republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch
republic
Independence date
16 December 1991 (from Soviet Union)
22 May 1990 (Republic of Yemen was established 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]); note - previously North Yemen became independent in November 1918 (from the Ottoman Empire) and became a republic with the overthrow of the theocratic Imamate in 1962; South Yemen became independent on 30 November 1967 (from the UK)
Religions
Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%, other 7%
Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shia), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu
Languages
Kazakh (Qazaq, state language) 64.4%, Russian (official, used in everyday business, designated the "language of interethnic communication") 95% (2001 est.)
tenge (KZT) per US dollar - 120.25 (2008 est.), 122.55 (2007), 126.09 (2006), 132.88 (2005), 136.04 (2004)
Yemeni rials (YER) per US dollar - 199.76 (2008 est.), 199.14 (2007), 197.18 (2006), 192.67 (2005), 184.78 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.100%
6.600%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
13
0
Location
Central Asia, northwest of China; a small portion west of the Ural River in eastern-most Europe
Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia
Area
2,724,900 km sq
527,968 km sq
Coastline
0 km
1,906 km
Climate
continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid
mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east
