Yemen

Airports

49 total, 40 usable; 10 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 20 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 12 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

15 major transport aircraft

Highways

15,500 km; 4,000 km bituminous, 11,500 km natural surface (est.)

Merchant marine

3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,309 GRT/6,568 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 1 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker

Pipelines

crude oil, 424 km; refined products, 32 km

Ports

Aden, Al Hudaydah, Al Khalf, Mocha, Nishtun, Ras Kathib, Salif

Telecommunications

the North has a poor but improving system with new radio relay and cable networks, while the South has a small system of open-wire, radio relay, multiconductor cable, and radio communications stations; 65,000 telephones (est.); stations--4 AM, no FM, 22 TV; satellite earth stations--2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Intersputnik, 2 ARABSAT; radio relay to Saudi Arabia, and Djibouti

Branches

Army, Navy, Air Force, Police

Defense expenditures

$1.06 billion, 20% of GDP (1990)

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 1,906,887; 1,084,122 fit for military service; 134,158 reach military age (14) annually

Economic aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $389 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $1.9 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $3.2 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $2.4 billion North Yemeni riyal (plural--riyals); 1 North Yemeni riyal (YR) = 100 fils; South Yemeni dinar (plural--dinars); 1 South Yemeni dinar (YD) = 1,000 fils North 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); South Yemeni dinars (YD) per US$1--0.3454 (fixed rate)

Electricity

670,000 kW capacity; 1,100 million kWh produced, 110 kWh per capita (1990)

External debt

$5.75 billion (December 1989 est.) North--growth rate 2% in manufacturing (1988); South--growth rate NA% in manufacturing

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$5.3 billion, per capita $545; real growth rate NA% (1990 est.) North--16.9% (1988); South--0% (1989) North--13% (1986); South--NA% North--revenues $1.4 billion; expenditures $2.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $590 million (1988 est.); South--revenues and grants $435 million; expenditures $1.0 billion, including capital expenditure of $460 million (1988 est.) North--$606 million (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--crude oil, cotton, coffee, hides, vegetables; partners--FRG 29%, US 26%, Netherlands 12%; South--$113.8 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities--cotton, hides, skins, dried and salted fish; partners--Japan, North Yemen, Italy North--$1.3 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--textiles and other manufactured consumer goods, petroleum products, sugar, grain, flour, other foodstuffs, and cement; partners--Saudi Arabia 12%, France 6%, US 5%, Australia 5% (1985); South--$553.9 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities--grain, consumer goods, crude oil, machinery, chemicals; partners--USSR, UK, Ethiopia

Industries

crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; fishing; small aluminum products factory; cement North--accounted for 26% 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; South--accounted for 17% of GNP and 45% of labor force; products--grain, qat (mildly narcotic shrub), coffee, fish, livestock; fish and honey major exports; most food imported

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 promising oil resources. South Yemen's willingness to merge stemmed partly from the steady decline in Soviet economic support. North--The low level of domestic industry and agriculture have made northern Yemen dependent on imports for virtually all of its essential needs. Large trade deficits have been made up for by remittances from Yemenis working abroad and foreign aid. Once self-sufficient in food production, northern Yemen has been 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. South--This has been one of the poorest Arab countries, with a per capita GNP of about $500. A shortage of natural resources, a widely dispersed population, and an arid climate have made economic development difficult. The economy has grown at an average annual rate of only 2-3% since the mid-1970s. The economy had been organized along socialist lines, dominated by the public sector. Economic growth has been constrained by a lack of incentives, partly stemming from centralized control over production decisions, investment allocation, and import choices.

Climate

desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east

Coastline

1,906 km Contiguous zone: North--18 nm; South--24 nm; Continental shelf: North--200 meters (depth); South--edge of continental margin or 200 nm; Exclusive economic zone: North--no claim; South 200 nm; Territorial sea: 12 nm

Comparative area

slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming

Disputes

undefined section of boundary with Saudi Arabia; Administrative Line with Oman

Environment

subject to sand and dust storms in summer; scarcity of natural freshwater resources; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

Land boundaries

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

Land use

arable land 6%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 30%; forest and woodland 7%; other 57%; includes irrigated NEGL%

Natural resources

crude oil, 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

Total area

527,970 km2; land area: 527,970 km2; 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)

Administrative divisions

17 governorates (muhafazat, singular--muhafazah); Abyan, Adan, Al Bayda, Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit, Dhamar, Hadramawt, Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Marib, Sadah, Sana, Shabwah, Taizz

Capital

Sanaa

Communists

small number in North, greater but unknown number in South

Constitution

16 April 1991

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Muhsin Ahmad al-AYNI; 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 Dhahr Himyar Zone, Sheraton Hotel District, Sanaa (mailing address is P. O. Box 22347 Sanaa, Republic of Yemen or Sanaa--Department of State, Washington, D. C. 20521-6330); telephone [967] (2) 238-842 through 238-852

Executive branch

five-member Presidential Council (president, vice president, two members from northern Yemen and one member from southern Yemen), prime minister

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

Independence

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); the union is to be solidified during a 30-month transition period, which coincides with the remainder of the five-year terms of both legislatures

Judicial branch

North--State Security Court; South--Federal High Court Chief of State and Head of Government President Ali Abdallah SALIH (since 22 May 1990, the former president of North Yemen); Vice President Ali Salim al-BIDH (since 22 May 1990, secretary general of the Yemeni Socialist Party); Presidential Council Member Salim Salih MUHAMMED (southern Yemen); Presidential Council Member Kadi Abdul-Karim al-ARASHI (northern Yemen); Presidential Council Member Abdul-Aziz ABDUL-GHANI (northern Yemen); Prime Minister Haydar Abu Bakr al-ATTAS (since 22 May 1990, former president of South Yemen) General People's Congress, Ali Abdallah SALIH; Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP; formerly South Yemen's ruling party--a coalition of National Front, Bath, and Communist Parties), Ali Salim al-BIDH

Legal system

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

Legislative branch

unicameral House of Representatives; note--northern Yemen's Consultative Assembly (Majlis Chura) and southern Yemen's Supreme People's Council (Majlis al-Shab al-Ala) will combine to form the basis for the new unicameral House of Representatives

Long-form name

Republic of Yemen

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

National holiday

Proclamation of the Republic, 22 May (1990)

Other political or pressure groups

conservative tribal groups, Muslim Brotherhood, leftist factions--pro-Iraqi Bathists, Nasirists, National Democratic Front (NDF)

Suffrage

universal at age 18 House of Representatives--last held NA (next to be held 26-27 May, 12 June, and 24 July 1991); results--percent of vote NA; seats--(301); number of seats by party NA; note--the 301 members of the new House of Representatives will come from North Yemen's Consultative Assembly (159 members), South Yemen's Supreme People's Council (111 members), and appointments by the New Presidential Council (31 members)

Type

republic

Birth rate

51 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate

16 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Infant mortality rate

121 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Language

Arabic

Life expectancy at birth

49 years male, 51 years female (1991)

Literacy

38% (male 53%, female 26%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) North--NA number of workers with agriculture and herding 70%, and expatriate laborers 30% (est.); South--477,000 with agriculture 45.2%, services 21.2%, construction 13.4%, industry 10.6%, commerce and other 9.6% (1983) North--NA; South--348,200 and the General Confederation of Workers of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen had 35,000 members

Nationality

noun--Yemeni(s); adjective--Yemeni North--Arab 90%, Afro-Arab (mixed) 10%; South--almost all Arabs; a few Indians, Somalis, and Europeans North--Muslim 100% (Sunni and Shia); South--Sunni Muslim, some Christian and Hindu

Net migration rate

- 3 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Population

10,062,633 (July 1991), growth rate 3.2% (1991)

Total fertility rate

7.4 children born/woman (1991)