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

• petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble;
• small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper;
• fertile soil in west

agricultural land:

44.5%;

• arable land 2.2%;
• permanent crops 0.6%;
• permanent pasture 41.7%

forest:

1%

other:

54.5% (2011 est.)

total:

3.57 cu km/yr (7%/2%/91%)

per capita:

162.4 cu m/yr (2005)

• limited natural freshwater 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

noun:

Yemeni(s)

adjective:

Yemeni

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.86 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.87 male(s)/female

total population:

1.03 male(s)/female (2015 est.)

degree of risk:

high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

dengue fever and malaria

water contact disease:

schistosomiasis (2013)

total number:

1,334,288

percentage:

23% (2006 est.)

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]

name:

Sanaa

geographic coordinates:

15 21 N, 44 12 E

time difference:

UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• 21 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah) and 1 municipality*;
• Abyan, 'Adan (Aden), Ad Dali', Al Bayda', Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit, Amanat al 'Asimah (Sanaa City)*, 'Amran, Arkhabil Suqutra (Socotra Archipelago), Dhamar, Hadramawt, Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Ma'rib, Raymah, Sa'dah, San'a' (Sanaa), Shabwah, Ta'izz

• 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)

• adopted by referendum 16 May 1991 (following unification);
• amended several times, last in 2009;
• note - between March 2014 and January 2015, a presidentially formed Constitutional Drafting Committee drafted a new constitution and President Hadi reviewed it;
• the draft was slated for final revision by the National Authority, followed by a national referendum;
• however, with the resignation of the government in late January 2015, constitutional formation has been stalled (2015)

chief of state:

• President Abd Rabuh Mansur HADI (since 21 February 2012);
• note - President HADI submitted his resignation in late January 2015, but Parliament did not convene to accept it;
• he later rescinded his resignation and remains the internationally recognized President of Yemen;
• he fled to Saudi Arabia in late March 2015 but returned in September after government loyalist forces aided by a Saudi-led coalition regained control of Aden from Huthi rebels in July

head of government:

• Prime Minister Khalid Mahfuz BAHAH;
• note - BAHAH submitted his resignation in late January 2015, but Parliament did not convene to accept it;
• BAHAH later rescinded his resignation and remains prime minister;
• on 13 April he was named vice president, but continues to be the prime minister

cabinet:

appointed by the president

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 7-year term (eligible for a second term);
• last election held on 21 February 2012 (next election NA);
• note - a special election held on 21 February 2012 to remove Ali Abdallah SALIH under the terms of a Gulf Cooperation Council-mediated deal during the political crisis of 2011;
• vice president appointed by the president;
• prime minister appointed by the president

election results:

Abd Rabuh Mansur HADI (GPC) elected as a consensus president with about 50% popular participation; no other candidates

description:

bicameral Parliament or Majlis consists of the Shura Council or Majlis Alshoora (111 seats; members appointed by the president; member tenure NA) and the House of Representatives or Majlis al Nuwaab (301 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 6-year terms)

elections:

last held on 27 April 2003 (scheduled April 2009 election postponed until February 2015)

election results:

• House of Representatives percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - GPC 238, Islah 47, YSP 6, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Ba'th Party 2, independents 5

highest court(s):

Supreme Court (consists of the president of the Court, 2 deputies, and nearly 50 judges; court organized into constitutional, civil, commercial, family, administrative, criminal, military, and appeals scrutiny divisions)

judge selection and term of office:

• judges appointed by the Supreme Judicial Council, chaired by the president of the republic and consisting of 10 high-ranking judicial officers;
• judges appointed for life with mandatory retirement at age 65

subordinate courts:

• appeal courts;
• district or first instance courts;
• commercial courts

• General People's Congress or GPC [Ali Abdallah SALIH]
• Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah [Muhammed Abdallah al-YADUMI, Abdul Wahab al-ANSI]
• Nasserite Unionist Party [Abdallah NU'MAN]
• Yemeni Socialist Party or YSP [Dr. Abd al-Rahman Umar al-SAQQAF]

note: there are at least seven more active political parties

chief of mission:

Ambassador Ahmed Awad AHMED bin Mubarak (since 3 August 2015)

chancery:

2319 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 965-4760

FAX:

[1] (202) 337-2017

name:

"al-qumhuriyatu l-muttahida" (United Republic)

lyrics/music:

Abdullah Abdulwahab NOA'MAN/Ayyoab Tarish ABSI

note: adopted 1990; the music first served as the anthem for South Yemen before unification with North Yemen in 1990

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

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

lowest 10%:

2.9%

highest 10%:

30.8% (2005)

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, GSM and CDMA mobile-cellular telephone systems;
• fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity remains low by regional standards

international:

• country code - 967;
• landing point for the international submarine cable Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG);
• 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 (2006)

• state-run TV with 2 stations;
• state-run radio with 2 national radio stations and 5 local stations;
• stations from Oman and Saudi Arabia can be accessed (2007)

total:

71,300 km

paved:

6,200 km

unpaved:

65,100 km (2005)

country comparison to the world: 66

total:

5

by type:

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

registered in other countries:

14 (Moldova 4, Panama 4, Sierra Leone 2, Togo 1, unknown 3) (2010)

country comparison to the world: 126

• the International Maritime Bureau reports offshore waters in the Gulf of Aden are high risk for piracy;
• numerous vessels, including commercial shipping and pleasure craft, have been attacked and hijacked both at anchor and while underway;
• crew, passengers, and cargo are held for ransom;
• the presence of several naval task forces in the Gulf of Aden and additional anti-piracy measures on the part of ship operators reduced the incidence of piracy in that body of water by more than half in 2010

• 18 is the legal minimum age for voluntary military service;
• no conscription;
• 2-year service obligation (2012)

males age 16-49:

5,652,256

females age 16-49:

5,387,160 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

4,056,944

females age 16-49:

4,116,895 (2010 est.)

male:

287,141

female:

277,612 (2010 est.)

refugees (country of origin):

5,934 (Ethiopia) (2014); 244,404 (Somalia) (2015)

IDPs:

1,439,118 (conflict in Sa'ada governorate; clashes between AQAP and government forces) (2015)

current situation:

• Yemen is a source and, to a lesser extent, transit and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and women and children subjected to sex trafficking;
• some Yemeni children, mostly boys, migrate to Yemeni cities or across the border to Saudi Arabia and, less frequently Oman, where they end up as beggars, prostitutes, or forced laborers in domestic service or small shops;
• other Yemeni children were recruited as combatants or checkpoint guards by armed groups and continues to be used in the government’s military forces;
• Yemen is also a source country for girls sex trafficked within country or to Saudi Arabia;
• thousands of Yemeni migrant workers deported from Saudi Arabia and Syrian refugees are vulnerable to trafficking;
• additionally, Yemen is a destination and transit country for women and children from the Horn of Africa who are looking for work or receive fraudulent job offers in the Gulf states but are subjected to sexual exploitation or forced labor upon arrival;
• reports indicate that adults and children are still sold or inherited as slaves in Yemen

tier rating:

• Tier 3 – Yemen does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
• prolonged political, economic, and security crises, as well as the continued conflation of trafficking and smuggling, impeded the government’s modest anti-trafficking efforts;
• authorities did not institute formal procedures to identify and protect trafficking victims in 2013, nor did they investigate or prosecute officials complicit in trafficking-related crimes;
• the government did not report efforts to investigate, prosecute, or convict trafficking offenses, and no known efforts were made to investigate or punish persons practicing chattel slavery;
• officials acknowledged the use of child soldiers and agreed to a UN action plan to eliminate it but did not make efforts to remove child soldiers from the military;
• draft anti-trafficking legislation still awaits parliamentary endorsement (2014)