1985 Edition

Agriculture

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

46 total, 31 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways; 10 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 12 with runways 1,2202,439 m

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force

unicameral legislature (People's Assembly); Supreme Cabinet

Army, Navy, Air Force

Budget

(1980) total receipts $495 million, current expenditures $280 million, development expenditures $200 million

Capital

Aden; Madin at ash Sha'b, administrative capital

Civil air

8 major transport aircraft

Coastline

1,383km People

1,521 km (mainland), plus 2,414 km (offshore islands) People

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

Electric power

195,000 kW capacity (1984); 427 million kWh produced (1984), 200 kWh per capita

Ethnic divisions

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

36.2% Serb, 19.7% Croat, 8.9% Muslim, 7.8% Slovene, 7.7% Albanian, 5.9% Macedonian, 5.4% Yugoslav, 2.5% Montenegrin, 1.9% Hungarian, 4.0% other (1981 census)

Exports

$38 million (1980)

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

GNP

$792 million (1978 est), $430 per capita (1980) Yemen, South (continued) Yugoslavia

Government leaders

'Ali Nasir Muhammad al-HASANI, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Council, YSP Secretary General (since 1980); Heydar Abu Bakr al- 'ATTAS, Chairman of the Council of Ministers (since February 1985)

Highways

5,600 km total; 1,700 km bituminous treated, 630 km crushed stone and gravel, 3,270 km motor able track

Imports

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

Labor force

9.7 million (1983); 29% agriculture, 24% mining and manufacturing, 11% noneconomic activities; (est.) unemployment about 15% of domestic labor force Government

Land boundaries

1,802 km Water

3,001 km Water

Language

Arabic

Serbo-Croatian, Slovene, Macedonian (all official); Albanian, Hungarian, Italian

Legal system

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" (economic, including fishing, 200 nm)

12 nm

Literacy

25% Government

85%

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

Major trade partners

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

Member of

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

Military manpower

males 15-49, 1,140,000; 635,000 fit for military service; about 66,000 reach military age (18) annually 280km Land 322,968 km2; the size of Nevada; (border with Saudi Arabia and North Yemen undefined); only about 1% arable (of which less than 25% cultivated)

males 15-49, 479,000; 268,000 fit for military service Adriatic Sea Ste regional m>p V Land 255,804 km2; the size of Wyoming; 34% forest, 32% arable, 25% meadow and pasture, 9% other

Monetary conversion rate

0.3425 dinar=US$l (February 1984)

National holiday

14 October

Nationality

noun — Yemeni(s); adjective — Yemeni

noun — Yugoslav(s); adjective — Yugoslav

Official name

People's Democratic Republic of Yemen

Socialist Federal Republic of

Pipelines

refined products, 32 km

Political subdivisions

six governorates

Population

2,211,000, excluding the islands of Perim and Kamaran, for which no data are available (July 1985); average annual growth rate 2.9%

23,137,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate —0.7%

Ports

1 major (Aden), 4 minor

Railroads

none

Religion

Sunni Muslim, some Christian and Hindu

41% Serbian Orthodox, 32% Roman Catholic, 12% Muslim, 3% other, 12% none (1953 census; later information unavailable)

Suffrage

granted by constitution to all citizens 18 and over

Telecommunications

small system of openwire, radio-relay, multiconductor cable, and radio communications stations; only center Aden; estimated 10,000 telephones (0.6 per 100 popl.); 1 AM, no FM, 5 TV stations; 1 Indian Ocean satellite antenna; tropospheric scatter to North Yemen Defense Forces

Type

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