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 including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shia), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu
indigenous beliefs 52%, Christian 41%, Muslim 7%
Languages
Arabic
English (official), French (official), Malagasy (official)
Exports
crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish
External Debt
$6,613,000,000 $
Exchange Rate
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
6.600%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
Location
Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia
Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Mozambique
Area
527,968 km sq
587,041 km sq
Coastline
1,906 km
4,828 km
Climate
mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east
tropical along coast, temperate inland, arid in south
