1988 Edition

Boundary disputes

international boundary/indefinite boundary/no defined boundary with PDRY; international boundary/no defined boundary with Saudi Arabia

international boundary/indefinite boundary/no defined boundary with YAR; Administrative Line with Oman; no defined boundary with

Climate

desert; hot and humid along coast; temperate in central mountains; harsh desert in east

Coastline

523 km

1,383 km

Comparative area

slightly smaller than South Dakota

about the size of Nevada

Contiguous zone

18 nm

24 nm

Continental shelf

200 meters

edge of continental margin or 200 nm

Environment

subject to sand and dust storms in summer; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

Ethnic divisions

90% Arab, 10% AfroArab (mixed)

Extended economic zone

200 nm

Infant mortality rate

152/1,000 (1983)

Labor force

about 30% expatriate laborers; remainder almost entirely agriculture and herding

Land boundaries

1,528 km total

1,802 km total

Land use

14% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 36% meadows and pastures; 8% forest and woodland; 42% other; includes 1% irrigated

Language

Arabic

Life expectancy

men 37.3, women 38.7

Literacy

15% (est.)

Nationality

noun — Yemeni(s); adjective — Yemeni

Population

6,533,265 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 2.93%

Religion

100% Muslim (Sunni and Shi'a)

Special notes

controls northern approaches to Bab el Mandeb linking Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, one of world's most active shipping lanes

Terrain

narrow coastal plain (Tihama); western mountains; flat dissected plain in center sloping into desert interior of Arabian Peninsula

Territorial sea

12 nm

12 nm

Total area

195,000 km2; land area: 195,000 km2

332,970 km2; land area: 332,970 km2

Administrative divisions

1 1 provinces

Branches

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

Capital

Sanaa

Communists

small number

Government leaders

Col. 'Ali 'Abdallah SALIH, President (since 1978); 'Abd al- 'Aziz 'ABD AL-GHANI, Prime Minister (since 1983)

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, IDE— Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, QIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of (South Yemen)

National holiday

Proclamation of the Republic, 26 September

Official name

Yemen Arab Republic

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

Type

republic; military regime assumed power in June 1974

Agriculture

cocoa, bananas, copra; staple foods include coconuts, bananas, taro, yams

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

Aid

US (FY70-85), $13 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF (1970-84), $195 million

Budget

(1982 est.) revenues, $36.9 million; expenditures, $37.6 million; development expenditure, $34.9 million

(1985 est.) total receipts, $942 million; current expenditures, $946 million; development expenditures, $580 million

Electric power

62,000 kW capacity; 79 million kWh produced, 480 kWh per capita (1986)

254,000 kW capacity; 556 million kWh produced, 240 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$16 million (f.o.b., 1985); copra 43.3%, cocoa 32.3%, timber 2.0%, mineral fuel, bananas

$9.5 million (f.o.b., 1985); qat, cotton, coffee, hides, vegetables

Fiscal year

1 July-30 June

GDP

$86.8 million, $532 per capita (1985)

$3.1 billion, $520 per capita (1984)

Imports

$63 million (c.i.f., 1985); food 30%, manufactured goods 25%, machinery

$1.2 billion (f.o.b., 1985); textiles and other manufactured consumer goods, petroleum products, sugar, grain, flour, other foodstuffs, and cement (one of the worst export/import ratios in the world)

Major industries

timber, tourism, light industry

small scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; fishing; small aluminum products factory; cement

Major trade partners

exports — 31% FRG, 26% New Zealand, 12% US, 2% Australia; imports— 30% US, 28% New Zealand, 10% Australia, 6% UK (1981)

exports (1985) — 41% US, 14% PDRY, 12% Japan; imports (1985)— 10% Italy, 9% Saudi Arabia, 9% Japan, 8% UK

Monetary conversion rate

2.256 WS tala=US$l (November 1986)

7.44 rials=US$l (November 1986)

Natural resources

hardwood forests, fish

petroleum, rock salt, marble; small deposits of coal, nickel, and copper

Airfields

4 total, 4 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with 2,440-3,659 m

20 total, 14 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways; 7 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 4 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, Police

Civil air

3 major transport aircraft

9 major transport aircraft

Highways

2,042 km total; 375 km sealed; remainder mostly gravel, crushed stone, or earth

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

Inland waterways

none

Military manpower

males 15-49, 45,000; 23,000 fit for military service Set regioni! map VI

males 15-49, 1,183,000; 672,000 fit for military service; about 83,000 reach military age (18) annually representation is Kamaron Perim -*ADEN Gulf of Aden

Ports

1 principal (Apia), 1 minor

1 major (Al rjudaydah), 3 minor

Railroads

none

none

Telecommunications

7,500 telephones (4.5 per 100 popl.); 70,000 radio receivers; 1 AM station; 1 satellite station Defense Forces

system poor but improving; new radio-relay and cable networks; 50,000 telephones (0.8 per 100 popl.); 3 AM, no FM, 5 TV stations; 1 Indian Ocean, 1 Atlantic Ocean, and 1 ARABSAT satellite station; tropospheric scatter to South Yemen Defense Forces