1994 Edition

Administrative divisions

17 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Abyan, Adan, Al Bayda, Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit, Dhamar, Hadramaut, Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Marib, Sadah, Sana, Shabwah, Taizz note: there may be a new capital district of Sana

Agriculture

accounted for 26% of GDP; products - grain, fruits, vegetables, qat (mildly narcotic shrub), coffee, cotton, dairy, poultry, meat, fish; not self-sufficient in grain

Airports

total: 46 usable: 40 with permanent-surface runways: 10 with runways over 3,659 m: with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 18 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 11

Area

total area: 527,970 sq km land area: 527,970 sq km comparative area: slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming note: includes Perim, Socotra, the former Yemen Arab Republic (YAR or North Yemen), and the former People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY or South Yemen)

Birth rate

50.72 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, Police

Budget

revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Capital

Sanaa

Climate

mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east

Coastline

1,906 km

Constitution

16 May 1991

Currency

Yemeni rial (new currency); 1 North Yemeni riyal (YR) = 100 fils; 1 South Yemeni dinar (YD) = 1,000 fils note: following the establishment of the Republic of Yemen on 22 May 1990, the North Yemeni riyal and the South Yemeni dinar are to be replaced with a new Yemeni rial

Death rate

14.94 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $762 million, 14% of GDP (1992)

Digraph

YM

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Muhsin Ahmad AL-AYNI chancery: Suite 705, 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: (202) 965-4760 or 4761

Economic aid

recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $389 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $2 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $3.2 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $2.4 billion

Electricity

capacity: 714,000 kW production: 1.224 billion kWh consumption per capita: 120 kWh (1992)

Environment

current issues: scarcity of natural freshwater resources (shortages of potable water); overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification natural hazards: subject to sandstorms and dust storms in summer international agreements: party to - Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change

Ethnic divisions

predominantly Arab; Afro-Arab concentrations in coastal locations; South Asians in southern regions; small European communities in major metropolitan areas; 60,000 (est.) Somali refugees encamped near Aden

Exchange rates

Yemeni rials per US$1 - 12.0 (official); 70 (market rate, April 1994)

Executive branch

chief of state and head of government: President Ali Abdallah SALIH (since 22 May 1990, the former president of North Yemen); note - Sanaa dismissed Vice President Ali Salim al-BIDH, Prime Minister Haydar Abu Bakr al-ATTAS (the former president of South Yemen), and 14 other southern officials following the outbreak of civil war on 4 May 1994 five-member Presidential Council: president, vice president, two members from General People's Congress party, two members from Yemeni Socialist Party, and one member from Yemeni Grouping for Reform, or Islaah party cabinet: Council of Ministers

Exports

$695 million (f.o.b., 1993 est.) commodities: crude oil, cotton, coffee, hides, vegetables, dried and salted fish partners: Italy 55%, US 32%, Jordan 5% (1991)

External debt

$7 billion (1993)

FAX

(202) 337-2017 consulate general(s): Detroit

[967] (1) 251-563

Fiscal year

calendar year

Flag

three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black; similar to the flag of Syria which has two green stars and of Iraq which has three green stars (plus an Arabic inscription) 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

Highways

total: 15,500 km paved: 4,000 km unpaved: natural surface 11,500 km

House of Representatives

elections last held 27 April 1993 (next to be held NA); results - percent of vote NA; seats - (301 total) GPC 124, YSP 55, Islaah 61, Ba'thist parties 7, Nasserist parties 4, Hizb al-Haqq 2, Independents 47, election nullified 1

Imports

$1.6 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.) commodities: textiles and other manufactured consumer goods, petroleum products, sugar, grain, flour, other foodstuffs, cement, machinery, chemicals partners: UAE 6%, Japan 6%, Saudi Arabia 6%, Kuwait 6%, US 6% (1991)

Independence

22 May 1990 Republic of Yemen was established on 22 May 1990 with the merger of the Yemen Arab Republic {Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen} and the Marxist-dominated People's Democratic Republic of Yemen {Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen}; previously North Yemen had become independent on NA November 1918 (from the Ottoman Empire) and South Yemen had become independent on 30 November 1967 (from the UK)

Industrial production

growth rate NA%, accounts for 18% of GDP

Industries

crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; small aluminum products factory; cement

Infant mortality rate

112.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

55% (1993 est.)

International disputes

undefined section of boundary with Saudi Arabia; a treaty with Oman defining the Yemeni-Omani boundary was ratified in December 1992

Irrigated land

3,100 sq km (1989 est.)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Labor force

no reliable estimates exist, most people are employed in agriculture and herding or as expatriate laborers; services, construction, industry, and commerce account for less than half of the labor force

Land boundaries

total 1,746 km, Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km

Land use

arable land: 6% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 30% forest and woodland: 7% other: 57%

Languages

Arabic

Legal system

based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local customary law; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 51.47 years male: 50.34 years female: 52.65 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) total population: 38% male: 53% female: 26%

Location

Middle East, along the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, south of Saudi Arabia

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 2,142,519; fit for military service 1,219,985; reach military age (14) annually 137,497 (1994 est.)

Map references

Africa, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

contiguous zone: 18 nm in the North; 24 nm in the South continental shelf: 200-m depth in the North; 200 nm in the South or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Member of

ACC, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Merchant marine

3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,309 GRT/6,568 DWT, cargo 2, oil tanker 1

Names

conventional long form: Republic of Yemen conventional short form: Yemen local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah local short form: Al Yaman

National holiday

Proclamation of the Republic, 22 May (1990)

National product

GDP - exchange rate conversion - $9 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$800 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

3.1% (1993 est.)

Nationality

noun: Yemeni(s) adjective: Yemeni

Natural resources

petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west

Net migration rate

-2.44 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Note

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

Other political or pressure groups

NA

Overview

Whereas the northern city Sanaa is the political capital of a united Yemen, the southern city Aden, with its refinery and port facilities, is the economic and commercial capital. Future economic development depends heavily on Western-assisted development of its moderate oil resources. Former South Yemen's willingness to merge stemmed partly from the steady decline in Soviet economic support. The low level of domestic industry and agriculture have made northern Yemen dependent on imports for practically all of its essential needs. Large trade deficits have been compensated for by remittances from Yemenis working abroad and by foreign aid. Because of the Gulf crisis, remittances have dropped substantially. Once self-sufficient in food production, northern Yemen has become a major importer. Land once used for export crops - cotton, fruit, and vegetables - has been turned over to growing a shrub called qat, whose leaves are chewed for their stimulant effect by Yemenis and which has no significant export market. Economic growth in former South Yemen has been constrained by a lack of incentives, partly stemming from centralized control over production decisions, investment allocation, and import choices. Nominal growth in 1994-95 is apt to be under 3% annually because of low oil prices and political deadlock that is causing a lack of economic cooperation and leadership.

Pipelines

crude oil 644 km; petroleum products 32 km

Political parties and leaders

Ba'thist parties; General People's Congress (GPC), Ali Abdallah SALIH; Hizb al Haqq, Ibrahim al-WAZIR, Sheikh Ahmad ibn Ali SHAMI (Secretary General); Nasserist parties; Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP), Ali Salim al-BIDH; Yemeni Grouping for Reform or Islaah, Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR

Population

11,105,202 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

3.34% (1994 est.)

Ports

Aden, Al Hudaydah, Al Khalf, Al Mukalla, Mocha, Nishtun, Ra's Kathib, Salif

Religions

Muslim including Sha'fi (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi'a), Jewish, Christian, Hindu

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Telecommunications

since unification in 1990, efforts are still being made to create a national domestic civil telecommunications network; the network consists of microwave radio relay, cable and troposcatter; 65,000 telephones (est.); broadcast stations - 4 AM, 1 FM, 10 TV; satellite earth stations - 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Intersputnik, 2 ARABSAT; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia, and Djibouti

Terrain

narrow coastal plain backed by flat-topped hills and rugged mountains; dissected upland desert plains in center slope into the desert interior of the Arabian Peninsula

Total fertility rate

7.2 children born/woman (1994 est.)

Type

republic

Unemployment rate

30% (December 1992)

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Arthur H. HUGHES embassy: Dhahr Himyar Zone, Sheraton Hotel District, Sanaa mailing address: P. O. Box 22347 Sanaa or Sanaa, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-6330 telephone: [967] (1) 238-842 through 238-852