Background: North Yemen became independent of the Ottoman Empire
in 1918. The British, who had set up a protectorate area around the
southern port of Aden in the 19th century, withdrew in 1967 from what
became South Yemen. Three years later, the southern government adopted a
Marxist orientation. The massive exodus of hundreds of thousands of
Yemenis from the south to the north contributed to two decades of
hostility between the states. The two countries were formally unified as
the Republic of Yemen in 1990. A southern secessionist movement in 1994
was quickly subdued. In 2000, Saudi Arabia and Yemen agreed to a
delimitation of their border.
Government type:
republic
Capital: Sanaa
Currency: Yemeni rial (YER) = 100 fils
Geography of Yemen
Location: Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea,
between Oman and Saudi Arabia
Geographic coordinates: 15 00 N, 48 00 E
Area:
total: 527,970 sq km
land: 527,970 sq km
water: 0 sq km
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)
Land boundaries:
total: 1,746 km
border countries: Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km
Coastline: 1,906 km
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
Climate: mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western
mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east
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
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m
highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,760 m
Natural resources: petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal,
gold, lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west
Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 30%
forests and woodland: 4%
other: 63% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 3,600 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: sandstorms and dust storms in summer
Environment - current issues: very limited natural fresh water resources;
inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone
Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban
Geography - note: strategic location on Bab el Mandeb, the strait linking the
Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, one of world's most active shipping lanes
People of Yemen
Unlike other people of the Arabian Peninsula who have historically been
nomads or seminomads, Yemenis are almost entirely sedentary and live in
small villages and towns scattered throughout the highlands and coastal
regions.
Yemenis are divided into two principal Islamic religious groups: the
Zaidi sect of the Shi'a, found in the north and northwest, and the Shafa'i
school of Sunni Muslims, found in the south and southeast. Yemenis are
mainly of Semitic origin, although African strains are present among
inhabitants of the coastal region. Arabic is the official language,
although English is increasingly understood in major cities. In the Mahra
area (the extreme east), several non-Arabic languages are spoken. When the
former states of north and south Yemen were established, most resident
minority groups departed.
Population: 20,727,063 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 47%
15-64 years: 49%
65 years and over: 4%
Population growth rate: 3.36%
Birth rate: 43.44 births/1,000 population
Death rate: 9.86 deaths/1,000 population
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population
Infant mortality rate: 70.28 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 59.83 years
male: 58.1 years
female: 61.64 years
Total fertility rate: 7.05 children born/woman
Nationality:
noun: Yemeni(s)
adjective: Yemeni
Ethnic groups: predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans
Religions: Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi'a), small numbers of
Jewish, Christian, and Hindu
Languages: Arabic
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 38%
male: 53%
female: 26% (1990 est.)
SOURCES: The World Factbook, U.S. Department of State |