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| Introduction | Yemen |
| 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. |
| People | Yemen |
| Population: | 20,024,867 (July 2004 est.) |
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 46.6% (male 4,751,776; female 4,582,277) 15-64 years: 50.6% (male 5,166,437; female 4,973,543) 65 years and over: 2.8% (male 273,199; female 277,635) (2004 est.) |
| Median age: | total: 16.5 years male: 16.5 years female: 16.5 years (2004 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | 3.44% (2004 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 43.16 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Death rate: | 8.78 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Net migration rate: | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.98 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | total: 63.26 deaths/1,000 live births female: 58.15 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) male: 68.12 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 61.36 years male: 59.53 years female: 63.29 years (2004 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 6.75 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.1% (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 9,900 (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | NA |
| 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: 50.2% male: 70.5% female: 30% (2003 est.) |
| Government | Yemen |
| Country name: | conventional long form: Republic of Yemen conventional short form: Yemen local short form: Al Yaman local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah |
| Government type: | republic |
| Capital: | Sanaa |
| Administrative divisions: | 19 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Abyan, 'Adan, Ad Dali', Al Bayda', Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit, 'Amran, Dhamar, Hadramawt, Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Ma'rib, Sa'dah, San'a', Shabwah, Ta'izz note: for electoral and administrative purposes, the capital city of Sanaa is treated as an additional governorate |
| Independence: | 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]; 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) |
| National holiday: | Unification Day, 22 May (1990) |
| Constitution: | 16 May 1991; amended 29 September 1994 and February 2001 |
| Legal system: | based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local tribal customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch: | chief of state: President Ali Abdallah SALIH (since 22 May 1990, the former president of North Yemen, assumed office upon the merger of North and South Yemen); Vice President Maj. Gen. Abd al-Rab Mansur al-HADI (since 3 October 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Abd al-Qadir BA JAMAL (since 4 April 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister election results: Ali Abdallah SALIH elected president; percent of vote - Ali Abdallah SALIH 96.3%, Najib Qahtan AL-SHAABI 3.7% elections: president elected by direct, popular vote for a seven-year term (recently extended from a five-year term by constitutional amendment); election last held 23 September 1999 (next to be held NA 2006); vice president appointed by the president; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president |
| Legislative branch: | a new constitutional amendment ratified on 20 February 2001 created a bicameral legislature consisting of a Shura Council (111 seats; members appointed by the president) and a House of Representatives (301 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - GPC 228, Islah 47, YSP 7, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Ba'th Party 2, independents 14 elections: last held 27 April 2003 (next to be held NA April 2009) |
| Judicial branch: | Supreme Court |
| Political parties and leaders: | there are more than 12 political parties active in Yemen, some of the more prominent are: General People's Congress or GPC [President Ali Abdallah SALIH]; Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah [Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR]; National Arab Socialist Ba'th Party [Dr. Qassim SALAAM]; Nasserite Unionist Party [Abdel Malik al-MAKHLAFI]; Yemeni Socialist Party or YSP [Ali Salih MUQBIL] note: President SALIH's General People's Congress or GPC won a landslide victory in the April 1997 legislative election and no longer governs in coalition with Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR's Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah - the two parties had been in coalition since the end of the civil war in 1994; the YSP, a loyal opposition party, represents the remnants of the former South Yemeni leadership; leaders of the 1994 secessionist movement have been pardoned by President SALIH and some are now returning to Yemen from exile |
| Political pressure groups and leaders: | NA |
| International organization participation: | ACC, AFESD, AMF, CAEU, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAS, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Abd al-Wahhab Abdallah al-HAJRI FAX: [1] (202) 337-2017 telephone: [1] (202) 965-4760 chancery: Suite 705, 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037 |
| Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas C. KRAJESKI embassy: Saawan Street, Sanaa mailing address: P. O. Box 22347, Sanaa telephone: [967] (1) 303-151 through 159 FAX: [967] (1) 303-160/161/162/164/165 |
| Flag description: | 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 heraldic eagle centered in the white band |
| Communications | Yemen |
| Telephones - main lines in use: | 542,200 (2002) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular: | 411,100 (2002) |
| Telephone system: | general assessment: since unification in 1990, efforts have been made to create a national telecommunications network domestic: the national network consists of microwave radio relay, cable, tropospheric scatter, and GSM cellular mobile telephone systems international: country code - 967; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 2 Arabsat; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia and Djibouti |
| Radio broadcast stations: | AM 6, FM 1, shortwave 2 (1998) |
| Radios: | 1.05 million (1997) |
| Television broadcast stations: | 7 (plus several low-power repeaters) (1997) |
| Televisions: | 470,000 (1997) |
| Internet country code: | .ye |
| Internet hosts: | 138 (2004) |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 1 (2000) |
| Internet users: | 100,000 (2002) |
| Transportation | Yemen |
| Highways: | total: 67,000 km paved: 7,705 km unpaved: 59,295 km (1999 est.) |
| Pipelines: | gas 88 km; oil 1,174 km (2004) |
| Ports and harbors: | Aden, Al Hudaydah, Al Mukalla, As Salif, Ras Issa, Mocha, Nishtun |
| Merchant marine: | total: 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 19,766 GRT/24,794 DWT by type: cargo 1, livestock carrier 1, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 1 foreign-owned: Hong Kong 2, Lebanon 1 registered in other countries: 5 (2003 est.) |
| Airports: | 44 (2003 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways: | total: 16 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 28 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 4 (2004 est.) |
| Military | Yemen |
| Military branches: | Army (including Special Forces), Naval Forces and Coastal Defenses (including Marines), Air Force (including Air Defense Forces), Republican Guard |
| Military manpower - military age and obligation: | 18 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 2 years (2004) |
| Military manpower - availability: | males age 15-49: 4,617,064 (2004 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service: | males age 15-49: 2,590,720 (2004 est.) |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually: | males: 255,426 (2004 est.) |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure: | $885.6 million (2003) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 7.9% (2003) |
| Military - note: | establishment of a Coast Guard, scheduled for May 2001, has been delayed |
| Transnational Issues | Yemen |
| Disputes - international: | Eritrea protests Yemeni fishing around the Hanish Islands awarded to Eritrea by the ICJ in 1999; nomadic groups in border region with Saudi Arabia resist demarcation of boundary; Yemen protests Saudi erection of a concrete-filled pipe as a security barrier in 2004 to stem illegal cross-border activities in sections of the boundary |
| Refugees and internally displaced persons: | refugees (country of origin): 60,901 (Somalia) (2004) |
| This page was last updated on 16 December, 2004 |
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