Yemen

• mostly desert;
• hot and humid along west coast;
• temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon;
• extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east

• 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

• very limited natural fresh water resources;
• inadequate supplies of potable water;
• overgrazing;
• soil erosion;
• desertification

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

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:

0.97 male(s)/female

total population:

1.04 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

noun:

Yemeni(s)

adjective:

Yemeni

conventional long form:

Republic of Yemen

conventional short form:

Yemen

local long form:

Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah

local short form:

Al Yaman

former:

Yemen Arab Republic [Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen] and People's Democratic Republic of Yemen [Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen]

• 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

• 22 May 1990 (Republic of Yemen 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 had become independent in November of 1918 (from the Ottoman Empire) and South Yemen had become independent on 30 November 1967 (from the UK)

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

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

election results:

Ali Abdallah SALIH elected president; percent of vote - Ali Abdallah SALIH 96.3%, Najib Qahtan AL-SHAABI 3.7%

chief of mission:

Ambassador Abd al-Wahab Abdallah al-HAJRI

chancery:

Suite 705, 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037

telephone:

[1] (202) 965-4760

FAX:

[1] (202) 337-2017

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

• 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

lowest 10%:

3%

highest 10%:

25.9% (2003)

• grain, fruits, vegetables, pulses, qat (mildly narcotic shrub), coffee, cotton;
• dairy products, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), poultry;
• fish

• crude oil production and petroleum refining;
• small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods;
• food processing;
• handicrafts;
• small aluminum products factory;
• cement;
• commercial ship repair

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

total:

67,000 km

paved:

7,705 km

unpaved:

59,295 km (1999 est.)

total:

5 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 19,766 GRT/24,794 DWT

by type:

cargo 1, chemical tanker 1, petroleum tanker 2, roll on/roll off 1

registered in other countries:

2 (2005)

• Yemen protests Eritrea fishing around the Hanish Islands awarded to Yemen by the ICJ in 1999;
• despite resistance from nomadic groups, the demarcation of the Saudi Arabia-Yemen boundary established under the 2000 Jeddah Treaty is almost complete;
• 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