1995 Edition

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)

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

Environment

current issues: very limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification natural hazards: sandstorms and dust storms in summer international agreements: party to - Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change

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.)

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%

Location

Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia

Map references

Middle East

Maritime claims

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

Natural resources

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

Note

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

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

Age structure

0-14 years: 50% (female 3,551,953; male 3,776,358) 15-64 years: 48% (female 3,505,735; male 3,508,229) 65 years and over: 2% (female 216,210; male 169,989) (July 1995 est.)

Birth rate

44.85 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate

8.01 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Ethnic divisions

predominantly Arab; Afro-Arab concentrations in western coastal locations; South Asians in southern regions; small European communities in major metropolitan areas

Infant mortality rate

58.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

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

Languages

Arabic

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 62.51 years male: 61.57 years female: 63.5 years (1995 est.)

Literacy

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

Nationality

noun: Yemeni(s) adjective: Yemeni

Net migration rate

3.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Population

14,728,474 (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate

4.02% (1995 est.)

Religions

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

Total fertility rate

7.15 children born/woman (1995 est.)

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 governorate for the capital city of Sanaa

Capital

Sanaa

Constitution

16 May 1991

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: [1] (202) 965-4760, 4761

Executive branch

chief of state: President Ali Abdallah SALIH (since 22 May 1990, the former president of North Yemen); Vice President Abd al-Rab Mansur al-HADI (since NA October 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Abd al-Aziz ABD AL-GHANI (since NA October 1994) cabinet: Council of Ministers

FAX

[1] (202) 337-2017

[967] (1) 251563

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

House of Representatives

elections last held 27 April 1993 (next to be held NA 1997); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (301 total) GPC 124, Islaah 61, YSP 55, others 13, independents 47, election nullified 1

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)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Legal system

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

Legislative branch

unicameral

Member of

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

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)

Other political or pressure groups

NA

Political parties and leaders

over 40 political parties are active in Yemen, but only three project significant influence; since the May-July 1994 civil war, President SALIH's General People's Congress (GPC) and Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR's Yemeni Grouping for Reform, or Islaah, have joined to form a coalition government; the Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP), headed by Ali Salih UBAYD, has regrouped as a loyal opposition

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador David NEWTON embassy: Dhahr Himyar Zone, Sheraton Hotel District, Sanaa mailing address: P. O. Box 22347 Sanaa; Sanaa, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-6330 telephone: [967] (1) 238843 through 238852

Agriculture

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

Budget

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

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

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: 810,000 kW production: 1.8 billion kWh consumption per capita: 149 kWh (1993)

Exchange rates

Yemeni rials per US$1 - 12.0 (official); 90 (market rate, December 1994)

Exports

$1.75 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.) commodities: crude oil, cotton, coffee, hides, vegetables, dried and salted fish partners: Germany 28%, Japan 15%, UK 9%, Austria 7%, China 7% (1992)

External debt

$7 billion (1993)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Imports

$2.65 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.) commodities: textiles and other manufactured consumer goods, petroleum products, sugar, grain, flour, other foodstuffs, cement, machinery, chemicals partners: US 16%, UK 7%, Japan 6%, France 6%, Italy 6% (1992)

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

145% (1994 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power parity - $23.4 billion (1994 est.)

National product per capita

$1,955 (1994 est.)

National product real growth rate

-1.4% (1994 est.)

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 the country's 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 has made northern Yemen dependent on imports for practically all of its essential needs. 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. Yemen's large trade deficits have been compensated for by remittances from Yemenis working abroad and by foreign aid. Since the Gulf crisis, remittances have dropped substantially. Growth in 1994-95 is constrained by low oil prices, rapid inflation, and political deadlock that are causing a lack of economic cooperation and leadership. However, a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia in February 1995 and the expectation of a rise in oil prices brighten Yemen's economic prospects.

Unemployment rate

30% (December 1994)

Radio

broadcast stations: AM 4, FM 1, shortwave 0 radios: NA

Telephone system

65,000 telephones; since unification in 1990, efforts are still being made to create a national domestic civil telecommunications network local: NA intercity: the network consists of microwave radio relay, cable, and troposcatter international: 3 INTELSAT (2 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean), 1 Intersputnik, and 2 ARABSAT earth stations; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia and Djibouti

Television

broadcast stations: 10 televisions: NA

Airports

total: 46 with paved runways over 3,047 m: 2 with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 1 with paved runways under 914 m: 4 with unpaved runways over 3,047 m: 2 with unpaved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 8 with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 10 with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 12

Highways

total: 51,390 km paved: 4,830 km unpaved: 46,560 km (1992 est.)

Merchant marine

total: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 12,059 GRT/18,563 DWT ships by type: cargo 1, oil tanker 2

Pipelines

crude oil 644 km; petroleum products 32 km

Ports

Aden, Al Hudaydah, Al Mukalla, Mocha, Nishtun

Railroads

0 km

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary (includes Police)

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $1.65 billion, 7.1% of GDP (1993) ________________________________________________________________________ ZAIRE

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 3,135,649; males fit for military service 1,771,226; males reach military age (14) annually 181,057 (1995 est.)