FACTS
ABOUT YEMEN
ABOUT THE COUNTRY
ABOUT PEOPLE
ABOUT ECONOMY
TRANSPORT
GEOGRAPHY
FLORA AND FAUNA
ABOUT THE COUNTRY
COUNTRY
NAME:
conventional long form: Republic of
Yemen
conventional short form: Yemen
local short form: Yemen
local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al
Yamaniyah
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. The two countries were formally unified
as the Republic of Yemen in 1990.
LOCATION: Middle East;
The country is situated on the strategically important south
west part of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the Arabian Sea,
Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and lies between Oman and Saudi
Arabia.
COUNTRY AREA: 527 970 km2 (area smaller than France); 19
governorates + governorate of Sana'a
It includes the land of former Yemen Arab republic (YAR or
North Yemen) and the former People's Democratic Republic of
Yemen (PDRY or South Yemen) and islands with the most important
Perim, Soqotra and Kamaran.
More than two thirds of the land is non-populated, the
population is concentrated in the mountains and on the western
coast.
THE CAPITAL: Sana'a (population 2 mil.), other big cities: Taizz, Aden, Al
Mukalla, Al Hudaida
BORDER COUNTRIES: Saudi Arabia (1458 km) and Oman (288 km)
BRANCHES/LEGISLATIVE: Executive, Prime minister with Cabinet
Bicameral Legislative Assembly with 111 seats, Shura Council and
301 seats in Parliament
Top
ABOUT PEOPLE
 POPULATION: 20 millions
ETHNIC GROUPS: predominantly Arab, but also Afro-Arab, South
Asians, Europeans
RELIGIONS: Muslims: Shaf'i (Sunni), Zaydi (Shi'a), 1% of
Ismaili, small numbers of Jewish, Christian and Hindu.
LIFE EXPECTANCY:
male: 59, 16 years
female: 62,87 years
Yemeni woman gives birth on average to 6, 75 children.
GDP– per capita: officially 840 USD (but it is estimated that
the actual amount could be as twice as this)
LABOUR FORCE: most of the people are employed in agriculture
and herding; services, construction and commerce account for
less than one fourth of the labour force.
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 30 %
MILITARY BRANCHES: Army (includes Special Forces, established
in 1999), Navy, Air Force, Air Defence Forces, Republican Guard.
The military service is professional.
Top
ABOUT ECONOMY
NATURAL RESOURCES: oil, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits
of coal, gold, lead, nickel and copper, fertile soil.
INDUSTRIES: crude oil production and petroleum refining,
fisheries, livestock, agricultural products, cotton, coffee,
small scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods,
food processing, handicrafts, small aluminium products
factories, cement
EXPORT COMMODITIES: crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish;
export partners: India, Thailand, China, South Korea, US.
IMPORT COMMODITIES: food, animals, machinery and equipment,
chemicals; import partners: Saudi Arabia, UAE, China and France.
Top
TRANSPORT
 LAND
ROUTES: Yemen has a big network of paved roads connecting all
the principal cities and most of the secondary ones. There are
several public and private corporations providing high quality
land transport.
PORTS AND HARBORS: Aden, Al Hudaida, Al Mukalla, As Salif, Ras
Issa, Mokha, Nishtun.
RAILWAYS: none
AIRPORTS: Yemen has 12 airports. Yemenia provide flights
between the cities.
Top
GEOGRAPHY
TERRAIN: Topography of Yemen is very variable. Both, narrow
coastal plain, parallel to Red Sea called Tihama (western
mountains:NW-SW) and the plain along the Arabic sea (eastern and
southern mountains: SW-SE) are backed by flat-topped hills and
rugged mountains. Dissected upland desert plains in centre slope
into the desert interior of the Arabian Peninsula called Ar
Ruba'-al-Khali. Among the desert and SE mountains lies the
complex of wadis called Hadramawt.
SEAS: In the south: Arabic sea, on the east: Red sea. Both seas
stitch together in the strait Bab al Mandab.
Mountains: The highest mountain is Jabal an Nabi Shu`ayb 3760 m.
CLIMATE: Yemen lies in the Sahel belt and shares many features
with African countries at around same latitude. It's because of
high mountain ridges laying parallel to the coast and trapping
the moisture from winds blowing in from the nearby seas, that
the country does not suffer the lack of water. As a result Yemen
is one of the most arable spots on Arabian Peninsula. Because of
extensively variable topography Yemen has several distinct
climate regions.
The hot lands of Tihama are characterised by hot and humid
climate year round. The rainfall is scanty with most rains
between late July and September, while during the rest of the
year only occasional showers appear.
The western and southern slopes of the western highlands
collect the highest amount of rainfall that makes these regions
(governorate of Ibb) the most fertile on Arabian Peninsula.
The central and eastern mountains have hot and dry summer with
most of the rains in two seasons: March-April and August. Daily
temperatures does not vary much during the year (daily
temperature in Sana'a is always around 25-30 °C) while night
temperatures drop to 10 °C in July or to zero in the winter
time. To the east and north the rains become less frequent,
ceasing altogether in the northern central parts of the country
where the stony semi deserts gradually turn into sandy deserts
of Ar-Ruba'al-Khali with desert climate. Where today only
grasses and shrubs survive was in the past enough water to
sustain entire civilisations.
In the eastern part of the country Wadi Hadramawt with its
neighbouring wadis collect scanty rains in April and August.
However this water is enough to allow a sizeable population to
derive living from agriculture.
Top
FLORA AND FAUNA
 Intensive
agriculture and hunting during last centuries decreased the
natural vegetation and fauna. Today Yemen accounts for about
3000 plant species, among them are 300 endemic, 85 mammals, 400
birds and over 100 reptile species. However, the island of
Soqotra has its own, unique flora and fauna.
FLORA:
Trees: date palm tree, acacia, ilb tree (Ziziplus spina chisti),
frankincense tree (Boswellia) and myrrh tree (Commiphora),
mangrove trees.
Fruits: dates, banana, papaya, mango, continental fruits,
oranges.
Vegetables: all kind of continental vegetables: potato, tomato,
carrot, cabbage, onion, garlic, beans…
Cereals: sorghum, barley, wheat, corn
Qat, coffee
Top
FAUNA:
Sadly, many species of wild animals disappeared because of
hunting and cutting down the forests, but one can still observe
foxes, mongooses, genets and in mountains hamadryas baboons
(Jabal Burra). A stripped hyena or Arabian wolf is less common.
 Birds:
17 endemic species, among them are four in the island of
Soqotra. A large variety of migratory birds from Europe and
Northern Asia either spend their winter here or traverse the
country on their route to East Africa as the narrow
Bab-al-Mandab strait is for the birds the best place to cross
the Red Sea.
Reptiles: 90 species, among them geckos, chameleons and blue
colour reptile called AGAMID, 40 species of snakes, among them 7
poisonous.
Insects: scorpions, mosquitoes, 100 species of butterflies
|
