia

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

Member of

Arab League, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB— Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, QIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO Economy

Arab League, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDE— Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, ITU, NAM, QIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO Economy

Military manpower

males 15-49, 1,108,000; 617,000 fit for military service; about 64,000 reach military age (18) annually Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of (South Yemen) Land 287,849 km2; (border with Saudi Arabia and North Yemen undefined); only about 1% arable (of which less than 25% cultivated)

Monetary conversion rate

4.595 rials=US$l (23 February 1983)

National holiday

Proclamation of the Republic, 26 September

14 October

Nationality

noun — Yemeni(s); adjective — Yemeni

noun — Yemeni(s); adjective — Yemeni

Official name

Yemen Arab Republic

People's Democratic Republic of Yemen

Political parties or pressure groups

no legal political parties; in 1983 President Salih started the General People's Congress, which is designed to function as the country's sole political party; conservative tribal groups, Muslim Brotherhood, and leftist factions — pro-Iraqi Ba'thists, Nasirists, National Democratic Front (NDF) supported by South Yemen — exert political influence

Political subdivisions

11 provinces

six governorates

Population

5,902,000 (July 1984), average annual growth rate 2.7%

2,147,000, excluding the islands of Perim and Kamaran, for which no data are available (July 1984); average annual growth rate 2.9%

Ports

1 major (Al Hudaydah), 2 minor

Railroads

none

Religion

100% Muslim (Sunni and Shi'a)

Sunni Muslim, some Christian and Hindu

Suffrage

granted by constitution to all citizens 18 and over

Telecommunications

system still inadequate; new radio-relay and cable networks; 10,000 telephones (0.2 per 100 popl.); 2 AM stations, no FM, 5 TV stations; 1 Indian Ocean satellite station, 1 Atlantic Ocen station Defense Forces

Type

republic; military regime assumed power in June 1974

republic; power centered in ruling Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP)