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
Muslim 80%, other (includes indigenous beliefs and Christian) 20%
Languages
Arabic
French (official), Hausa, Djerma
Exports
crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish
External Debt
$6,726,000,000 $
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
Western Africa, southeast of Algeria
Area
527,968 km sq
1,267,000 km sq
Coastline
1,906 km
0 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
desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south
