1989 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1989 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Climate
desert; hot and humid along coast; temperate in central mountains; harsh desert in east
Coastline
523 km
Comparative area
slightly smaller than South Dakota
Contiguous zone
18 nm
Continental shelf
200 meters
Disputes
sections of the boundary with PDRY are indefinite or undefined; undefined section of boundary with Saudi Arabia
Environment
subject to sand and dust storms in summer; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Land boundaries
1 ,209 km total; Saudi Arabia 628 km, PDRY 581 km
Land use
14% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 36% meadows and pastures; 8% forest and woodland; 42% other; includes 1% irrigated
Natural resources
crude oil, rock salt, marble; small deposits of coal, nickel, and copper; fertile soil
Note
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
1 2 nm
Total area
195,000 km2; land area: 195,000km2
Total area
(Mocha -3 no' necessarily authomatrve Set regional map \ I
People and Society
Birth rate
52 births/ 1,000 population (1990)
Death rate
1 7 deaths/ 1 ,000 population (1990)
Ethnic divisions
90% Arab, 10% AfroArab (mixed)
Infant mortality rate
129 deaths/ 1,000 live births (1990)
Labor force
NA; 70% agriculture and herding, 30% expatriate laborers (est.)
Language
Arabic
Life expectancy at birth
48 years male, 49 years female (1990)
Literacy
1 5% (est.)
Nationality
noun — Yemeni(s); adjective — Yemeni
Net migration rate
—4 migrants/ 1,000 population (1990)
Population
7,160,981 (July 1990), growth rate 3.1% (1990)
Religion
100% Muslim (Sunni and Shi'a)
Total fertility rate
7.6 children born/ woman (1990)
Government
Administrative divisions
1 1 governorates (muhafazat, singular — muhafazah); Al BaydS', Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahwlt, Dhamar, Hajjah, Ibb, Ma'rib, Sa'dah, San'5', Ta'izz
Capital
Sanaa
Communists
small number
Constitution
28 December 1970, suspended 19 June 1974
Diplomatic representation
Ambassador Mohsin A. al-AINI; Chancery at Suite 840, 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20037; telephone (202) 965-4760 or 4761; there is a Yemeni Consulate General in Detroit and a Consulate in San Francisco; US — Ambassador Charles F. DUNBAR; Embassy at address NA, Sanaa (mailing address is P. O. Box 1088, Sanaa); telephone [967] (2) 27 1950 through 271958
Elections
Consultative Assembly — last held 5 July 1988 (next to be held NA); results — percent of vote NA; seats — (159 total, 128 elected)
Executive branch
president, vice president, prime minister, four deputy prime ministers, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Flag
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with a large green five-pointed star centered in the white band; similar to the flags of Iraq, which has three stars, and Syria, which has two stars — all green and five-pointed in a horizontal line centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Egypt, which has a symbolic eagle centered in the white band
Independence
November 1918 (from Ottoman Empire)
Judicial branch
State Security Court
Leaders
Chief of State— President Col. 'Ali 'Abdallah SALIH (since 18 July 1978); Vice President (vacant); Head of Government — Prime Minister 'Abd al-'Aziz 'ABD AL-GHANI (since 12 November 1983, previously prime minister from 1975-1980 and co-Vice President from October 1980 to November 1983) Political parties and leaders: 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
Legal system
based on Turkish law, Islamic law, and local customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch
unicameral Consultative Assembly (Majlis ash-Shura)
Long-form name
Yemen Arab Republic; abbreviated YAR
Member of
ACC, Arab League, FAO, G-77, IBRD, 1CAO, IDA, IDB— Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, QIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
National holiday
Proclamation of the Republic, 26 September (1962)
Other political or pressure groups
conservative tribal groups, Muslim Brotherhood, leftist factions — pro-Iraqi Ba'thists, Nasirists, National Democratic Front (NDF) supported by the PDRY
Suffrage
universal at age 18
Type
republic; military regime assumed power in June 1974
Economy
Agriculture
accounts for 50% of GDP and 70% of labor force; farm products — grain, fruits, vegetables, qat (mildly narcotic shrub), coffee, cotton, dairy, poultry, meat, goat meat; not self-sufficient in grain
Aid
US commitments, including Ex-Im (1970-88), $354 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $1.4 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $2.9 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $248 million
Budget
revenues $1.32 billion; expenditures $2.18 billion, including capital expenditures of $588 million (1988 est.)
Currency
Yemeni riyal (plural — riyals); 1 Yemeni riyal (YR) = 100 fils
Electricity
415,000 kW capacity; 500 million kWh produced, 70 kWh per capita (1989)
Exchange rates
Yemeni riyals (YR) per US$1— 9.7600 (January 1990), 9.7600 (1989), 9.7717 (1988), 10.3417 (1987), 9.6392(1986), 7.3633(1985)
Exports
$853 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities— crude oil, cotton, coffee, hides, vegetables; partners— US 41%, PDRY 14%, Japan 12%
External debt
$3.5 billion (December 1989est.)
Fiscal year
calendar year
GDP
$5.5 billion, per capita $820; real growth rate 19.7% (1988 est.)
Imports
$1.3 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities— textiles and other manufactured consumer goods, petroleum products, sugar, grain, flour, other foodstuffs, Yemen Arab Republic (continued) and cement; partners — Italy 10%, Saudi Arabia 9%, US 9.3%, Japan 9%, UK 8% (1985)
Industrial production
growth rate 2% in manufacturing (1988)
Industries
crude oil production, smallscale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; fishing; small aluminum products factory; cement
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
16.9% (1988)
Overview
The low level of domestic industry and agriculture make North Yemen dependent on imports for virtually all of its essential needs. Large trade deficits are made up for by remittances from Yemenis working abroad and foreign aid. Once self-sufficient in food production, the YAR is now a major importer. Land once used for export crops — cotton, fruit, and vegetables— has been turned over to growing qat, a mildly narcotic shrub chewed by Yemenis that has no significant export market. Oil export revenues started flowing in late 1987 and boosted 1988 earnings by about $800 million.
Unemployment rate
13% (1986)
Communications
Airports
19 total, 14 usable; 3 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 9 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 3 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Highways
4,500 km; 2,000 km bituminous, 500 km crushed stone and gravel, 2,000 km earth, sand, and light gravel (est.)
Merchant marine
1 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 192,679 GRT/40,640 DWT Civil air 7 major transport aircraft
Pipelines
crude oil, 424 km
Ports
Al Hudaydah, Al MukhS, Sallf, Ra's al Katib
Telecommunications
system poor but improving; new radio relay and cable networks; 50,000 telephones; stations — 3 AM, no FM, 17 TV; satellite earth stations—I Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 1 ARABSAT; tropospheric scatter to PDRY; radio relay to PDRY, Saudi Arabia, and